Oct. 1, 1911 



in a series of yards, about 150 to 200 in a 

 yard; apiaries about two miles apart, and in 

 some places less than one mile, according to 

 the range. 



At Caldwell, and to the south, Mr. Mc- 

 Carty, late of Colorado, has the range occupi- 

 ed with 1000 colonies, starting from Caldwell; 

 and going on down the river two miles we 

 have the yard of Mr. Sprague, another Col- 

 orado man, with 75 to 100 colonies; below 

 this, about one mile, Mr. McCarty has anoth- 

 er, 150. Going on down less than two miles, 

 Messrs. Crowther & Powers have 250. Just 

 across the river, and exactly 1^4 miles below, 

 I own and run an apiary of 550 colonies. 



This brings us to Notus, as shown on the 

 map. Between Notus and Parma, 8 miles, 

 we have the following yards: Messrs. John- 

 son, 40; Konke, 40; Coffin, 160; Powers, 300; 

 Crowther, 250; Schultz, 250; Wendt Bros., 

 300; Paine, 300; Atwater, 250; Andrews, 50; 

 Hall Bros., 150 — a total of over 2000 colonies 

 on a strip 8 miles long by 1)4 wide. My 

 own yard is a little below Xotus, and could 

 really be included in this district also. I 

 ask any fair-minded apiarist, "Is it any won- 

 der that Parma bee-keepers do not want any 

 more additions to their number?" 



He further states that we have no appro- 

 priation to fight foul brood. Here again he 

 shows his knowledge to be limited. We 

 have $1000 a year appropriated for this very 

 purpose, and I, as deputy inspector, get 

 $5.00 a day for my labor. Reference is also 

 made that my apiary of 550 colonies is bad- 

 ly diseased. 1 am no exception toother bee- 

 keepers in this vicinity, for we all have foul 

 brood to contend with; but I am free to say 

 that, at the present date, I have a clean 

 yard. 



Xo doubt it is the small farmer bee-keep- 

 ers who aid in the spreading of foul brood, 

 and Mr. Miller is no exception to this class. 

 He is not progressive enough even to join 

 our local association. He has never visited 



589 



my apiary, and his knowledge of the condi- 

 tions there are about on a par with his 

 knowledge of the valley as a whole. 

 Notus, Ida. 



THE SITUATION IN CALIFORNIA. 



A Bountiful Honey-flow Surprised Many Who were 

 Not Prepared for it. 



BY C. W. DAYTON. 



I ascribe the failure of honey last season, 

 1910, to a freeze we had in February of that 

 year that destroyed the fungoid plants. It 

 showed its effect not only on the 

 <</ sage but garden and farm crops 

 Boise slIso. Bees in this locality gather- 

 ed plenty of honey to live on and 

 ,AfJ for breeding purposes, but they 

 me" .. seemed to be unable to use it. I 

 have about 20 colonies that have 

 gathered very little honey this 

 season — not more than 10 ~ to 20 

 lbs., while many other colonies 

 have stored from 300 to 500 lbs. 

 each. 



The honey-flow, in this vicinity 

 at least, was wonderful. We had 

 very poor rains last winter, but 

 there was a very heavy crop of 

 bloom from all the honey-yield- 

 ing flora. There was such pecul- 

 iar weather that both the moisture 

 and bloom were held back until 

 settled warm weather arrived. The 

 honey-flow was short but very 

 abundant. It came spasmodical- 

 ly; and where the colonies were 

 not ready with plenty of sujoers on 

 the hives, and the bees already at 

 work in them, most of the opportunities for 

 storing were lost. 



No colonies were kept on scales; but my 

 supers average from 27 to 30 lbs. each, and 

 I took from six to ten supers from single 

 colonies within one week. I kept count of 

 most of the colonies. The weather also con- 

 tinued unusually favorable. After black 

 sage had yielded moderately for a few days, 

 there came four or five days when honey 

 seemed to be as plentiful as water. This 

 slow yield developed the ripening ferment 

 in the bees; and when the heavy flow came 

 on, a colony of 5 to 12 lbs. of bees was able 

 to "put away" honey very rapidly, so that 

 there were from 10 to 30 lbs. stored during 

 each of those days, just as I have seen them 

 store honey from basswood in Iowa. 



Black sage, balled sage, and mountain 

 sumac all came separately, and had their 

 heavy yielding days, and the hives were fill- 

 ed as if by magic. I never knew sumac to 

 do as well unless it was in 1897. That sea- 

 son the yield was longer, but not as heavy 

 as this year. What was lacking this year 

 was bees and alert bee-keepers who could 

 see ahead and prognosticate as to what 

 might happen. 



As I look backward over the past season I 

 realize that there is nothing else in bee cul- 



