GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern CaUfornia.— T^jj^ y;^^l 



crop standpoint has been more or less dis- 

 astrous. Alfalfa, our mainstay, was really 

 our salvation; but even here the alfalfa out- 

 put was scarcely more than half the nor- 

 mal. Jackass clover did well for a while; 

 but almost all other fall bloom yielded prac- 

 tically nothing. Our fine Shasta honey (star 

 thistle), one might almost say, hardly got 

 into the market. On the other hand, there 

 was nearly an average crop of orange honey 

 and there is a tendency for more and more 

 beekeepers to migrate into the southern 

 valley for this excellent and almost sure 

 source of nectar. Honeydew honey was con- 

 spicuous by its absence, and our usual large 

 output of inferior grades was this year re- 

 duced by about two-thirds. The disease sit- 

 uation and the condition of the honey mar- 

 ket during the fall months have been quite 

 as disastrous as our crop shortage. There 

 remains, however, one redeeming feature, 

 the fact that we have had a live marketing 

 organization. Everyone of us feels that, 

 were it not for the California Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Co-operative Exchange, our honey 

 would be selling around eight and ten cents 

 a pound instead of at the very satisfactory 

 price which we have been getting and still 

 are getting thru the Exchange acting as our 

 agent- 

 Let us look into the coming year regard- 

 ing our future prospects. In past years we 

 worried much over our marketing problems; 

 but nowadays these problems are the least 

 of our troubles. Weather conditions that con- 

 trol nectar secretion' we need not worry 

 over, for it would do us no good should we 

 worry. But what we do need and can get and 

 have had in the past is more education for 

 the beekeepers. Why is it that trained bee- 

 keepers always get twice as much honey 

 per colony as the untrained beekeepers'? Bee 

 journals and other printed matter help, but 

 there is nothing more efficacious to the wel- 

 fare of honey producers than to have them 

 gather at convenient places and listen to 

 the teachings of trained men along the lines 

 of their profession. In the past we have had 

 some most excellent short courses in bee- 

 keeping conducted by the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture in conjunction with our State 

 University. These short courses have been 

 sadly missed this . winter, and, notwith- 

 standing the fact that we have had a short 

 crop and ever-falling prices, one of the most 

 general questions asked today is: "Aren't 

 the Government men coming out this win- 

 ter?" California is a big honey producer, 

 producing twice as much as any other State, 

 and there are not a few of us that hope that 

 these highly beneficial short courses so help- 

 ful in the past can be held during the fall 

 and winter of 1921. M, C, Richter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



In Southern California ^. " " e y 



prices are 

 not satisfactory to the beekeeper who is 

 holding his 1920 crop. There was a short 

 time early in the season when the buyers 

 were offering 20c for white orange and 

 sage honey. But very few sales were made 

 at that time. As the season advanced, lower 

 prices were offered. Now no wholesaler seems 

 anxious to buy unless at a price so low 

 that the average beekeeper does not care to 

 consider it. The State Exchange has sold all 

 of its orange honey and a good part of its 

 sage at prices that will give the beekeeper 

 a living wage and a little to go on. 



Several apiaries containing from 100 to 

 700 colonies of bees have been sold at an 

 average of $10 a colony. 



After a close examination, many more 

 colonies are found that will need feeding 

 than was expected a month or two ago. 

 Many colonies that would perhaps struggle 

 thru the winter will do much better if given 

 a few pounds of feed. 



The weather conditions are not as good 

 as some time ago. In the early fall southern 

 California had some rain, but of late (as 

 the saying goes) "we have missed several 

 awfully good chances." Vegetation, never- 

 theless, looks well and some good winter 

 rains will enliven next year 's prospects 

 very much. 



In the eastern 2>art of Riverside County, 

 next to the Arizona line, I recently passed 

 thru the Palo Verde Valley, a part of the 

 Colorado River Valley lands. This valley 

 has some of the most fertile land in the 

 world. Diversified farming was the rule 

 until cotton prices went sky-high. Then 

 practically the whole valley was put into 

 cotton until this year about 26,000 acres 

 were planted to this staple. Unfortunately 

 the price of cotton has dropped to such a 

 figure that many cannot afford to harvest 

 the crops, and it is said that many acres 

 will never be picked. While the beekeepers 

 made a fair crop in this district, mostly 

 from the mesquite, there is no doubt that 

 where the farmers return to alfalfa and 

 other crops, the honey yield will increase. 



On my way from the Palo Verde Valley 

 to Prescott, Ariz., I saw only one or two 

 small apiaries. At Prescott I found dark 

 granulated honey — said to have been made 

 locally — ^in the stores, to be sold at 50c per 

 pint jar. 



From Prescott to Jerome there has just 

 been completed one of the grandest moun- 

 tain roads the writer ever rode over. Some 

 of it cost $67,000 a mile. From Jerome I 

 passed thru the Verde Valley, where the 

 beekeepers are moving their bees to get 

 away from the smelters of the mining dis- 

 tricts. 



Beekeeping conditions around Phoenix, 

 Tempe, and Mesa, Ariz., have been good 



