GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chad wick, 



A field meet was held in River- 

 side recently. Those attending re- 

 port a very successful meeting. 

 Another will be held in Redlands, 



Oct. 7. 



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The blue-curl season is now at 

 its height (Sept. 11); and while it is not 

 considered as being a surplus-producing 

 plant, 5'et there is no wild flora that is more 

 valuable as a stimulating source. In the 

 very late season, after the bees in many 

 localities have been practically idle for 

 several weeks, they are given sufficient 

 stores from the source to encourage late 

 breeding. 



A writer concludes that the efficiency of 

 the Italians in keeping down disease lies in 

 the fact that they are better house-keepers. 

 Good house-keepers have always been in 

 demand. The experience of finding out who 

 are the good house-keepers has caused many 

 an hour of regret. 



Mr. J. E. Crane, page 722, Aug. 15, 

 advances the theory that the climate of 

 California affects tlie bees as it does people, 

 giving this as the reason that the bees are 

 able to fly a greater distance here than in 

 Florida. The theory seems to be perfect, 

 but I am a little skeptical as to the realities 

 of the case. However, I am not ready to 

 say that Brother Crane has not advanced 

 the proper idea as to the cause, but do not 

 see exactly how it is to be proved. 



When a small boy, and just becoming 

 interested in the bee business, I was not 

 only eager to learn, but I was about as 

 gullible a mortal as could be found. There 

 was an old Kentucky gentleman in the 

 neighborhood who told me many remark- 

 able tilings about his experiences with bees, 

 one of which was that he once had a colony 

 in a starving condition that he saved by 

 boiling a piece of chicken very tender and 

 slipping it into the hive where the bees had 

 access, and, strange to say, the bees lived 

 thru the winter (I think the chicken had 

 nothing to do with it, however). 



Howard L. Rann, a humorist, has recent- 

 ly tackled the bee. Mr. Rann is contribut- 

 ing some funny thoughts to the daily pa- 



Redlands, Cal. 



pers, and, like the great majority of our 

 poi^ulation, he seems to have very little 

 accurate knowledge of the habits of the 

 bee, and incidentally throws himself in a 

 very ridiculous light by venturing some 

 comic matter on the subject. I quote: 

 " Bees do not believe in equal suffrage. The 

 male bee is not allowed to look or dress 

 different from any other bee, and is the 

 most henjriecked individual in existence. It 

 is a sad sight to see a swarm of masculine 

 bees trooping forth to work in the morning, 

 bossed by a queen-bee who probably does 

 not know how to vote the Australian bal- 

 lot." To the average person this is un- 

 doubtedly very witty; but to one who has 

 some knowledge of the habits of the bee, it 

 certainly puts Mr. Rann in a ridiculous 



light. 



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WILL THE LOCAL ORDINANCES HOLD? 



Some recent decisions by our state courts 

 lead me to the conclusion that it may be a 

 good time for us to ponder over some of 

 our manj' different county ordinances rela- 

 tive to bees. By the terms of a decision 

 handed down by the third district court of 

 appeals in Sacramento, August 10, there 

 seems to be a case that nearly parallels our 

 county ordinances. The substance of the 

 decision was that the state fish and game 

 laws cannot be circumscribed or otherwise 

 restricted by local enactment. A similar 

 decision was given some months ago rela- 

 tive to the speed laws governing automobiles 

 in municipal limits, in which it was held 

 that the state law was superior to the city 

 ordinances in regulating speed, thus prac- 

 tically annulling all city ordinances on the 

 subject. In the first case it seems that the 

 Board of Supervisors of Humboldt County, 

 acting upon a clause in the county govern- 

 ment, making further restrictions on the 

 game laws of the state, had precipitated the 

 matter into the courts where it was held 

 that the state laws were the recognized 

 game laws, thus ignoring the county ordi- 

 nance. 



I have expressed my opinion at various 

 times regarding the probable results if some 

 of these restrictive ordinances should be 

 questioned in the courts. The decisions 

 mentioned above seem to verify my conclu- 

 sions. There is little doubt that arbitrary 

 and restrictive bee ordinances such as some 

 of our counties i30ssess, and which come 

 under the police jDowers of the state, would 

 suffer under a decision of the courts. 



