AUGUST 1, 1912 



487 



Southern California; but I know of a num- 

 ber of men wiiose croj) fell short of 300 lbs. 

 average. I heard of several men who got 

 300 lbs., and one who got 350; but I after- 

 ward heard he extracted his honey so green 

 the cans "blew up" and he had to put it 

 back in the tank and reripen it. I have no 

 doubt that a few apiaries made more than 

 the 350 mark, but they are few and far be- 

 tween. My average for 1905 was 52 lbs. 

 per colony. In regard to his estimate of 

 100 lbs. average, I think he has put that en- 

 tirely too high. In making these estimates 

 for publication I think we should be veiy 

 careful, and not jiut them too high and 

 thereby mislead any beekeepers who may 

 want to settle among us. Now, I don't 

 want any one to think I am trying to keep 

 other men out, for I am not ; but I believe 

 in giving the facts just as they exist ; and if 

 we have no way of knowing the facts we 

 had better put the figxires a little below the 

 average than above; and then if any east- 

 ern beekeepers should settle among us, and 

 not do quite as well as they exiject, they 

 would always be blaming us for misrepre- 

 senting things. 



During the last five years I had an api- 

 ary in Los Angeles County in what is con- 

 sidered one of the best sage locations in the 

 State, and my average for the five years 

 was 71 lbs. per colony. But methinks I 

 hear Brother Chadwick say, "The trouble 

 was with you. You don't know how to keep 

 bees." While I admit this is true to a great 

 extent, still Avhen I look around me and see 

 such men as L. E. Mercer, M. H. Mendle- 

 son, and J. F. Mclntyre, who have not done 

 any better in that time, I am led to think 

 the fault is not altogether my own. I men- 

 tion these men because they are among the 

 foremost beekeepers of the country, and 

 are well known to the readers of Gleak- 

 INGS. About a year ago Mr. L. L. Andrews, 

 of Corona, who has sevei'al hundred colo- 

 nies, wrote me his average yield for five 

 years was 60 lbs.; and Mr. Geo. L. Emer- 

 son, who operates several hundred colonies 

 at FuUerton, wrote me his average for the 

 same length of time was 58 lbs. I also had 

 letters from several other men in the South- 

 ern part of the State whose names I can 

 not recall; but not one of them claimed an 

 average of 100 lbs. There is no doubt but 

 there are some men who have had an aver- 

 age of 100 lbs. for the past five years ; but 

 there are so many whose average has fallen 

 below 50 that it cuts their average down 

 considerably. For my part I think an av- 

 erage of 60 lbs. for Southern California 

 during the last five years is nearer correct 

 than 100. 



Bishop, Cal. 



[Mr. Chadwick replies:] 



The cliief apprehension in the above crit- 

 icism seems to be that it might cause an in- 

 flux of Eastern beekeepers who would be 

 disappointed in not getting so high an av- 

 erage after casting their lot with us. Ee- 

 ferring back to the issue above mentioned, 

 note this sentence, "taking into considera- 

 tion that some yeai-s, outside of the orange 

 and alfalfa districts, there is practically a 

 total failure." 



This estimate was based on information 

 gathered from many beekeepers from vari- 

 ous jjoints, together with the experience 

 and observation of the writer — not for a 

 period of five yeai-s, but since 1884. Quite 

 true, conditions have changed since the lat- 

 ter date, and no such i^henomenal yield 

 may be exj^ected again, because of a lack of 

 flora then bountiful, and because there are 

 many more bees now. 



Mr. Kalfus quotes Mr. Geo. L. Emerson 

 in producing his proof, Mr. Emerson being 

 the man Avho informed me of the 700-lb. 

 yield for Orange Co. in 1884, and I have no 

 reason to question so eminent an authority. 



My average for the past five years has 

 been under 100 lbs. ; but for the past seven 

 years, including 1905, it exceeds 100 lbs., 

 though in 1905 my average was only 250 

 lbs., while others, to my knowledge, more 

 favorably located for a late flow, secured 

 nearly 400. 



The occasional (not frequent) heavy 

 seasons are what runs up the average, and 

 should not be taken by anj^ means as a sea- 

 son's average. 



These heavy seasons are what keeps up 

 the hopes of the California beekeeper who 

 waits for the realization through seasons of 

 dearth and heavy loss and is finally reward- 

 ed when his forces are depleted, and in the 

 poorest possible condition to realize the 

 most from them. I still believe my estima- 

 tion is not far from correct; but it must 

 not be forgotten that tliis includes some 

 very thin and a few very fat seasons. 



JP. C. Chadwick. 



AN ANALYSIS OF BEE-BREAD 



BY RUTH L. PHILLIPS 



The following analysis of bee-bread was 

 made by me during the summer of 1911 in 

 order to ascertain the nature of this sub- 

 stance and its relation to the growth 

 changes in the nerve cells of the ordinary 

 Italian bee. 



As one Avould exjDect, there is a large 

 proportion of water, 12.75 per cent, in bee- 

 bread. The bulk of the substance is joro- 



