616 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Friend Hutchinson said, "Keep more 

 bees. " Dr. Miller says, ' ' Keep better bees. ' ' 

 It might be well to add a third bit of advice, 

 "Keep bees better." 



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There are not many apiaries in this local- 

 ity that could jiractice outdoor feeding with- 

 out supporting a few neighboring colonies. 

 There are a thousand or more colonies within 

 reach of mine. 



As long as sugar retails at about $8.00 a 

 hundred pounds, the price of honey should 

 keep up well. During a recent trip to San 

 Diego I noticed extracted honey retailing at 

 12 cts. a pound. 



I sometimes wonder what would be the 

 result of a thorough inspection of some of 

 our California apiaries, in line with modern 

 ideas on cleanliness and sanitation. I am 

 convinced that some could not stand such 

 a test. 



We have just had more than an inch of 

 rain, which is unusual for September; but 

 it will be of little practical value, as it is 

 probable it will be gone long before time for 

 the regular rainy season. Besides, such 

 early rains are not considered a good omen 

 for the rainy season. 



pect to visit this infected district soon, and 

 to learn more about this disease, for my own 

 benefit, not being acquainted with it in this 

 form. My experience with the American 

 form, however, has tavight me how to cope 

 with it; and while I entertain no fears, I 

 confess I am much worried over our jjrox- 

 imity to this new form. 



There is no part of a hive as indispensa- 

 ble as queen-excluders; yet to my notion, 

 aside from the matter of economy, their use 

 is conducive to more sanitary conditions. 

 The larvae can then be left undisturbed in 

 the lower chamber, which is much better 

 than later to strain them out of the honey. 

 In many apiaries in California where they 

 are not used I have seen conditions that 

 were revolting. 



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The subject of queens laying eggs that 

 would not hatch, commented on by Dr. 

 Miller, p. 418, .July 15, brings to mind a case 

 that occurred in 1905. The queen was self- 

 hived on empty combs in a hive where a 

 colony had died. She laid continually for 

 over three months, having been supplied 

 with brood to help her restock the hive; but 

 when it seemed to be a hopeless case she 

 was destroyed. I had i)reviously supposed 

 that any egg laid by a queen would at least 

 hatch drones; but this has left me in doubt. 



We want the National convention in 1915. 

 It will be hard work to bring it to the Pa- 

 cific coast; but with a world's fair at San 

 Diego and one at San Francisco it should 

 be an easy matter to get it that particular 

 year, Los Angeles being an ideal place be- 

 tween the two cities mentioned. 



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Skunks have been very troublesome for 

 some time. Hardly a colony in the yard 

 has been left alone. I am using arsenic and 

 eggs to destroy the pests, with good results. 

 A stock of old bees can be rapidly dejileted 

 at this time of the year when breeding is 

 slack and old bees are being regularly de- 

 stroyed. 



I am in receipt of a letter from jSIr. J. D. 

 Bixby, of Covina, Los Angeles Co., asking 

 me to visit him and to see some genuine 

 downcast black brood. Mr. Bixby fought 

 the disease six years ago in New York, and 

 should know w;hat it is. It looks dubious 

 when such reports as this come in together 

 with that of Mr. Rays, of Monrovia. I ex- 



(Juoting Arthur C. Miller, page 560, Sept. 

 15, "From the writer's point of view Mr. 

 Beucus erred in trying to put the various 

 forms of absconding in the phenomenon of 

 swarming." Swarming, to my mind, is not 

 in any sense a phenomenon, but a law of 

 nature, just as truly as reproduction in any 

 form of life is a law of nature. To speak of 

 it as a phenomenon is to discredit nature's 

 laws. Quoting again, "Normal swarming 

 is always accomjianied by the production of 

 queens." Here another law of nature is fol- 

 lowed, that of self-preservation; for resources 

 for a future queen for the parent colony are 

 left when the swarin with the old queen 

 issues; otherwise the ends designed by na- 

 ture would be defeated, and the new swarm 

 would become no more than an absconding 

 one from the standpoint of reproduction. 

 Superseding is in accordance with the same 

 law, and is a most beautifully worked-out 

 plan. If swarming, then, is one of nature's 

 laws, success in controlling it will depend 

 on one's ability to thwart those laws. Cell- 

 building will never occur except in obedi- 

 ence to one of these laws; and theories at- 

 tempting to eliminate the law of reproduc- 

 tion entirely are destined to be exploded. 



