GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Extracted honey scores again. A small 

 crop Avas secured where comb honey would 

 have been impossible. 



* * * 



I fear some queen-breeders are like fancy 

 poultiy-raisei's — ■ sacrificing ijroduetive 

 qualities for showy stock. 



* « « 



Paint your hives. A good coat of paint 

 occasionally will make a hive last for years. 

 Without it the hive is soon sun-checked, 

 season-cracked, warped, and fit only for 



kindUngwood. 



* * * 



I am in receipt of a copy of "Texas Bee- 

 keeping," the compliments of Mr. Louis H. 

 Seholl, who is also its editor. It is issued 

 by the Texas Dej^artment of Agriculture, 

 and is one of the most complete works of 

 its kind I have ever seen. 



* * * 



A honey-buyer gave reports of how 

 many cases of honey he bought here, and 

 how many somewhere else, which was, I be- 

 lieve, entirely true ; but he was imi^lying 

 that this was new honey, while the fact was 

 that much of it was last season's crop, but 

 was used to influence the market in the 



buyer's favor. 



* * * 



Bees as property are much like animals : 

 well cared for they are a valuable asset ; 

 but poorly cared for their value decreases 

 according to the care given. As for abil- 

 ity to conform themselves to conditions, 

 they are in some respects suiDerior to man, 

 especially in that they refuse to reproduce 

 when there is nothing coming in on which 

 to feed their young. 



* * * 



A beekeeper of more or less prominence, 

 in speaking of the ditference in the growth 

 of the sage this year and last made the as- 

 sertion that last season the growth was 

 much longer and contained from twelve to 

 fifteen buttons on each stem; but as a mat- 

 ter of fact there are rarely ever more than 

 ten buttons on a stem, while five to seven is 

 the rule. I mention this to show how close- 

 ly the fiora is observed by some. 



* * * 



How ruthlessly our theories are some- 

 times upset, and a set line of practice be- 

 comes impossible ! Nearly two years ago I 

 wrote an article for this journal on man- 

 agement of bees, in which I spoke of hives 

 at the beginning of the honey flow contain- 

 ing from 7 to 17 frames of brood. I was 



perfectly justified in every assertion made; 

 but since that time I have not seen a hive 

 with over ten frames of brood, and some 

 lines of management spoken of in the same 

 article have not been at all practical since; 

 yet I am sure I will return to that line 

 again under more favorable conditions. 



From this, one can see the difficult posi- 

 tion of the novice who reads, and decides 

 to follow a writer's suggestions; but con- 

 ditions change, and he knows no way out 

 of his difficulty until he has knowledge that 

 will point the way to the next best course 



to pursue. 



* * * 



How often it happens that a weak col- 

 ony will struggle nearly through the entire 

 season, requeening and getting built up, 

 only to bloom out the following season with 

 a vigorous young queen and a liive full of 

 bees, while the best colony the previous sea- 

 son will struggle along with an old queen 

 and make a dismal failure ! Queens in this 

 climate should not be carried over to the 

 third season. Two seasons of active work 

 will put them beyond their best, and I be- 

 lieve we should all be better off if we would 

 practice requeening after eveiy season's 



honey flow. 



* * * 



July 18 marked the end of another bee- 

 keeper. Mr. Walter Parrish, once a promi- 

 nent queen-breeder of Lawrence, Kansas, 

 and widely known through this branch of 

 the bee industry, passed away. Mr. Parrish 

 had every promise of becoming a renowned 

 queen-breeder, and was receiving daily 

 orders for his queens in the summer of 

 1910, when, to his astonishment and dis- 

 may, he discovered foul brood in three colo- 

 nies he had purchased. This ended Mr. 

 Parrish's queen-rearing. Though receiv- 

 ing daily orders, he at once began to return 

 his customers' money instead of queens. 

 Though his queen-rearing colonies were 

 free from disease, he refused to let any cus- 

 tomers take risks he would not care to take 

 himself. Mr. Parrish had never been strong, 

 and this was quite a shock to his ambitious 

 nature, and probably helped to undermine 

 his health. In the fall of 1911 he decided 

 to come to California, which he did; but 

 his health was not regained, and he failed 

 rajiidly, the end coming as stated above. 

 What better tribute could be paid to tliis 

 young man, in his thirty-first year, than 

 that he sacrificed his business for the sake 

 of liis customers' welfare? He had many 

 customers in California. 



