April 18, 1907 



333 



American line Journal 



■on prepared food, so that in 2 or 3 days 

 she is laying her maximum amount of 

 eggs ; and, after this, brood-rearing is 

 kept right up from the bees feeling so 

 rich in stores that they see no need of 

 retrenching ; they thus keeping on un- 

 capping and removing the honey from 

 the combs, while the queen keeps right 

 up depositing eggs in the cells as fast 

 as the honey is removed, which results 



in doubling the amount of brood there 

 otherwise would have been had the 

 bees been allowed to take their own 

 course. 



In this way the best possible result 

 as to honey is secured, provided we 

 have our supers and everything else 

 ready and on hand when the antici- 

 pated harvest arrives. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



.^.Jl: ■:^::- 



Rcflcciiowif 



California Eke-Keeper 



' '>— ^Jgs-trfiTiiT t&f — " 



By W. A. Pbtal, Alden Station, Oakland, Calif. 



A Wet Season 



The season has been a real wet one ; 

 long and continuous rains fell since 

 my last reference to the season. In 

 this vicinity the rainfall has been close 

 upon 30 inches — it will, no doubt, ex- 

 ceed that amount before the end of 

 May. Further north, and in the moun- 

 tains, the precipitation has been twice 

 <is much as here — in a few cases, per- 

 haps, as is often the case, especially in 

 Humboldt Co., the rain-gauge records 

 three times the amount of rain that 

 fell hereabouts. 



In the southland the " heavenly dis- 

 pensation," as a certain news-writer 

 wrote it once upon a time, has been 

 ample, fully as good as any that ever 

 favored that sunny land. But will the 

 honey crop be large 7 That's the ques- 

 tion. The long-continued rain has 

 been the means of retarding breeding, 

 so that it may be that there will not be 

 as full a work-force to garner the nec- 

 tar as there should be when the main 

 honey-flow comes. 



The growing of the plants went on 

 apace, regardless of the rain, so that 

 the flowers will be out almost as early 

 as ever. It is probable, however, that 

 the period of infloresence will be longer 

 drawn out than it is during a dry, or 

 comparatively dry, year. 



As matters now stand, I do not re- 

 member seeing a season when there 

 was such a promise of a big flower- 

 crop. Now for the bees to capture the 

 nectar ! 



honey was usually purchased by the 

 large manufacturing bakeries. 



The excessive rains of this spring, 

 and the flooding of nearly all of these 

 islands, has ruined most of the api- 

 aries, many of the hives being carried 

 away by the surging waters. These 

 islands are the great garden-spots of 

 northern California — no richer land is 

 to be found in the world. Some of the 

 islands were almost entirely given over 

 to the growing of asparagus — a veg- 

 etable that attains its highest perfec- 

 tion in the sandy and peaty soil of 

 these reclaimed islands. The canning 

 of this vegetable was mostly conducted 

 by an Oakland firm, and its output was 

 said to be the largest in the world. I 

 understand the flooding of their fields 

 has practically bankrupted the firm. 

 This is too bad, for many reasons, one 

 being that asparagus bloom is not a 

 bad forage for bees. 



In this flooded district there were 

 immense fields of alfalfa which yielded 

 the best honey obtained on the islands. 

 These fields are ruined. It will be a 

 couple of years, I understand, before 

 the land is restored to its original fruit- 

 fulness. Thus, where the rains have 

 helped many, others have been prac- 

 tically ruined. 



The Sun vs. Moth Larvae 



that side llnished, too. Look out for 

 too hot a sun for the comb's sake. 



I wonder if the moth-eggs can stand 

 the heat, too 7 I expect to experiment 

 in this direction some time. 



