THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



263 



^oxxzsponiUntz. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Letter from California. 



Mk. Editor:— If any of your readers still 

 have a "hankering" to come to California 

 to raise bees and iioney, let them read the 

 following and be satisfied to remain East. 



Tliat such a season as this comes only 

 once in several years, the fact that it does 

 come is proof enough to those who are here 

 and are now suffering great distress, that 

 California honey-raising is not all that 

 fancy paints it. The light rains on this 

 coast— extending over 500 miles from this 

 county north nearly to the north end of the 

 State— during the past winter came at such 

 long intervals, that tiie moisture would all 

 be extracted from the soil long before any 

 succeeding shower. None of the rains wet 

 down to moisture below; so, as old resi- 

 dents say, a crop never has and never will 

 be made in this State unless the ground is 

 wet down once at least thoroughly. 



The first rain for ten months came on 

 Jan. 13th. This started the plants and 

 grass to growing. Feb. and up to March 

 10th, the manzinita gave a fair yield of 

 honey, when all flowers failed until April 

 10th; when they, for 10 days, gathered 

 enough for their daily wants. Since then 

 and until now they have gathered probably 

 not half as much as they have consumed. 

 At the present writing the sumac and 

 greasewood are in bloom, but they secrete 

 no honey. Both the blue or button and 

 white sage are total failures. 



From this time on for 5 or 6 weeks the 

 sumac may help us, but after that there is 

 nothing until the rains of next winter bring 

 us a new crop of flowers. Bees increased 

 very rapidly in Feb. and up to March 10th, 

 when the queens generally ceased laying, 

 as there was no honey coming in. 



Swarming began the middle of April in- 

 stead of March as is usual. Probably 5 per 

 cent, of the hives swarmed during a light 

 flow of honey, and then the bees seemed to 

 become perfectly demoralized. Probably 

 one-half of the old queens in the strong 

 hives were killed by tlieir own bees in the 

 effort to make them lead off a swarm. A 

 very few of such colonies threw off large 

 first swarms accompanied by young queens. 

 Of 20 swarms from 300 old stocks,niore than 

 half deserted their hives in from 2 to 6 days 

 after being hived, and went to the moun- 

 tains—to starve. I gave new swarms two 

 full frames of honey and brood of all ages, 

 and had them go off within 3 days, not leav- 

 ing a vestige of brood— all eaten, or, if too 

 old, thrown out. 



I do not think I have had a foot square of 

 new comb built in my apiary this year; 

 when a year ago, for some moths, an ordin- 

 ary swarm would fill its hive with new 

 comb in 10 days. Many old stocks used all 

 their honey long ago and have been kept 

 alive only by constant feeding. All stopped 

 breeding and threw out not only drone but 

 worker brood and destroyed tlieir drones. . 

 At the present writing, more than half the 

 bees in this county, so far as I can learn, 

 are in a starving condition, without an 

 ounce of honey or a cell of brood. All the 

 stocks are weaker now than in Nov. The 



president of our county association told me 

 a few days ago that bees were dying of 

 starvation all along the coast. 



A few apiarists are feeding regularly, 

 hoping each succeeding day will find the 

 flowers filled with honey, but only to be 

 disappointed. Some say the reason the 

 flowers yield no honey, is because of the 

 peculiar electrical condition of the atmos- 

 phere. My theory is tvant of rain. Do 

 not think, from the remark on the electrical 

 condition of the atmosphere, that we have 

 thunder and lightning. 1 have been here 

 over 2 years and have never seen a flash of 

 lightning nor heard a peal of thunder in all 

 that time — but wish I could. 



At a large apiary not far from me, the 

 owner made up 60 colonies by division from 

 April 1st to 10th. Want of honey since 

 then made half die or desert their combs, 

 while most of the remainder, by addition or 

 luiiting, are in poor condition. You in the 

 East have trouble to carry your bees 

 through your long, cold winters. We here 

 would now like to know how to get ours 

 through our long hot winter. 



The bee men here are ruostly poor and in 

 debt, expecting by this year's crop to get 

 out of debt, but they are now worse off 

 than ever, with an almost certain prospect 

 of losing all their bees. But then we are 

 no worse off than other classes. Sheep are 

 about the worst stock one can have now. 

 Large numbers have starved, and whole 

 flocks are offered at 5 to 20 cts. per head. 

 Cattle and horses, too, are too low in price 

 to call it a price. A large herd of cattle 

 near me lost 30 per cent, since last Nov., but 

 have just been sold for about what their 

 hides are worth. Of grain, there is none, 

 generally, though here and there in some 

 favored valley or moist land, fair crops are 

 secured. Rabbits and quails refuse to 

 breed; in fact extermination of life is the 

 order of the day. 



Those of j'ou who live within half a day's 

 journey of any other man, and can carry 

 half your bees through winter, and get fair 

 crops of honey from the remainder, ought 

 to be satisfied. If not, come here and you 

 can buy any apiary for what the empty 

 hives and material are worth and have the 

 bees thrown in. With honey in the comb 

 as it sold last year, at 6 to 9c., and extracted 

 at 43^ to 6c., the producers have lived only 

 a hand to mouth existence. 



San Diego Co., Cal. G. F. Merriam. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Dollar Queens. 



Although the subject of the production of 

 cheap queens is far from being exhausted, I 

 do not deem it profitable or even entertain- 

 ing to pursuft the subject much farther. 

 ]SIr. Dadant set out with the assertion in the 

 May number, that they were unprofitable to 

 the producer and then branched off upon 

 their inferiority. 



My articles in the June and July numbers 

 were intended to give those unacquainted 

 with the queen-rearing business some idea 

 of their production in large numbers, and 

 then judge for themselves of their quality. 

 Mr. Dadant's rejoinder in the July number 

 reminds me of the village schoolmaster in 

 Goldsmith's Deserfed Village: "And e'en 

 tho' vanquished, he could argue still." I 

 cited the colonies offered by Mrs. Grimm, 



