December. 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



737 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Southern California Pll 9!^°g« 



Belt Honey 

 Producers' Co-operative Exchange held its 

 nnnual meeting; Nov. 1. There was a large 

 attendance; inucli enthusiasm was shown, and, 

 in general, the members were well satisfied. 

 (General Manager Millspaugh was present 

 and gave a very encouraging report of the 

 progress of the Exchange. The election re- 

 sulted in the selection of Sam Neah'- and 

 R. E. Fairchild as members of the board of 

 directors. Immediately after adjournment 

 the board organized by electing L. L. An- 

 drews, president; R. Powell, vice-president; 

 and R. E. Fairchild, secretary-treasurer. 



Generally speaking, the bees are going into 

 winter in good condition. We find that some 

 colonies need help, and we give it to them 

 by taking combs of honey from those that 

 can spare them. In this way we calculate 

 that all of the colonies we examine now will 

 be left in condition to go until February or 

 early JIarch. All of these will not need at- 

 tention even then, but some colonies will 

 have consumed all of their honey. There 

 seems to be no way of telling just why one 

 colony will consume so much more honey 

 than another, both apparently being of the 

 same strength and sitting side by side. 



Each year finds the beekepers of the West 

 taking a more active part in fair exhibits. 

 Too much encouragement cannot be given to 

 this long-neglected branch of our industry. It 

 does one good to watch the backwoods bee- 

 keeper and see how he straightens up and a 

 smile comes over his face when he first ar- 

 rives at the beekeepers' exhibit. Sometimes 

 lie says aloud and sometimes to himself: "I 

 have better honey or wax than that at 

 home. Next year I am going to bring some 

 of mine, too." Next year arrives and it is 

 the same old story. Which class are you in 

 — the one that furnishes material to help 

 out, or the one that is always going to do so? 

 One of the best ways to advertise is by 

 showing the consumer just what we have. 

 The work of getting the exhibit together and 

 placing it usually falls on the same few. But, 

 as the years go by, more and more of the 

 beekeepers are ready and willing to do their 

 part in most lines. For the last five or six 

 years the Riverside County club has placed 

 an exhibit at the Southern California fair at 

 Riverside. San Bernardino County most 

 years has been a close competitor. This year 

 both clubs outdid anything that they had 

 ever shown in the past. One very interesting 

 feature was a large bear in a cage. All of the 

 children — as well as the "grown-ups" — 

 wanted to see the bear eat honey. Too much 

 time cannot be used in making the exhibit 

 attractive. The time to begin to get the ar- 

 ticles ready for the next time is just after 

 the fair closes. Many of the things are 

 ready to use year after year, but something 



new always draws attention. Anyone who 

 can design something unique and attractive 

 will help to got the people interested in the 

 exhibit. 



Our state legislature meets this winter 

 and while we have a so-called state law gov- 

 erning our beekeeping interests, it is far 

 from up to date. Whenever we talk of 

 amending or passing a new law there imme- 

 diately springs up opposition. If we are go- 

 ing to keep pace with the great progress the 

 industry has made the past ten or a dozen 

 years, we certainly need a state law that 

 will give the beekeeper, who has seen the 

 possibilities of the business and moves his 

 hundreds of colonies from one section of the 

 State to another, the same chance to carry 

 on his work, unhampered, as the one who 

 keeps 50 colonies in his own back yard. 

 Think this over, you California beekeepers, 

 and let us get together on it. 



While the Exchange is still maintaining 

 the same prices as set last June, many out- 

 side buyers are offering much lower prices — 

 some as low as 12 cents. The selling of our 

 products before the day of the Exchange 

 was one of the most incompetently handled 

 phases of the game. Many other branches 

 of agriculture are much more easily welded 

 into a state or national organization than 

 ours, but none are more deserving than the 

 beekeepers of the right to get their prod- 

 ucts to the consumer, with just as little mid- 

 dleman 's profit as possible. With all of the 

 orange honey of the State sold and the sage 

 going fast, things look prosperous for our 

 organization. L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif. 



* * # 



In Iowa ^® expect to finish extracting 



the fall crop tomorrow, Nov. 

 4. Take it on the whole, the season has 

 been very favorable for the production of 

 honey. The clover crop was fully up to that 

 of last year and of excellent quality; but 

 the fall flow, which with us is mainly from 

 the heart 's-ease, was somewhat disappoint- 

 ing, notwithstanding its bright prospects 

 early in the fall. Too much cool, rainy 

 weather just when the flow was at its best 

 was the main reason. Conditions were much 

 the same in the central part of the State. 



We had plenty of rain all summer. In 

 fact, almost too much at times for the clover 

 flow, but it had its advantages in keeping 

 the white clover in the pink of condition all 

 summer. There was a time this fall when 

 it got pretty dry. So much so that we were 

 afraid it was going to hurt the clover; but 

 the recent rains have freshened it up, and it 

 now looks as fresh as ever, and from all ap- 

 pearances will go into winter quarters in nor- 

 mal condition. 



The larger beekeepers have tried to main- 

 tain, with perhaps in some instances a slight 



