GLEANINGS IN BEE C V I. T U R K 



FlCBRlARV. 1921. 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Southern California. -^» -fj^?- 



from the Eoosevelt Dam toward home by way 

 of Phoenix and on across Arizona to Ynma. 

 The Imperial Valley and San Diego County, 

 both in California, were also visited on the 

 way. The beekeepers we met on our trip 

 were, generally speaking, in an optimistic 

 frame of mind. While some of them had 

 their crop of honey on hand, they did not 

 seem at all discouraged. All with whom we 

 talked seemed to have a very friendly feel- 

 ing toward the idea of organization and 

 look upon the Exchange plan with favor. 

 Especially is this true as regards the selling 

 of the products. It seems to me that the 

 greater part of the honey produced west of 

 the Eocky Mountains might be put into one 

 pool. What the writer means is that if the 

 honey was put into three grades, the white 

 in one, and the dark in another, it would 

 leave perhaps fror]^70 to 85 per cent that 

 could be placed on the market to good ad- 

 vantage in one pool. The white honey will 

 always sell without effort, and the dark is 

 used in the manufacture of various articles 

 and sells at a lower price, leaving a good 

 light amber table honey to be taken care of, 

 which is the grade that needs our very best 

 efforts to place properly on the markets of 

 the world. 



The container is another item that we can 

 well afford to spend much thought upon. The 

 great waste that is going on from year to 

 year, with the' present method of putting 

 "honey in sixty-pound cans and charging it 

 all to the loss side of the ledger of the pro- 

 ducer, should be improved upon. As only a 

 small per cent of the table honey ever 

 reaches the consumer in the sixty-pound can, 

 and the salvage is almost nothing, it stands 

 to reason that the waste is very great. With 

 the Exchange or other organization placing 

 the honey on the market in small packages, 

 much could be accomplished by having the 

 beekeeper put his honey in drums or durable 

 containers which could be returned to him, 

 or sent to another producer from the central 

 warehouse, thereby using the same container 

 several times during the season. At the same 

 time we would have something that would ■ 

 last for years, and the first cost per , pound 

 would not be much different from the pres- 

 ent cost of cans and cases. 



The market situation is not materially 

 changed, and' honey sells very slowly in car 

 lots. The local trade takes the usual amount, 

 and too much can not be said or done in dis- 

 posing of as much of the crop as possible in 

 the home market. 



The bees are wintering only fairly well, 

 and it would be wise to look at all doubtful 

 colonies this month to make sure that all 

 is well within, the hive. 



Several carloads of bees have already been 



brought in from Idaho to winter. Each year 

 more beekeepers are doing thi=!. At the same 

 time some get tired of the strenuous efforts 

 of this mode of migratory beekeeping, and 

 decide that they can get enough out of the 

 business by taking good care of the bees in 

 one locality. One of the factors that has 

 entered very largely into the business the 

 past few years is the question of help. This 

 is becoming much improved, as, more and 

 more, the enthusiastic amateur is getting to 

 realize that a year or two spent with a 

 successful apiarist — one that is in the busi- 

 ness on a large scale — is time very profitably 

 spent before he invests his hard-earned mon- 

 ey in an apiary of his own. 



Crop prospects are not very enthusing in 

 southern California. We are considerably 

 short of our last year 's rainfall up to Jan. 

 1. As one man put it, this is a great country 

 to hope in, and we always hope for rain up 

 until' June. We base our prospects almost 

 entirely upon the amount of rainfall over 

 the great mountain ranges of these regions, 

 where the sage, wild buckwheat, and so- 

 called wild honeys are produced. 



Corona, Calif. L. L. Andrews. 



* * * 



T„ ToYac Weather conditions in Texas 



XII xcAds ^^g normal. The most of the 



bees are in excellent condition. More bee- 

 keepers than ever before have left plenty 

 of iioney in the hives. In the southwest sec- 

 tion, where drouth in late summer reduced 

 the honey flow and bees were on starvation 

 rations, they are now in fair condition as 

 late fall rains induced a flow from broom- 

 weed, goldenrod, and many of the fall bloom- 

 ing shrubs. The predictions of the older bee- 

 keepers that rain any time up to November 

 will insure a horsemint crop certainly ap- 

 pears to be true. Seedling mint plants are 

 everywhere. We still have with us tlie 

 plague of wood rats and mice, and we can 

 predict with certainty the loss of many 

 colonies unless careful attention is given. 



The prospect for spring trade in combless- 

 package bees is beyond expectation. Already 

 many sellers have contracted their entire 

 output. These men must remember that 

 many States into which bees are shipped 

 have quarantine laws and are enforcing 

 them. Texas provides free inspection, and 

 shippers are warned that ui\less pound-pack- 

 age bees are accompanied by certificates of 

 inspection showing that the bees originated 

 in apiaries free from disease, they will be 

 held up or destroyed by the inspectors of 

 other States when the packages enter States 

 with such regulations. 



A very interesting tiling is developing in 

 the study of white sweet clover as it grows 

 in Texas. While the plant has been tried 

 only in limited areas, it appears that there 

 is a line running northwest bv southeast 



