GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Ex-President B. G. Burdiek, of the State 

 Association, is nursing a broken foot, due 

 to his automobile moving without caution. 



* * * 



Try burlajD in your smoker. I find it 

 surpasses any other fuel I have ever used 

 for cheapness and convenience. Nearly 

 every one has some old burlap bags lying 

 around. 



Mr. Crane, I did not intend to imply 

 on page 297, May 15, that sealed brood in 

 any stage would stand a temperature of 

 40 degrees for I do not think it would, 

 though I have never tested it thoroughly. 

 What I mentioned was the fact that ma- 

 ture bees hatched three days after being 

 exposed to a temperature as low as 40 

 degi'ees. The nearer mature, the more 

 cold they will stand. 



* « * 



In a dispatch from Portersville, Cal., 

 clipped from the Los Angeles Tribune, Mr. 

 Robert J. Smith, in writing of the cause 

 and cure for the June orange drop, recom- 

 mends the sjjraying of orange-trees. I in- 

 fer from Mr. Smith's article that this 

 would be done during the blooming period, 

 though this point is not made clear. Should 

 this be the case, and come into general 

 practice, it would be a sad blow to the 

 beekeeping industry in the orange dis- 

 tricts. 



* * * 



On page 525, Aug. 15, Walter C. Ben- 

 nett takes a "hot shot" at the editor of 

 this department as well as the editor in 

 chief. Mr. Bennett wants a large piece 

 of pork to make him swallow the report 

 I gave of an average of 700 lbs. per col- 

 ony for Orange Co. in 1884. Can't some 

 of you old-timers from Orange Co. come 

 to my rescue? We are rather short on 

 pork in these parts; but I look for a 

 return of one of those bumper seasons 

 some time that will produce enough honey 

 to wash this story down for Mr. Bennett. 

 I may say, however, that a yield of 500 

 lbs. for a single colony is not at all un- 

 common any good season now, though 

 much above the average, and we do not 

 use box cars either. 



* m * 



A prominent beekeeper recently suggest- 

 ed to me that honey taken from over ex- 

 cluders, free from brood contamination, 

 should bring at least one cent more per 

 pound than where no excluders are used, 



and more or less larvae find their way into 

 the strainer, or even into the honey-tank. 

 Sometimes I fully agree with this gentle- 

 man's suggestions, though at the same time 

 I realize what a howl will go up from many 

 beekeepers at this suggestion. Perhaps the 

 quickest way to bring this about, were it 

 possible, would be to parade the consuming 

 public through honey-houses at extracting 

 time where the excluders were and were 



not used. 



* * * 



BEES DO NOT PREFER LARGE ENTRANCES. 



Mr. Crane, page 363, June 15, seems 

 to have found grounds for entrances as 

 large as those of Mr. Latham or Arthur C. 

 Miller. 



A close study of the natural tendencies 

 of the bees leads me to the conclusion that 

 large entrances are neither sought nor de- 

 sired by them. There is no question but 

 that they select some very large entrances; 

 but this is di;e often to inability to find a 

 better place readily. I have watched the 

 scouts in the woods searching for a habita- 

 tion. With a zigzag nervous flight they 

 will move up and down a tree only an 

 inch or two from the bark, searching for 

 an entrance to the body or limb. If they 

 were in search of a large entrance their 

 close searching flight would not be neces- 

 sary. In the majority of cases they select 

 a small knot-hole or crack through which 

 to enter the cavity. Here in town, where 

 where they have made their homes in 

 houses they have nearly always entered 

 through very small cracks or knot-holes. 

 There is a swarm in the First M. E. church 

 of tliis city that enters a crack 1^ inches 

 long by ^ inch wide. The desire for a 

 small entrance is undoubtedly for protec- 

 tion from robber bees, other insects, and 

 small animals, as well as from inclement 

 weather. I use a %-inch entrance across 

 the front of my hives, and find it ample 

 for all purposes, even under the scorch- 

 ing sun of our midsummer skies. 



General Honey-crop Report from the Southeast 



Reports of the summer honey crop have come 

 in from almost all sections of the Southeast, and 

 we are able to make a definite report from our 

 section. The honey-flow has been very heavy over 

 the partridge-pea and clover section, and also 

 over the great cotton belt; and a great honey 

 harvest has been the result, such as we have 

 never experienced before. This was due to ideal 

 weather conditions. Local showers have been 

 frequent over almost all sections, causing a most 

 vigorous growth of the honey-plants. The tem- 

 perature has been high and the wind has been 

 calm, making conditions ideal for a great honey 

 harvest, and for which we are very thankful. 



Cordele, Ga., Sept. 14. J. J. Wilder. 



