Febri-ary, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



93 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



that this is the winter to get it — so here is 

 hoping. 



One crop this year is surely immense and 

 that is the "tourist crop." Never in our 

 history liave so many visitors come to our 

 State for the winter. In many of the larger 

 cities it is often hard to find a place where 

 one can secure a bed for the night. Some 

 of these tourists are beekeepers and are not 

 fully decided but seem to be somewhat in 



this frame of mind, "I came from 



and can go back there; but, if I can get an 

 apiary or a good place to work, I would like 

 to remain in California a year or two, any- 

 way. ' ' Many of these fellows report crops 

 at home, which, I must say, will compare 

 favorably with any of the records we can 

 show. Better make haste slowly when 

 thinking of changing to an entirely new cli- 

 mate, new conditions, etc. We don't make 

 a crop everj' year, and 1920 may be one of 

 the best or — well, the other kind. 



What a pleasure to be able to call meet- 

 ings and go to places without the fear of 

 the flu, which was so prevalent over the 

 country last year. According to reports, 

 there have been but few cases in evidence 

 this year. 



Queens? Yes, they are the backbone of 

 our Apiaries. Where can we get them? To 

 be sure, we have some good queen-breeders 

 but not enough of them. At any rate, they 

 do not have enough queens when people 

 want them the most. Is there not sufficient 

 money in the business to warrant men and 

 women going into it? Some inducement 

 should be offered to get enough people into 

 the business so that the beekeepers can get 

 all the queens they want during the spring 

 and early summer. I think that there are 

 usually plenty available during the late sum- 

 mer and early fall. 



Each year finds another section of Cali- 

 fornia trying out the growing of cotton to 

 the extent of thousands of acres in a locali- 

 ty. It is only reasonable to suppose that in 

 some of these places the cotton will yield 

 honey. They say that it is pretty well con- 

 ceded that little or no honey is stored from 

 the cotton of the Imperial and Palo Verde 

 Valleys. 



Reports of the attendance at the short 

 course in beekeeping held in San Diego, I 

 am sorry to say, do not indicate that the in- 

 terest shown by the beekeepers was as great 

 as this excellent work is entitled to. 



Five or six carloads of bees have arrived 

 from the north since my last writing. A 

 few of these colonies are light, but the ma- 

 jority are in tine shape and should give good 

 results during the orange flow. The eucalyp- 

 tus is reported as yielding nectar, and the 

 strong colonies are getting consideraVjly 

 more than a living. 



February is not too early to be sure that 

 all colonies have several weeks' stores on 



hand. By the middle of the month all of 

 the queens should be laying, and many colo- 

 nies will have from two to five frames with 

 brood the size of a saucer. On warm days 

 you should see many bees entering the hives 

 with pollen. If any is available the stronger 

 colonies will get a little honey. This, except 

 in very favorable locations, will not be of 

 much benefit and must be supported by a 

 sufficient reserve within the hive. About 

 60 days seems to be the accepted time to 

 count on a normal colony getting ready for 

 the honey flow. Uncapped honey in the 

 combs is often mistaken for nectar just 

 brought in from the fields. There are some 

 things that we cannot prove, but it is sup- 

 posed that this condition is caused by the 

 b?es either uncapping or moving the honey 

 already in the hives. Be sure that all colo- 

 nies have sufficient stores to last, should 

 unfavorable weather keep the colony con- 

 fined for some days or weeks. 



Corona, Calif. L. L. Andrews. 



* « « 



InMinnesota J}"^ ^"11"^^ meeting of 



the Minnesota Bee- 

 keepers' Association was held at the Uni- 

 versity Farm on December 31 and January 

 1. The sessions were interesting, instruc- 

 tive, and well attended. O. .J. Goodmanson 

 of Little Falls explained how he packs his 

 bees for outdoor wintering. Prof. G. C. 

 Matthews gave methods for practical home 

 queen-rearing. He also spoke on the sub- 

 ject, "Extensive vs. Intensive Beekeeping." 

 This latter paper has been published by the 

 State Inspector of Apiaries in connection 

 with his last annual report to the Governor. 

 C. B. Stravs, Superintendent of the Bee Cul- 

 ture Department of the State Fair, spoke 

 very encouragingly of the work of the de- 

 partment during the past year. He reported 

 that the number of exhibitors increased 40 

 per cent over that of the previous year. Pre- 

 miums paid out amounted to $834 out of the 

 $1,100 appropriated. All exhibitors, who de- 

 sired to do so, were able to sell their ex- 

 hibition honey in the building at 50 cents 

 l)er pound, thereby saving the trouble and 

 expense of shipping it back. Some of the 

 exhibitors preferred to keep their honey for 

 their own customers. About 70 per cent of 

 the exhibition honey was sold, bringing 

 $1,700. Plans are being considered for the 

 enlargement of the honey building, provid- 

 ing for the putting in of a fully equipped 

 extracting outfit for exhibition purposes, and 

 a more suitable place in which to give the 

 daily lectures on beekeeping during the pe- 

 riod of the fair. Prof. Francis Jager spoke 

 on the subject of "Larger Hives," also on 

 "Problems of Wintering Bees." Dr. L. D. 

 Leonard, speaking on "New Beekeeping 

 Pointers I Learned This Year," emphasized 

 the importance of planning far enough 

 ahead to have 10 pounds of sugar for each 



