222 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1920 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



Apiarists still continue to move their bees 

 to the orange groves. The last car to ar- 

 rive from Utah was unloaded late in Febru- 

 ary at Riverside. Some of oui' back-coun- 

 try beekeepers who have their bees on the 

 sage and wild-buckwheat locations are mov- 

 ing now, while others will wait until the 

 oranges are just beginning to bloom — which 

 usually occurs the last of March or the be- 

 ginning of April. The time of moving is a 

 matter of choice with each individual bee- 

 keeper. In some cases where there is little 

 else than the citrus trees, pollen is likely to 

 be scarce and brood-rearing conditions not 

 of the best. Therefore, when bees are lo- 

 cated on a range where there are good con- 

 ditions for building up; or, in other words, 

 where there is early bloom such as willow, 

 eucalyptus, or alfilaria, colonies are often al- 

 lowed to build up before being moved near 

 the orange groves. 



Considerable difference of opinion exists 

 among the beekeepers concerning the proba- 

 bility of getting a normal crop of honey 

 from the oranges. I feel safe in saying that 

 never before, in the last 25 years, has there 

 been so much off, or out-of-season bloom on 

 the orange groves of southern California. 

 Whole groves in different localities have 

 been in full bloom at various times since 

 last fall, while one could find considerable 

 bloom at any time. Whether this bloom 

 will make mature fruit and the trees re- 

 turn to normal next year is a matter of con- 

 jecture. With one of our heavy honey flows, 

 this off bloom might make but little dif- 

 ference, but with the increased number of 

 honey-gatherers this year, it may make con- 

 siderable difference in the tonnage. 



The Riverside County Beekeepers ' Club 

 held its annual meeting in Riverside, Feb. 

 28. The same officers were elected for an- 

 other year, namely: R. Powell, president; 

 Chas. Kinzie, vice-president; and Lester 

 Bamberger, 607 Chestnut St., Riverside, 

 secretary-treasurer. Fifty dollars in cash 

 besides donations of hives, foundation, etc., 

 was voted by the club to be given for the 

 French-Belgian Beekeepers' Relief Fund. A 

 committee was appointed to put on a bigger 

 and better exhibit that ever at the South- 

 ern California Fair to be held in Riverside 

 next fall. A reservation of 100 feet and 

 cash prizes of $225.00 were asked for from 

 the fair management. 



In getting a colony ready for the honey 

 flow, it is quite necessary that it should 

 have plenty of stores to carry it well into 

 the honey flow. A colony that is found to 

 be queenless or that has a drone-layer, is 

 often of more value if put above a normal 

 colony. Especially is this true, if the nor- 

 mal colony is light in stores and the poor 

 one is well supplied. Sometimes it is ad- 

 visable to place a good brood-comb between 

 the brood and the comb containing pollen 



and honey. We have discontinued the prac- 

 tice of the placing of empty combs directly 

 in the brood-nest. If one has the time, good 

 results are often obtained by placing all 

 sealed brood in the center of the brood- 

 nest and the larvae and eggs toward the out- 

 side. This leaves the hatching bees and 

 empty cells in the center of the hive and 

 keeps the nurse bees near the outside, there- 

 by providing one of the conditions tending 

 toward swarm prevention. 



Corona, Calif. L. L. Andrews. 



In Michigan. 



The College Short 

 Course was the surprise 

 of our lives when the registration showed 

 60 per cent women. Surely modern aspects 

 of beekeeping have broken down old tra- 

 ditions. 



The tendency is strongly away from cel- 

 lar wintering. This is not because beekeep- 

 ers have less faith in cellars, but because 

 they are learning that many of their cellars 

 are not fit for wintering. David Running 

 surely did a great service to beekeeping 

 when he made public those principles of 

 cellar structure which he found to be es- 

 sential to the greatest success. 



As the result of poor wintering there will 

 be many weak colonies. The common prac- 

 tice of imiting a number of weak colonies 

 in an attempt to make a few strong colo- 

 nies is very poor beekeeping. Unite the 

 weak colonies with the moderately strong 

 ones. By so doing the average strength 

 of the whole yard is better, and the number 

 of colonies remaining is larger. Before unit- 

 ing, examine very carefully both colonies 

 for disease. Later on, when the colonies 

 become strong a nucleus can be removed 

 from each one. Thus the original number 

 can be retained and some surplus honey se- 

 cured. 



This month brings to a close the two-day 

 beekeepers' schools. Because of the epi- 

 demic of influenza and because of conflicts 

 with other meetings, the original number 

 of 6.3 schools as planned was cut down to 

 about 40. The interest and enthusiasm 

 everywhere manifested and the fact that so 

 many more persons can be reached, have 

 brought about the decision that hereafter 

 there will be no winter short course at the 

 College, and all our efforts will be along the 

 lines of county schools of instruction. This 

 will be carried on in the summer in the 

 form of one-day outdoor field meetings. 



All the traditions of a January thaw were 

 broken down this year, and the cold has 

 continued unabated into March. Up to 

 this time there has been no flight since 

 Nov. 17. On a few days it has warmed up 

 enough so that a few bees came out. In 

 general, only a small part of those bees ever 

 got back into the hives again. Probably, 



