GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE 



tlie poultry side in this issue the readers of 

 this journal know him best as a beekeeper. 



There is another ijhase of this whole ques- 

 tion ; and that is, the average backlotter can 

 usually keep a .dozen good hens in a small 

 yard. The scraps from the table, especially 

 meat scra^DS and ground bone, will go a long 

 way toward the maintenance of the flock. 

 If they can have all the cuttings from the 

 lawn-mower from the front yard, they will 

 get along very well, providing they have 

 with the table scraps mixed grain which 

 they should always be able to get during the 

 daylight hours. 



A small number of chickens in the back 

 yard will yield not only a fair return but 

 afford a large amount of pleasure to the 

 good woman of the house; and last, but not 

 least, eggs that she knoivs are fresh. 



The prices that eggs are bringing now in 

 market, especially during the winter months, 

 and the securing of winter eggs when no one 

 else has them, should be carefully consider- 

 ed. Ordinarily that means early chickens 

 — much earlier than the average man will 

 have them. 



FOUL-BROOD QUARANTINE IN IMPERIAL CO.^ 

 CAL. 



In the early part of last year, as noted in 

 Gleanings at the time and later, the supei'- 

 visors of Imperial Co., Cal., passed an ordi- 

 nance prohibiting the shipment of bees into 

 the county from other counties of the State 

 or other States, without first giving notice 

 of such shipment within 24 hours after their 

 arrival. This ordinance in case of violation 

 places a penalty of fine and imprisonment, 

 not only on the representatives of the rail- 

 roads, but on the shipper himself. It ap- 

 pears to go further, in that it gives the foul- 

 brood inspector authority to prevent the 

 landing of bees (Avhether diseased or not) in 

 the county from districts where disease of 

 any kind is supposed to exist. 



On Sept. 11 the foul-brood inspector, Mr. 

 A. F. Wagner, in the exercise of authority 

 given him by this ordinance, declared a 

 quarantine against the shipment of any bees 

 into the county. See Gleanings, Oct. 1st, 

 p. 665. The inspector has evidently had his 

 troubles. Two wagonloads and one carload 

 of bees have been shipped in, and Inspector 

 Wagner ordered the bees to be shipj^ed back 

 immediatel5^ The railroad company demur- 

 red, but finally took them and carried them 

 out of the county. Suits and counter suits 

 for damages have been threatened. Whether 

 they have been carried into court or settled, 

 we have not been informed. 



In the last issue of the Western Honey- 

 lee, published at Los Angeles, a full text of 



the ordirance and quarantine is given. In 

 an open letter to tlie Board of Supervisors 

 of Imperial County, Mr. J. Edgar Ross, one 

 of the most extensive beekeepers in the 

 county, refers to this ordinance as " a gross 

 injustice to the Imperial Valley immi- 

 grants." He says he has never brought bees 

 into the county, and never expects to. 

 Among other things he says: 



The key to the entire situation is simple. A few 

 extensive beekeepers now located in the valley wanted 

 to put up a hi^h board fence to keep others away 

 from what they know to be a good thing. There 

 might be some plausible excuse for this if the valley 

 were, as they claim, already overstocked with bees. 

 That this is not the case is abundantly proven by the 

 rate at which nearly all beekeepers in the valley are 

 increasing the number of their colonies. As a matter 

 of cold fact, hundreds of tons of honey are going to 

 waste in this valley for the simple reason that there 

 are not enough bees to gather it. The interests of 

 my pocketbook, as any one can plainly see, lies in 

 silence, for I have bees for sale, and bees are worth 

 three times as much here as they can be bought for 

 on the coast; but I do not write my principles with 

 a dollar-sign, and am decidedly opposed to this dog- 

 in-the-manger policy. 



Of course, Gleanings has taken no sides 

 in this matter. Although we have been ad- 

 vised that trouble was brewing we thought 

 best to say nothing about it, hoping that the 

 case or cases would be settled out of court. 

 We have received intimation that one case 

 has been " settled," but on just what terms, 

 and how, we are not as yet advised. 



The situation, in a nutshell, resolves itself 

 down to this : There is European and Amer- 

 ican foul brood in some counties of Califor- 

 nia. The beekee])ing area in Imperial Co. is 

 isolated inside of a desert; and under ordi- 

 nai-y circumstances disease will not get into 

 the valley unless shipped in with other bees. 

 Its beekeepers, desiring to protect them- 

 selves from the importation of bees from in- 

 fected counties into their county, apparent- 

 ly prevailed on the board of supervisors to 

 pass the ordinance, which they did a year 

 ago. But there seemed to be some dissatis- 

 faction over the action of Inspector Wagner 

 in enforcing' the ordinance; that he was un- 

 fair in letting some in, and not others. As 

 nearly as we can ascertain, some beekeepers 

 and perhaps the majority in the county are 

 in favor of the ordinance; but one of the 

 most extensive ones among them, Mr. Ross, 

 believes it is unjust and unfair, and he pro- 

 ceeds to pay his respects to Mr. Wagner 

 (the inspector) and to his coUeagiies, in no 

 uncertain language, in the Western Honey- 

 bee for December. 



Mr. P. C. Chadwick, in his department in 

 this issue (see page 7) appears to feel that 

 the ordinance will act as a boomerang on 

 the beekeepers of Imperial Co. if the time 

 ever comes when tliey desire to move bees 

 into some other county. 



