XovKMi-.i;i;, l!iJ<i (; I, !•: A .\ 1 N (i S I N 11 !•; K (' f LT L' K K 873 



Ml) FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH (w^ 



In Southern California. 



Til 



t n'i 1 



rctiii'ii 



f ]• O 111 



our (ioliglitfui (uitiiig iii tlio inountaiiis of 

 Tuohiiniu' ("oiiiit.v was niado via the coast 

 routo. We iiiotorod tlic '}')0 iiiilcs toward 

 our soutlioru C'alLt'ornia homo l>y oasv 

 start's. Along tho way we wore \orv forci- 

 bly iiMjirc'sscd by the ciiangos in the cli- 

 iiiato, tlie vaiiety of crops, and the differ 

 ent sources from wiiidi lioney might be ob- 

 tained. From the higher altitudes of Tuo 

 lumue County where very little is found for 

 the bee to work upon, we descended to the 

 lower valleys where irrigation brings forth 

 a variety of honey-producing plants, among 

 them alfalfa, sweet clover, wild sunflower, 

 and many weeds and vines. As we travel- 

 ed farther toward the coast, we found the 

 climate growing cooler. Willows were very 

 abundant, and many beekeepers are quite 

 dependent upon them. A very dark grade 

 of honey, classed by the State Exchange as 

 River Bank honey, is gathered in this sec- 

 tion. It is sometimes called bug-juice by 

 the native beekeeper. J understand it is 

 not honey at all but a substance called 

 honeydew, and is produced by an aphis. 

 This honeydew sometimes continues to be 

 produced until late in the fall. Queen- 

 breeders find this an ideal place for late 

 queens on account of the late flow. 



A little farther south we found great 

 black sage ranges together with fruit 

 bloom, mustard, etc. Then a hundred miles 

 or so farther on our way, wc began to see 

 the unirrigated bean lields which soon 

 broaden out into the thousands of acres 

 of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. 

 This has not proved to be one of our best 

 bean-honey years, and many beekeepers felt 

 that they were well paid if the hives were 

 well filled for winter. These lields are 

 backed, as it were, by the great purple sag<^ 

 ranges some 30 miles away in the hills. 

 The season has not been good on these 

 ranges and only a few have made a good 

 crop tliis year. Another hundred miles 

 brings us to the great irrigated bean fields 

 of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles 

 County. Here more honey has been produc- 

 ed, and some ai>iaries have done very well. 

 One very noticeable thing along our 

 travels was the ever increasing .number 

 of "Honey for Sale" signs. More and 

 more the lieckeeper is beginning to realize 

 that the more honey he can sell at retail, 

 the more nearly he is getting what he 

 should have for his product, and at the 

 same time the use of honey in the home 

 is being stimulated. 



During a trip over half of the length of 

 our State, the writer was surprised to notice 

 that the places where a good crop of honey 

 was secured are very "spotted." It so 

 hajipened that our section was favored this 

 year, and it is more than likely that other 

 parts will be the ones to get the good croi» 



next year. In some parts of the country 

 the blue curl is very abundant and is yield 

 ing enough honey so that some might be 

 extracted. In our immediate vicinity, it 

 has given little or no honey. While it is 

 considered a drought plant and grows in 

 the grain fields after the crop has been tak 

 en oft', yet it seems to be doing its best 

 this year in those i)laces where there were 

 one or two good showers in July or August. 

 I do not know whether all parts of the 

 country have the increase in the bees that 

 ours has, but there are something like 1100, 

 colonies now on a fall range Avhere there 

 were formerly only about 300. This might 

 not make any difference during a heavy 

 honey flow, but it certainly has made a 

 difference in the amount of honey put in 

 for winter stores. 



There is considerable activity in the buy- 

 ing of bees. Not many are being offered, 

 but those that are, soon find a buyer if the 

 price is at all reasonable. From twelve to 

 fifteen dollars per colony for two - story 

 Langstroth hives with stores enougli for 

 winter, is the general price. 



The State Exchange quotes the prices of 

 honey the same as those established I'll 

 June, 17^2 to 20 cents per pound, according 

 to the grade of honey. The sales of honey 

 in bulk have been light but satisfactory, 

 while the package honey put up in 1-pound, 

 2-pound, 5-pound and 10-pound cans have 

 found a very strong market. 



Corona, Calif. L. L. Andrews. 



» « * 



In Pacific Northwest. — ^ '' "^ ' "" '' '' '" 



m a 51 y new- 

 comers almost daily looking for locations. 

 Most of them seem to be fair and do not 

 want to encroach on territory already oc- 

 cupied. Many good locations have been 

 given up, owing to the difficulty of access. 

 Some of the extensive tracts have been 

 loggcd-off and the logging railroads dis- 

 mantled, making it too great a hardship for 

 those who at one time could utilize these 

 roads and get supplies in and honey out for 

 a small consideration. The most accessible 

 locations are fairly well filled up, and one 

 finds bees all thru the mountains where 

 none were expected — not in large quanti- 

 ties, but from a few colonies to a few hun- 

 dred. 



1920 has more than excr demonstrated 

 the value of (|ueens, and while a few years 

 ago a queen was considered good and suffi- 

 cient if the colony gave a fair surplus in 

 an S-frame hive, such 8-frame (pieens now 

 are not satisfactory. Those who know, 

 want a 16 to a 20-frame queen. I still am 

 firm in the belief that a good deal is charg- 

 ed up to delinquency of queens that right- 

 fully may be the fault or carelessness of 

 the owner. 



Owing to the rapid sjjread of European 

 foul brooil tlie last two seasons, whole api- 



