July I l<«ll 



387 



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WHITE SAGE UNCERTAIN; ORANGE YIELD- 

 ED LITTLE. 



Four weeks ago I reported a fifty-per-cent 

 loss for this section of California. Since 

 that time, conditions have been ideal for 

 the best results; strong colonies have gained 

 rapidly, and the weak ones in proi)ortion. 



The black or button sage should last two 

 weeks longer, bj^ which time the white va- 

 riety will just about be at its best. The 

 while sage is always uncertain as to its 

 yield; and since the buttom sage has al- 

 ready passed its prime, and since weak col- 

 onies are just now getting into the supers, 

 we can not possibly expect a large crop. 

 However, if the white sage should" yield well 

 through .Tune it will not be hard to get two 

 extractings after June 10 from this source, 

 which would add greatly to the California 

 crop. 



We had no great results from the orange 

 crop this year; but if the bees had been in a 

 normal condition the yield would have been 

 tremendous; for the season has been most 

 favorable for orange secretion, and bees 

 have been able to fly during almost the en- 

 tire period, which is seldom the case. 



Taking it all in all, even if every condi- 

 tion should prove favorable from now on 

 (May 26), it would still be difficult for Cali- 

 fornia to turn out a crop of sage honey equal 

 to our average crops for sage-yielding years. 



Redlands, Cal. P. C. Chadwick. 



BLACK SAGE AND WILD PEA YIELDING. 



Mr. Chadwick's report from Redlands, in 

 the May 15th issue, is correct. So far as I 

 can learn, the same conditions exist through- 

 out this county — Los Angeles. Now that 

 the season is on, I find the button sage is 

 not yielding. The iiill^ are red with the 

 bloom, yet not a bee is in sight. They are 

 working some on the black sage, also on the 

 wild pea — I refer to the Calabasas district. 

 Three weeks will tell the story. 



T. Archibald. 



Los Angeles, Cal., May 27. 



EIGHT FROSTS IN MAY. 



On May 24 we had a white frost, with the 

 thermometer at forty degrees. This made 

 no less than eight frosts during May, al- 

 though the days were generally warm. 

 May 21 the thermometer reached 96. 



I lost fifty per cent of my bees, and I be- 

 lieve the cause was the poor season last year 

 and the failure of the bees to raise young 

 bees at the right time to carry the colonies 

 through the winter. Most "of my bees 

 that died were in an outyard which I had 

 bought and had not yet requeened. Al- 

 though all of the hives contained honey, 

 the queens w^ere of the common sort and all 

 ages. At my home yard, where I had Ital- 

 ian queens not over two years old, all colo- 

 nies came through in good condition, and 

 will average fifty pounds of sage honey per 

 hive. I am on the northern limit of the 



sage, and the conditions are somewhat dif- 

 ferent from those of Southern California. I 

 expect to test some Carniolans this year. 

 Paicines, Cal. George Wm. Moore. 



ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. 



We had an abundance of bloom, but noth- 

 ing but cold, cloudy, and windy weather; 

 and even this morning. May 26, we nearly 

 had a frost. The.black sage and wild alfal- 

 fa are going out; and although the white 

 sage is just beginning, if the weather does 

 not change soon we shall have no better 

 crop than last year. ' 



It is very hard to get accurate statements 

 as to conditions. I knew of one man who 

 had 500 colonies, and there was a report 

 that he was doing very well. When I went 

 to see him, however, he had taken off but 

 little more than one ton of extracted honey. 

 I have taken, so far, 18 cases of extracted 

 honey from 250 colonies. The colonies do 

 not get very strong, as there is so much loss 

 this cold weather. I have not had enough 

 swarms to make up for the winter loss. 



Fallbrook, Cal. E. Lauritzen. 



WEAK COLONIES IN THE FALL CAUSED THE 

 GREAT LOSS. 



This is an off year again, with but a quar- 

 ter to one-fifth of a crop. We had no late 

 rains, and hot winds took the surface mois- 

 ture. Bees came through in a very weak 

 condition. Many thousands of colonies 

 were lost through spring dwindling with 

 hives and supers full of honey. The sup- 

 posed cause is that the season of 1910 was a 

 failure, and a lack of pollen or stimulative 

 late breeding. Bees were too old to go 

 through the winter, and were found dead in 

 small clusters the size of a hen's egg. Ope 

 or more combs of brood were started the size 

 of a man's hand, which perished from la;ck 

 of warmth. Many of these clusters were in 

 a iiutrid state from moisture from the dead 

 bees and sweaty combs. 



Many of the weakened colonies that came 

 through seemed to have been affected from 

 the continuous wet and chilly weather, and 

 eventually died out. From my observation 

 and experiments I am convinced it was 

 spring dwindling from causes mentioned.. I 

 have never known this to ha])pen here be- 

 fore. My loss was over 150. Every apiary 

 near the coast came through in good condi- 

 tion, as the coast section has the beans and 

 gum-trees for late stimulation; but the bulk 

 of the bees are in the interior, where the 

 great loss occurred. Some apiaries were en- 

 tirely lost. 



Piru, Cal. M. H. Mendleson. , 



CROP FROM ORANGE AND BLACK LOCUSJT. 



I secured a fine crop of honey from orarlge 

 and black locust, and at this date it contin- 

 ues very good. We had an average of nine 

 gallons of extracted honey per colony. 



Chico, Cal., May 9. S. J. Morrison.' 