Bees on the Islands 



On the large islands formed by both 

 the Sacramento and the San Joaquin 

 rivers near their mouths, many large 

 apiaries have been kept for years, and 

 they also yielded a sure crop, even 

 when there was a honey-famine in 

 other portions of the State. The rea- 

 son that bee-keeping on these islands 

 never became popular, is almost en- 

 tirely due to the fact that the nectar 

 gathered by the bees yielded a rather 

 dark honey — too dark, generally, to 

 command a satisfactory price. The 



One hot day toward the end of March 

 I was overhauling a hive in which the 

 bees, for some unknown cause, had 

 " given up the ghost," and I found the 

 combs baoly infested with moth-larva;. 

 I shook some of the "worms " out on 

 the black cover of an adjoining hive. 

 The larvje soon began to squirm, and 

 in a few minutes died. That gave me 

 an idea ; it may not be new, for 'tis 

 hard to find anything new nowadays 

 under the sun. (No joke intended.) 

 Why not let " Old Sol " get in his work 

 on the moth-pest 7 



I thereupon set several "wormy" 

 combs in the hot sun. The result was 

 magical. Larva; came hustling out of 

 the comb and soon died under the hot 

 rays. The comb was reversed, and 



The Pepper-Tree-Getting 'em Mixed 



The pepper- tree {Schinus molli), while 

 a native of Peru and Chile, has been 

 largely planted in California, where it 

 is thoroughly at home. It is one of 

 the most ornamental trees that can be 

 grown. In many respects it resembles 

 a weeping willow, though it is not so 

 funeral-like. It is a good honey-tree. 

 Prof. Cook, in his excellent "Bee- 

 Keeper's Guide," classes it with the 

 honey-secreting trees that bloom in 

 April. 'Tis a fine tree, 'tis true, but 

 he is too previous; it blooms in the 

 fall, usually in September. 



But the Professor is not so badly 

 mixed as was the writer of the article 

 on "Eucalyptus," in the " A B C of 

 Bee Culture," page 131, edition of 1905. 

 Two entirely difi'erent trees are de- 

 scribed under one head ; the article be- 

 gins with the word " Eucalyptus,"' and 

 ends with " pepper-tree." Talk about 

 Irish bulls ! 



Mice Fond of Moth Larvae 



In looking over some combs lately 

 that were stored away in the honey- 

 house, I found that mice had gotten to 

 them. The only ones that the little 

 varmints seemed to injure were some 

 that had moth-larva; in them. Out in 

 the apiary I discovered a hive that be- 

 came beeless during the winter, and 

 moth-larva; had commenced to work 

 through the combs. As the hive had a 

 rather large entrance, a mouse made 

 its way into the hive and just cleaned 

 out all the embryo moths. None of 

 the comb, save that where the larva; 

 were tunneling, was injured by the 

 "foxy "little animal. Here seems to 

 be a new use for the despised mouse. 

 Maybe some one can breed a strain of 

 mice that can be recommended to bee- 

 keepers as moth-exterminators. I will 

 pass the " problem " over to our Hasty 

 Afterthinker. 



Honey as a Health- Food. — This 



is a 16-page honey-pamphlet intended to help 

 increase the demand for honey. The first 

 part of it contains a short article on " Honey 

 as Food," written by Dr. C. C. Miller. It 

 tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it, 

 etc. The last part is devoted to " Honey- 

 Cookintr Recipes " and " Remedies Using 

 Honey." It should be widely circulated by 

 those selling honey. The more the people are 

 educated on the value and uses of honey, the 

 more honey they will buy. 



Prices, prepaid— Sample copy for a 2-cent 

 stamp; 50 copies for 70 cents; 100 for $1.25; 

 250 for $2.25; 500 for $4.00; or 1000 for $7.50. 

 Your business card printed free at the bottom 

 of front page on all orders for 100 or more 

 copies. Send all orders to the office of the 

 American Bee Journal. 



„_„ You let me know that my time has ex- 

 pired for the American Bee Journal. Now for 

 the life of you, never stop it till I tell you, 

 for I can nut bear to lose it. Enclosed you 

 will find money order for same.— Ignatz 

 Koch, of Wisconsin. 



