OCTOBER 15, 1912 



651 



Beekeeping in California 



1'. C. CiiADWiCK, Redlands, Cal. 



The followiiig- letter is self-explanatory, 

 and speaks highly for our State Associa- 

 tion : 



Mr. Chadwick: — I notice your statement, page 

 578, Sept. 15, in regard to my bees eating T. 

 Kataoka's strawbe»ries. Mr. Kataoka dropped his 

 suit for damages Sept. 6. Officers and members 

 of the California State Association gave me their 

 help in every way possible, and no doubt the 

 berry-grower saw he had no chance to win. 



Pasadena, Cal., Sept. 25. George B. Larinan. 



DESIRABILITY OF RANGES. 



I had always supposed that there were 

 no ranges equal to those of the button 

 sage, so far as wild growth is concerned, 

 and to a great extent I still believe this 

 to be true ; but that there are localities that 

 yield heavily whei'e button sage does not 

 bloom is also true, many of the latter hav- 

 ing a great advantage in early honey and 

 pollen that stimulate breeding when there 

 is a shortage of such flora, as was the case 

 in many purely sage ranges this season. 



That some plants will yield a surplus 

 in certain localities, while in others the 

 same plants have never been known to do 

 so, also seems quite certain. But it can 

 be seen that, while general conditions can, 

 in a measure, be forecasted, local districts 

 may secure surplus in spite of general ojf 

 conditions, and the season would, of ne- 

 cessity, have to be very bad indeed if some 

 honev from wild flora Avere not secured. 



I have returned from my ten-day irip 

 among the beekeepers of Southern Cali- 

 fornia. To say that I enjoyed the journey 

 would be putting it mildly, though it was 

 not by any means a continual round of 

 pleasure, and it ended much short of the 

 territory I had i^l^i^i^^d to cover — due, 

 largely, to the fact that I found many 

 more beekeepers than I had thought there 

 were, all of whom gave me such a cordial 

 reception that oftentimes it afforded more 

 pleasure to tarry than to travel on. 



To give in this department the details 

 of my trip would be impossible, so I will 

 give only a summary of certain conditions 

 that struck me most forcibly. 



First, I am more nearly convinced than 

 ever that there is a condition expressed by 

 two words that have more to do with our 

 honey-flows than any other one thing; and 

 that is, late moisture. 



Second, that there are conditions that 



surround some, of our heaviest-yielding 

 localities that make them less desirable 

 than some that do not have such an abun- 

 dance of flora, or that yield as light a 

 grade of honey. 



Third, that beekeepers are a demoralized 

 set so far as being organized or alive to 

 their own interests. Nearly 75 per cent 

 do not take a bee-journal, and can not be 

 induced to do so. Some, when asked if 

 they belonged to the State Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation, asserted that they had never 

 heard of such an organization. 



Let me now return to the first of the 

 three given subjects, that of moisture. This 

 does not mean rainfall entirely, though that 

 is the chief factor in every case, directly 

 or indirectly, and is also the first essential. 

 The nature of soil and its adaptability to 

 holding moisture is a great factor. Rain 

 belts and dry belts in many localities are 

 quite distinctly marked from year to year, 

 apparently because of air currents passing 

 through, to, and from the mountain passes. 

 In other words, a greater amount of rain 

 falls in certain zones of influence than in 

 others. Freak rains, if this term is per- 

 missible, have a part in the production in 

 certain localities. For instance, in the 

 neighborhood of Sage, Riverside Co., there 

 was a fall of four inches in May, and the 

 beekeej^ers in that section are being fa- 

 vored by a bountiful crop of late honey. 

 In another district, near Temecula, a thun- 

 derstorm caused a heavy fall in July, 

 which swelled the crop in that locality 

 wonderfully, while down along the moist 

 lands of the Santa Ana River bed, sweet 

 clover is said to be yielding noticeably. 



Another case, much nearer home, is at 

 Ferris, Cal., where there was an excep- 

 tionally heavy thunderstorm early in the 

 summer, and more than half an inch late 

 in Aug-ust. In that locality bees were 

 drawing comb, storing honey, and breeding 

 nicely. 



The altitude is also a factor that must 

 be considered. Naturally the higher alti- 

 tudes get the heaviest rainfall, are the 

 coolest during the summer, and retain 

 their moisture longer than down in the 

 blistering valleys. Regarding late mois- 

 ture, as set forth above, I have dAvelt on 

 local conditions rather than general, yet 

 the advantage of late general spring rains, 

 following a sufficient winter fall to start 

 the growth of honey-plants, is the greatest 

 factor of all in producing bumper crops, 

 such as we had in 1905. 



