198 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 1 



Bee-keeping in Southern 

 California 



By Mks. H. G. Acklin, Glendora, Cal. 



Let us beware when we' commence ex- 

 tracting orange honey." If you were not 

 present when G. J. Lynn read his paper, 

 ' ' Unripe Honey, ' ' watch for it in the Culti- 

 vator. 



If we have a crop this year (which can 

 never be fully determined until the flow is 

 over) all of the big producers in this section 

 have decided to hold their white extracted 

 honey at 7 cts. per pound. 



Indications are for a late season. Much 

 of the time during January and February, 

 and at this w^riting, March 8, the weather 

 has been cool and cloudy, consequently 

 brood-rearing has been delayed. 



" Californians for California, and Califor- 

 nia for Californians!" This is the slogan I 

 heard a bee-keeper use the other day. Hon- 

 ey-buyers had better look out. We may 

 get so self-centered that Eastern money will 

 not be accepted for our product. 



The Van Thomas Co., Los Angeles, is 

 making plans for a book of recipes in which 

 honey is used exclusively for sweetening. 

 This is a move in the right direction. If 

 the mothers of our land could be brought to 

 understand the truth in regard to using 

 honey in place of sugar, its consumption 

 would be doubled in a very short time. 



Last fall there was a farmers' institute 

 held at Colton, in the interests of bee-keep- 

 ing. The people from Berkeley, who have 

 charge of the farmers' institutes, conducted 

 it, and local bee-keepers furnished papers 

 and took part the same as at a regular bee- 

 keepers' convention. This is as it should 

 be; and if things keep coming our way, bee- 

 keepers will come into their own in a few 

 years. 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE JLOS ANGELES 

 CO. BEB-KEEPERS' CLUB. 



Our county club met in the Chamber of 

 Commerce, March 2, at 10:30 a.m., with the 

 president, W. R. Wiggins, as chairman. 



E. B. Shaffner was appointed secretary 

 pro tern, in the absence of the regular secre- 

 tary, D. J. Shultis. W. H. Allen, apiary 

 inspector of Ventura Co., sounded a note of 

 warning in regard to parties who contem- 

 plate shipping in bees which are near infect- 

 ed districts. A committee of five, most of 

 its members having ranges in the northern 

 part of the county, where the danger is 

 greatest, was appointed. This committee is 

 expected to assist our inspector, Mr. De Sel- 

 lem, in keeping those bees out of our coun- 

 ty. 



We have an excellent county ordinance 

 covering this whole matter, and the railroad 

 officials are ready and willing to conform to 

 the obligations laid on them. With so 

 many people on the alert, it would seem im- 

 possible for suspected bees to get in, even by 

 team. 



Our time was limited, so no papers were 

 read. E. B. Shaffner was elected president, 

 and D. J. Shultis secretary and treasurer. 

 4y 

 A bee-keeper said to me not long ago, 

 "I read your writings, but do not agree with 

 you in every thing." I replied that I was 

 glad he considered my department worth 

 reading, and did not expect everybody to 

 agree with me in every thing. How much 

 better is a frank statement like this than 

 secret opposition, with nothing tangible 

 enough about it to run down, but "alle sa- 

 mee" is in evidence in a sly way! Proba- 

 bly, if time had permitted, this same gen- 

 tleman could have given me some pointers 

 that would have been useful to me in fu- 

 ture. There are as many methods of bee- 

 keeping as there are bee-keepers; and the 

 only way we can keep ourselves from get- 

 ting into the most selfish kinds of ruts is to 

 talk to and listen to the "other fellow," 

 both through the bee papers and in conven- 

 tions. ISIy heart was made glad many 

 times during the recent State convention 

 when some one would shake my hand and 

 say how much he enjoyed my department, 

 and speak about the good he considered I 

 was doing. My great desire is to help bee- 

 keepers everywhere, and especially those in 

 my own State. 



4?- 

 In looking at that picture on page 628 of 

 the Oct. 1st, 1910, issue, I am reminded very 

 forcibly that the Wright Bros, ought to per- 

 fect their flying machines so that moving 

 bees, supplies, and honey, to and from our 

 mountain canyons, in that way, will be 

 feasible. Just think what a boon a safe 

 flying-machine would be to California bee- 

 keepers! Last winter nearly 200 colonies of 

 bees, including many fixtures, were moved 

 from Corona to Glendora; and the trials and 

 tribulations of that moving expedition were 

 something awful. Part of the bees had to 

 be unloaded before the last stiff grade into 

 the canyon could Le made, although there 

 were four horses to each load. Just imag- 

 ine, if you can, the vast difference there 

 would have been in moving by aeroplane — 

 no roundabout roads to follow, no grades 

 to overcome, only straight sailing and land- 

 ing at the right spot while it was still day- 

 light. No danger of the airship getting 

 stung, so plenty of time could have been 

 taken to have unloaded the bees on their 

 proper stands, instead of setting them down 

 anywhere to be shifted later. But this is 

 only one of the many instances in which a 

 reliable flying-machine would come handy 

 for California bee-keepers; so, won't you 

 please, Mr. Editor, write the Wright Bros, 

 a letter requesting them to "hurry up "? 



