1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



269 



hive bottom. The temperature out- 

 doors at this time was about 25 de- 

 grees F. At no time since the bees 

 were first fed sugar syrup did they 

 liave a flight, to the knowledge of the 

 writer. At the time the bees died 

 there was still a considerable quan- 

 tity of sugar syrup in the frames. 



Moral: Feed early. 



Watertown, Wis. 



(This experiment confirms previous 

 tests. When it is necessary to feed 

 the bees late in the fall or during the 

 winter, at a time when they cannot 

 take flights occasionally, the only 

 safe food is candy, placed over the 

 combs, above the cluster. — Editor). 



MIGRATORY BEEKEEPING 



By C. I. Graham 

 I shipped my first car of bees in 

 1891, from Santa Ana, Orange County, 

 to Newhall, Los Angeles County. 

 1891 and 1892 were off seasons. I fed 

 heavj' and lost SO per cent from star- 

 vation. In 1893 I produced 300 pounds 

 per colony in May and June, from 

 black sage, in Mint and Bouguet Can- 

 }-ons, in Los Angeles County. In July 

 moved by team 40 miles to Pondale, 

 producing 20 pounds per colony from 

 desert blue sage. In August moved 

 twenty miles, 3,000 feet elevation, 

 to Gorman Station, and produced 

 35 pounds per colony from wild 

 buckwheat, the big red variety. 1894 

 and '95 were ofi seasons in those lo- 

 cations. I was compelled to move 

 back to Los Angeles County, and 

 X'entura County bean fields, to carry 

 my colonies over. In 1896 I moved 

 by team 90 miles, to Kern County, 

 Tehachapi Mountains, 5,000 feet ele- 

 vation ; produced 52 pounds per 

 colony, honey from mountain salt 

 Sage, and delivered a car load of 

 honey SO miles to Mojave. I made 

 my own road through Mojave Desert. 

 In 1897 shipped back to L. A. Co., to 

 Mint and Bouguet Canyon, salt belt, 

 and produced 26 pounds per colony 

 from black sage. In 1898 moved by 

 team 30 miles to Bakersfield, Kern 

 County, in June; produced 65 pounds 

 per colony. In 1900 made four dif- 

 ferent crops by four shipments; first 

 crop Los Banos, Merced County 

 Spring flower belt, 20 pounds per 

 colony, in February and March; sec- 

 ond crop shipped to San Luis Obispo, 

 Monterey County, sage belt, pro- 

 duced 8 pounds per colony in May 

 and June. Third crop shipped back 

 to San Joaquin and Sacramento Val- 

 leys; produced 40 pounds per colony 

 from alfalfa and weeds in July and 

 August. In September shipped to 

 Merced, Madera and Fresno Coun- 

 ties to jackass clover belt; produced 

 70 pounds per colony; finished ex- 

 tracting on Christmas day, and 

 shipped to Tulare County, orange belt 

 for the winter. I shipped 14 cars for 

 the season. In 1905 I shipped from 

 Davis, Yolo County, almond belt to 

 Saugus, L. A. Co., sage belt, produc- 

 ing 300 pounds per colony in May and 

 June from black sage. In July 

 shipped to Raisin City and Courthers, 

 Fresno County, jackass clover belt, 

 securing 30 pounds per colony. The 

 crop was 240,000 pounds of honey, 



2,000 pounds of wax. This crop was 

 handled by myself and one helper 

 from the first of February to the first 

 of November. One extreme follows 

 another in California. In 1906 I 

 shipped all my bees four times be- 

 fore I produced honey to carry them' 

 over the winter. I shipped 20 cars 

 for the season, including two cars to 

 Carson City, Nevada. I hauled them 

 by team 50 miles to Topaz, Mono 

 County, Calif. M\' traveling for the 

 season was five 3,000-raile books. 

 My system is to double liack two or 

 three times before shipping to new 

 locations, to make sure conditions 

 are developing O. K.. Then a hot 

 wave may kill and destroy the plants 

 shipped to. In 1910 I produced 60 

 pounds of orange honey per colony 

 at Exeter and Lemon Cove, Tulare 

 County. In April I shipped to Reno. 

 Truckee Meadows, Nevada. The 9th 

 of May produced 200 pounds per col- 

 ony from white clover, sweet clover 

 and alfalfa. There was a steady flow 

 from the 19th of May to the ISth day 

 of September. In 1915 I produced 106 

 pounds of orange honey per colony 

 in April at Porterville and Xante, 

 Tulare County, then shipped to Reno 

 and produced 60 pounds per colony 

 balance of season. In 1919 my bees 

 built up in the almond belt at Dur- 

 ham, Butte County, in February and 

 March, then produced a little sur- 

 plus from one-third of the colonies, 

 mated 50 per cent of queens, then 

 shipped to Oroville, Butte County, 

 orange belt, in April, and produced 

 18 pounds per colony. In May I 

 shipped to Yolo County reclaimed 

 lands, domestic seed belt, and pro- 

 duced 60 pounds per colony from on- 

 ions and carrots in May and June. In 

 July the bees were shipped to star 

 thistle belt, Colusa County, where 

 they produced 120 pounds per colony, 

 and tripled the number of colonies. 

 One of these car loads of colonies 



passed eight health certificates dur- 

 ing the season. During the season of 

 1919 I eradicated 15 cases of Ameri- 

 can foulbrood, 7 cases in one car, 8 in 

 the other, and I realized how and 

 where I picked it up. In 1918 I was 

 located 2 miles from a careless bee- 

 keeper, who cleaned up his American 

 foulbrood in the day time. Fifty per 

 cent of his bees were affected. I had 

 600 colonies in this location. In 1918 

 I eradicated 12 cases of American 

 foulbrood in one car, no disease in 

 the other. Both carloads passed 2 

 health certificates during the season. 



Now, who is most apt to 

 spread disease, the migratory or 

 the stationary beekeepers, even under 

 our present county laws? In the yel- 

 low star thistle belt, in Sacramento 

 Valley, 1903, I produced 68 pounds 

 per colony, thistle honey, at Grimes, 

 Colusa County. In 1908, 40 pounds per 

 colony, Chico, Butte County. 1912, 32 

 pounds at Vina, Tehama County, 1917 

 45 pounds at Tehama, Tehama County 

 and 1919, 120 pounds per colony at 

 Princeton, Colusa County. In 1903 

 this thistle was unknown to beekeep- 

 ers in California, excepting only three 

 small belts' to my knowledge, one at 

 Grimes, Colusa County; one at Cot- 

 tonwood, Shasta County, and one at 

 Tehama, Tehama County. Now it has 

 become a pest to farmers. No limit — 

 an area, 100 miles in length, from 

 one to fifty miles in width. 



Allow me to state the opportunities 

 and advantages have advanced 90 

 per cent in the past 20 years as to 

 quantity of honey plants and exten- 

 sive fields, although there is 90 per 

 cent more diseases than 20 years ago 

 in California and Nevada. In ship- 

 ping 170 cars of bees I have lost 3 car- 

 loads; first car 544 colonies, shipped 

 from San Luis Obispo, Monterey 

 County, to Knights Landing, Yolo 

 County, July 10, 1900. The car was 

 spotted on team track at noon, unable 



:4« 





i^9& 



^k^^ 



m 



wm 





Comb built without foundation, showing both drone and worker cells arranged 



in irregular manner 



