70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 1 



take charge. I have been keeping bees in 

 Minnesota the past fourteen years. 



I can see no reason for giving southern 

 Cahfornia a black eye relative to the bee in- 

 dustry, for, on the average, large returns 

 are secured every other year. I can not say 

 why this is, but that has been the record of 

 my apiary for the past twelve years, and a 

 goDd year will give much more than any 

 one season in Minnesota; but, taken as a 

 whole, there is about as much profit in 

 Minnesota as in California. In my vicinity 

 the bees in California sell for about $3.50 a 

 colony in two-story extracting-hives. In 

 Minnesota I can get from $5.00 to ?6.00 in a 

 one-story hive. 



At the present time I do not think that 

 California is overstocked. We have bees 

 enough, however, for the poor seasons; but 

 in good seasons many more could be kept 

 on the same territory. I would advise any 

 one w^ho wishes to locate in southern Cali- 

 fornia to buy out an established apiary, as 

 many are for sale. "While the bees gather 

 honey any month in the year, yet the sur- 

 plus is obtained usually only during April, 

 May, June, and .July. 



jNIany will be surprised to learn that the 

 reason for a poor crop is on account of too 

 cool a season. My apiary is eight miles 

 from the coast, and some years apiaries 

 twenty miles from the coast get honey when 

 I have practically a failure, the reason being 

 that their locality is warmer. Rain, no 

 doubt, is quite a factor; but all the plants 

 are dry-weather plants, and very often with 

 a little rainfall a good crop of honey is se- 

 cured. Warm balmy air with heavy fogs in 

 the morning gives a heavy flow of nectar. 



Mr. Gibson has touched on a very impor- 

 tant factor controlling the price of honey, 

 when he speaks of the importance of clean- 

 liness, proper grading, and the crating of 

 comb honey. Far too many go into the 

 bee business who are not adapted to it. 

 Having been told there is big money in 

 bees they try it for two or three years, then 

 realize their mistake, go out of the business, 

 usually after experiencing a loss. Bees in 

 any country must be run on a business 

 basis, the same as any thing else. A yield 

 in one season of twenty dollars per colony 

 will get a lot of people into the business 

 when they know nothing about it; but they 

 think they can do the same the next sea- 

 son, when, in fact, this yield comes only a 

 very few times in the life of an experienced 

 bee-keeper. 



Let no one be deceived about the amount 

 of work required with bees in southern Cal- 

 ifornia, at least during the honey-flow. It 

 is necessary to begin to extract on Monday 

 morning, and keep it up until Saturday 

 night, and during a heavy flow this is hard 

 work. Tiering up does not answer here as 

 in Minnesota, for the honey becomes too 

 cold to extract unless it is close to the 

 brood-nest. I have found that the bees can 

 not be run the same in California as in Min- 

 nesota, for new tricks have to be learned. 

 All these things, of course, cost money. 



There are some good locations for bees in 

 San Diego Co. at the foot of the mountains. 

 However, they are so far from the market 

 that I would not care to take them up. In 

 locating an apiary, I know bee-men usually 

 follow the golden rule — that is, doing to oth- 

 ers as they would be done by. This cer- 

 tainly pays, for otherwise failure is the sure 

 result. More capital is required in Califor- 

 nia than in the East, the reason being that 

 there must be supplies on hand for a big 

 crop; and if there is an entire failure the 

 supplies must be carried over for another 

 season. 



Redwood Falls, Minn. 



BEES AND COLORS. 



Some Proofs that Bees are More Hostile to Black 

 Clothing than to White. 



BY M. E. PBUITT. 



On one occasion we had dealings with an 

 enraged colony, and I thought I would just 

 pull a couple of black stockings over my 

 hands (not being able to find my gloves at 

 the moment) , so that I could replace a cou- 

 ple of frames and put on the cover so that 

 they would not so easily detect the scent of 

 stings already received. Oh how I wished 

 I hadn't! They just simply covered my 

 hands; and when I retired from the field the 

 color of my "gloves "was changed from 

 black to i^epper-and-salt. 



The year before last I was wearing a navy- 

 blue skirt, and the bees seemed to delight 

 in puncturing it. I changed the navy blue 

 for a light tan, and all was peace. 



We have a Holstein cow; and every time 

 she passes by the yard, and the bees are ir- 

 ritated, they invariably make for the black 

 spots. 



When we are hitching up the sorrel and 

 the bay horse I notice they begin operations 

 on the black mane of the bay. When we 

 tiave the black horse and one of the others 

 together, the black comes in for the most 

 points. 



Our white chickens are not molested when 

 scratching in the yard; but the Minorcas 

 are allowed to stay hardly long enough to 

 locate a hunting-ground. 



When bees want to sting a person they 

 generally make for the shaded parts, such 

 as about the eyebrows, behind the ears, and 

 in the nostrils; and, oh what a tender spot 

 that is! 



Eola, Texas. 



About that Wasp-nest in a Section of Honey. 



In regard to that cut of a wasp-nest in a section of 

 honey, page 16. Jan. 1. I will make these assertions: 



1. That wasp was what is known as a mud-wasp 

 or mud-dauber; 2. The nest was put there when 

 there were no bees in the super; 3. The wasp never 

 passed through the brood-chamber in its trips to 

 and from its nest, as bees and wasps do not har- 

 monize. 



Rocky Ford, Col., Jan. P. A. S. Parson. 



