NOVKMBKR, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



869 



GLEANINGS FROM THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST 



NO g V e ater 

 cause tor 

 disease can 

 hs found than 

 the lack of abundant stores, which means 

 weak colonies, the easy prey of disease. 



IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Scarcely a day has passed since mid- 

 Aug'ust that smoke columns have not an- 

 nounced brush fires of magnitude. In the 

 region of Perris, Riverside County, the 

 Cleveland forest reserve, and near Filmore 

 and Sespee, the gTeatest damage has been 

 done. Many square miles near Sespee were 

 de\astated, with reported less of life and 



bees. 



« * » 



AVith our Government placing sugar at 

 a figure of about eight cents, with the pos- 

 sible resti'iction of the amount used per 

 capita, we are led to wonder if honey will 

 be left in the unrestricted luxurj' class as 

 is now the case in Europe or whether the 

 price will also be fixed by the Government. 

 Whichever it may be there is little danger 

 of 7-cent honey for some time to come. 

 -■» « « 



The draft net has caught many of the 

 younger beekeepers of our state. We 

 ought to lend a helping hand where de- 

 sired in keeping secure their holdings un- 

 til they may return. War is not to the 

 liking of any of us; but when necessary, as 

 in our present situation, those who bear 

 the brunt of the dangers should not be for- 

 gotten by their fellow-beekeepers who may 

 be able to help them out during their ab- 

 sence. 



I am glad that no less a personage than 

 the editor of the Ame7-ican Bee Journal has 

 come to the same conclusion as myself re- 

 garding capping-raelters. In an article on 

 page 345 of that journal he says, " In 

 fart it is impossible to secure out of the 

 capping - melter anything but an inferior 

 quality of honey. For that reason we 

 have discarded the eapping-melter." That 

 has been my contention for a number of 

 yeais. I have stuck to the capping-box 

 and the solar extractor as a means of se- 

 curing the best possible quality of honey, 

 altho I have been classed as antiquated 

 in that resj^ect. Now I have at least one 

 man of authority on my side of the ques- 

 tion. 



* * * 



Wesley Foster in American Bee Journal, 

 October issue, page 339, says, " Light amber 



honey of equal 

 flavor is worth 

 as much as 

 water while ; 

 and the time is coming when it will bring 

 the same price." In this I feel that Mr. 

 Foster is mistaken. The one factor alone, 

 that dark honey predominates, will always 

 leave a demand for white. Besides, honey 

 is not sold o^•er the counter by the flavor as 

 much as b,y looks, and no one can deny that 

 looks dominate the world to a large extent. 

 In the same article Mr. Foster says: 

 " The fact is that the averag'e beekeeper 

 does not know within two cents per pound 

 what his honey is worth at his station after 

 he has read the market reports." In this 

 I believe ho is entirely correct. At one 

 time this spring the price advanced nearly 

 five cents in a week's time, yet the ad- 

 vances were not reported by some of our 

 weekly papers that were depended on for 

 quotations until fhe second week after the 

 raise. 



There have been no articles in recent 

 issues of Gleanings that have appealed 

 to me so much as that of J. L. Byer on 

 page 755, October. His remarks on the 

 size of hives are well worth the time of 

 reading. After quite a long exjierience in 

 the East, I cannot but feel that cellar win- 

 tering will become a thing of the past in 

 years to come. I never had a colony die 

 from the cold where normal conditions ex- 

 isted and plenty of stores were provided. 

 One significant statement of Mr. Byer's 

 struck me as exceptionally good : " No, it is 

 not a question of size of hive, but of ada^Dt- 

 ing radically different management to radi- 

 cally different hives." In this I believe that 

 Mr. Byer is entirely correct, yet I would not 

 for an instant advocate several different 

 types of hives for any one beekeeper or 

 even for one community. One style of 

 hive for an individual beekeeper should be 

 adhered to for the reason of economy, un- 

 less such style should be entirel,y antiquat- 

 ed in the community. There is no question 

 but that there" is a big advantage in having 

 hives like the prevailing type in the com- 

 munity. A standard style is desirable, for 

 it is almost impossible to sell or exchange 

 to other beekeepers odd sizes or odd styles 

 oE hives. In California the neighborhood 

 of beekeepers includes the whole state, and 

 the prevailing style of liive is the L. ten- 

 frame. There are many eight-frame hives, 

 but I believe they are going out rapidly 

 in many places. My personal choice would 



