388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



A very practical and successful 

 beekeeper recently made the re- 

 Tiiark that old black combs are 

 breeders of disease, and that it is 

 next to impossible to eradicate dis- 

 ease when using them. With new 

 combs he claims the work is half 

 accomplished before beginning. 



A California beekeeper of some promi- 

 nence once said : " The bee business is the 

 most hopeful business of any and all busi- 

 nesses." He was right. Honey cannot be 

 measured on prospects of the season. But 

 hopes remain when reason seems to have 



fled. 



• » » 



I have just extracted nearly two tons 

 of the finest orange honey I have ever been 

 able to secure. Had this immense flow, with 

 the unprecedented good weather during the 

 orange-blooming season, been one month 

 later, it would have been an easy matter to 

 secure five or six tons. 



In a recent letter from Mr. Doolittle I am 

 informed of his severe illness with heart 

 trouble. It is to be hoped that his condition 

 may improve, and that we may yet enjoy 

 reading many pages of his work in the 

 columns of Gleanings. Mr. Doolittle, to 

 my notion, is one of the few very able 

 writers of his day. 



it Wt W: 



At this writing the season appears to me 

 as one that is to be full of disappointments 

 as to final results. The hoped-for late rains 

 have failed to appear, with the result that 

 the button sage is not yielding as was ex- 

 pected, and the chances for the flow from 

 the later-blooming plants diminishing as 

 the bright sunshine daily takes its toll of 

 moisture from the soil. 



• • • 



In viewing the list of officers of the Unit- 

 ed Honey-producers of America, one is led 

 to wonder if it is not really an Indiana 

 concern, and inclined to favor Indiana pro- 

 ducers. It seems to the writer that it is a 

 poor policy to expect a heavy following 

 with an organization so centralized. That 

 has been tried in our state. It is impossible 

 to amalgamate the interests of beekeepers 

 even in a state like <mr own, with all of tlie 

 otfieers in one end of the state. With a 

 national organization the task is even great- 



er. [We believe the plan is to have a vice- 

 president from each state. — Ed.] 

 ♦ * * 



After thirty years among the bees I have 

 experienced what I call a disastrous honey- 

 flow. How can a honey-flow be disastrous? 

 A few months ago I could not have believed 

 that such a condition would in any likeli- 

 hood arise, but with me it did. In my notes 

 I have pointed out from time to time the 

 winter conditions in this state. Our winter, 

 as will be remembered, was one of extreme- 

 ly heavy rains, and more than the usual 

 amount of cold, at times with snow. The 

 rains stopped abruptly, and gave way to an 

 unusually early and warm spring. On 

 March 1 I think I never saw my bees in a 

 more promising condition, and the work of 

 my young queens was all that could be 

 asked for. Two weeks later the orange 

 began blooming in earnest, and the flow of 

 nectar was never greater. The results were 

 that, within a period of ten days, my queens 

 were blocked with honey and nectar, and 

 relieving the situation seemed to be an im- 

 possible task. There were few colonies at 

 that date that were ready for storing nectar 

 in the supers; for, indeed, the bee force 

 was lacking to perform the work. The 

 nights were cold, as is always the case at 

 this time of the year, and the nectar was 

 placed close into the brood-nest. In this 

 manner the work of the queens was stopped 

 abruptly. To place dry combs in the brood- 

 nest was of no avail, for it was immediately 

 used to hold the onrush of nectar. To place 

 foundation in the brood-nest gave very little 

 aid, for in the greater number of cases there 

 was not a sufficient number of bees at that 

 time to draw it readily ; or if it was drawn 

 it was in most cases filled with nectar before 

 the cells were half drawn. The disastrous 

 feature of the situation was in the fact that 

 brood-rearing seemed to have been forgot- 

 ten in the mad rush to the orange, and even 

 the cells where brood was hatching were 

 promptly filled with honey. A more exas- 

 perating situation could hardly be imag- 

 ined. Here was a wonderful flow of nectar, 

 with too few bees to store it in the extract- 

 ing-supers, so it was literally drowning the 

 life out of the colonies. Had the flow come 

 a month later it would have been one of 

 immense value, and the results could have 

 been only for the best; but as it was, the 

 bee force for later work became so curtailed 

 that the results of the season for me have 

 become doubtful. 



