Aug f ST, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C I' L T U R E 



621 



GLEANINGS FROM THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST 



THIS has 

 been the 



first season 

 in my beekeeji- 

 ing experience that 1 have not 

 worker colony. The secret 

 qr.een in every hive. 



IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



had a fertile- 

 is. a vounsr 



The best insurance you can have on your 

 bees is a clean, fireproof yard. S'^veral 

 yards have already' been burned this season 

 because they were not properly cleaned. 



» * * 



Tlie interior foothill region seems to have 



had the advantage this year in that the fogs 



did not always reach so far from the coast, 



thus giving more time for the bees to work. 



» * » 



Be cautious about taking too much honey 

 this summer. It is a big temptation, I 

 know ; but next season is just as uncertain 

 as this, and may require even more honey 

 to carry the bees to safety. 



* * * 



Foggy days are nen-e-straining days for 

 the beekeeper in this region; but there is the 

 satisfaction of not having hot desert winds 

 while the fogs are hanging around. That 

 gives a little consolation, even if it isn't 



much. 



* * * 



A bad day during an excessive honey- 

 flow is not always a loss. It gives the bees 

 a chance to clean up and make room for the 

 queen. Every bad day after that is accom- 

 plished, however, is a total loss if the colony 

 is in proper condition. 



* » * 



A new swarm in a heavy honey-flow will 

 draw a full set of foundation almost as 

 quickly as it will fill empty combs, and 

 there is the additional value of the queen 

 having a chance to lay before so many of 

 the cells are filled with honey. 



* * * 



I have always preached " plenty of 

 stores." This season has fully exemplified 

 imy sermons. There was one time tliis 

 spring when another week of bad weather 

 would have caused a loss of bees that would 

 have been a disaster. As it was, some of the 

 very best colonies were stan'ed for lack of 

 honey because the enormous amount of 

 brood had consumed more than the beekeep- 

 ers thought possible. 



* » » 



Last autumn I had a ton and a half of 

 surplus honey on my hives, and debated as 



to w h e ther I 

 should extract it 

 or not. Condi- 

 tions at my 

 ranch were not the best for extracting, so 

 I decided to leave it until spring. When 

 the spring honey was coming in sufficient 

 to make all colonies safe I had less than 300 

 pounds of my big surplus left. That means 

 there was nearly a ton and a half more con- 

 sumed than the amount I judged would 

 leave them safe until new honey would take 

 care of them. 



THE SCALE COLONY'S RECORD. 



The season of 1917 will long be remem- 

 bered because of its extremes. The average 

 temperature during the entire winter was 

 below normal. This continued into the 

 spring, tho there were sufficient warm days 

 to induce the heaviest breeding that we 

 have experienced for several years. I will 

 give a littb review of the work of my scale 

 colony from April 19 to June 19, the chang- 

 ing of the scale being due entirely to bad 

 weather. The numbers following indicate 

 pounds; g. means gain, and 1. loss. Apr. 

 21, g. 41/2; Apr. 22, g. 21/2; Apr. 23, g. II/2; 

 Apr. 24, g. 5; Apr. 25, g. 6; Apr. 26, 27, 28, 

 net loss of 4 pounds; Apr. 29, g. 6; Apr. 30, 

 g. 1. May 1, g. 10 ; May 2, 1. 3 ; May 3, g. 

 4; May 4, g. 7; May 5, g. 14; May 6, g. 

 131/2; May 7, g. 3; May 8, 9, 10, the net loss 

 was 7 pounds ; May 11, g. 3 ; May 12, g. 10 ; 

 May 13, g. 11 ; May 14, g. 71/2. During the 

 rest of the month the daily gain only 

 equaled the loss. June 1 gave a gain of 

 one pound, with the following four days 

 showing a gain of 2 pounds daily, while 

 the 6th showed 4 gain, June 7, g. '6 ; June 

 8, g. 4. Prom the 8th until the 13th the 

 gain was about 4 pounds daily; then the 

 great heat wave stopped the flow suddenly, 

 and the beam remained balanced. Today, 

 July 4, the scale is at the very point where 

 it was on June 15. It may be figured from 

 this that we had only five perfect honey- 

 gathering days in the month of May, and 

 this at a time when the daily gain 'would 

 have netted not less than ten pounds. Ten 

 more perfect honey-gathering days in May 

 would have doubled the honey crop in the 

 orange district. 



THE TERRIBLE HEAT WAVE. 



Another disaster has befallen us — not a 

 freeze this time, but an unprecedented heat 

 wave following an exceptionally cool spring. 

 On the 13th of June the temperature began 



