1064 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, 



The meeting of the San Bernar- 

 dino County beekeepers held at 

 Redlands, Oct. 7, was well attend- 

 ed, and Avas a success in general. 



* * * 



Rains have continued to fall in 

 rather generous amounts, totaling 

 nearly four inches in some localities. This 

 is vei-y unusual for October. A dry winter 

 is prophesied by many; but past weather 

 records do not bear out the idea. 



* * * 



The hive standard is pretty well estab- 

 lished in the Langstroth size and should 

 be maintained as the standard, but I am 

 convinced that a deeper frame and not so 

 many of them would make a more ideal 

 hive and one better adapted to the needs 



of the bee. 



* * * 



Breeding is at a very low ebb in this 

 locality just now. Some colonies opened 

 today, Oct. 30, contained not one cell of 

 brood. This is due to the fact that just 

 now is the period when there is perhaps 

 less inducement to breed than at any other 



time of the year. 



■*• * * 



The greatest objection to bee-escapes is 

 that in hot weather there is danger of combs 

 melting down, and in cold weather the 

 honey gets too cold to uncap and extract 

 readily. I have never found as satisfactory 

 a way as to shake and brush the bees, then 

 extract the combs at once while they are 



warm. 



* * * 



Mr. Crane has discovered that bees work 

 on the wild carrot; now if we could get 

 them to work on the cockle burr we would 

 have the most universal honey-plant in the 

 United States, for I have found that old 

 weed growing everywhere I have been thru 

 all my travels, even on the dry foothills of 



California. 



* * » 



If a colony of bees begins to " hang out " 

 we may expect them to swai'm, not because 

 it is a necessary part of vswarming, but be- 

 cause it is a sign that there is a surplus of 

 bees. Swarming is nature's way of reliev- 

 ing the congested condition. Ventilation 

 will retard swarming because it relieves 

 the necessity of the bees moving out. 

 » * * 



Gasoline is excellent to use in smother- 

 ing a colony. If your hive is tight-bottom- 

 fd. pour it ill the entrance and close it up 



Redlands, Cal. 



tight ; all will be dead in a short time. 

 Moths in a mass of webbed comb may be 

 dispensed with quickly by pouring gaso- 

 line over it; the slightest bit touching a 

 moth will kill it instantly. 

 * ■* * 



When hiring a man get one you can 

 trust and then treat him like a human be- 

 ing. Good food and comfortable quarters 

 g-ives a man self-respect as well as enei-gy. 

 I have little use for the attitude assumed 

 by some men in this .state toward their' 

 hired help. We are all human ; and because 

 a man is out of a job is no sign he is a 

 bum. Even if he were he might be made 

 a better man by kind treatment. 



In the October 15th issue Mr. Crane says: 

 " A bee finding a scanty yield of nectar in 

 the flowers of one apple-tree naturally flies 

 to another, and in so doing it gives the best 

 possible cross-fertilization." In this thought 

 he is getting down to the real cause of 

 swarming. I expect to submit an article on 

 tlie cause of swarming soon, but that sen- 

 tence touching this one thought will, in jus- 

 tice to Mr. Crane, be eliminated. 



« -s * 



The editor cites a case in the Oct. 15th is- 

 sue where he moved bees le.=s than a mile 

 and not one bee returned to the old location. 

 That is possible when moving even less dis- 

 tance, but it may or may not be because the 

 Ijees ha.-\'e not traversed the territorjr. By 

 confining bees to the hive, after moving 

 them a short distance, for ten or twelve 

 Iiours, then giving them an entirely new en- 

 trance there will be little trouble. 



* S! « 



The diagnosing of an apiary by simply 

 lifting the hive and looking under, as rec- 

 ommended by the editor and endorsed by 

 Mr. Byer, may be all right in som.e localities 

 at some times ; but some of the requirements 

 necessary are not told, and it seems to me 

 to be a bid for carelessness. Here in the 

 West we have many beekeei)ers who would 

 be prone to follow this kind of plan, even 

 in some cases failing to lift the hives at all. 

 Here also arises cause for the rapid spread- 

 ing of disease in many localities. I will not 

 commit myself by precept or example to a 

 plan that will encourage the shiftlessness 

 already far too common in this or any other 

 disease-infested locality. Where I here is a 

 reason to suspect the presence of disease, 

 careful inspection is necessary and should 

 be encouraged to the greatest extent. 



