O T. E A N I N G S IN BEE C U T. T U R E 



June, 1921 



fi) FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Southern California.-;:- =P-J^ 



from bad to worse, until it lias become a 

 serious question with many of us whether 

 it will be wise to take any honey at all 

 from the bees. Only a part of the colonies 

 have stored in the supers, and those not so 

 fortunate may need help to biing them thru 

 the next winter. I am speakng of the or- 

 ange as well as the sage and other unirri- 

 gated sections. The orange blossoms bid 

 fair to yield nectar; but very unfavorable 

 weather, together with the fact that the 

 ground was very dry, cut the crop in many 

 cases to almost a failure. Cold days and 

 frosty nights prevailed much of the time 

 during the orange bloom. Colonies of good 

 strength at the beginning of the honey flow 

 did not gain in numbers and were inclined 

 to pack the brood-chamber with honey, and 

 not go into the supers. The bees would 

 hang out in front of the hives while the 

 supers were empty — a thing almost un- 

 heard of in this part of the country. Only 

 occasionally an apiary is found where there 

 was any swarming to speak of. 



The next thing for the migratory bee- 

 keeper to do is to move, but where is the 

 question. Thousands of acres of land for- 

 merly planted to lima beans (a honey pro- 

 ducer) has this year been planted to black- 

 eye beans (a non-honey producer), grain, or 

 other crop, thus very materially curtailing 

 the range from that source. 



I have been speaking in a gen(>ral way. 

 There are small sections of the country 

 where there was more rainfall and Avherc 

 the beekeepers may get some honey. Or 

 there may be a different variety of honey 

 plants which bloom at a more favorable sea- 

 son. However, one cannot expect the big 

 crops and good prices of the last few years 

 to continue indefinitely. The fellow who 

 can get his bees thru and have them ready 

 for the honey flow every year is the one 

 who will make a success of the business. 



A fair sample of the newer type of bee- 

 keeper is here given. A professional man, 

 M^hose son is a teacher, became interested in 

 bees. The son soon did likewise. Last 

 year they purchased odd lots of colonies, 

 and together with their former holdings had 

 nearly 100 colonies. These were on an or- 

 ange location, and they made a good crop 

 of honey. Last season being a very favor- 

 able one, about all a person had to do was 

 to put on enough supers, and the bees soon 

 filled them. This year these same men 

 moved their bees to what is considered a 

 good orange and sage range. After the 

 orange flow, the older gentleman asked the 

 man who had moved the bees to come and 

 look over them and tell him what was 

 the matter. He found that there was hard- 

 ly as much honey in the hives as before he 

 moved them. I had the same experience 



about 20 years ago, and the memory has- 

 stuck ever since. If the conditions and 

 weather are not favorable, thfe bees will 

 not produce the honey. In all lines of pro- 

 duction Ave live in cycles and in order to 

 equalize all things the game must be played 

 from the beginning to the end, and not for 

 one or two years only. 



While honey still retails at a good price, 

 there does not seem to be much demand. 

 Comb honej' is scarce and sells at from 25c 

 to 40c per pound. Very few beekeepers in 

 these parts produce comb honey any more, 

 but the prospects for a good price for sev- 

 eral years should encourage those who like 

 it to produce it again. 



This will be a good year to requeen the 

 colonies which have dark or old queens. 

 Much better results will be had if colonies 

 which are drawing cells are fed once a day. 

 There are so many different methods of 

 raising cells that we will not go into detail 

 here. Most beekeepers know how to graft 

 cells and the conditions under which colo- 

 nies will best build them. L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif. 



» * * 



Tj- XexaS "^^^ beekeepers of Ellis 



County held their annual 

 field meet on April 8 at the home of T. W. 

 Burleson in Waxahachie. Beekeepers were 

 present from three counties, and a very in- 

 teresting program was carried out. Several 

 colonies of bees were transferred, and the 

 entire work of the pound-package operation, 

 from the shaking of the bees into the pack- 

 ages to the building of colonies from the 

 packages, was carried out in full. This was 

 a very rare treat to the majority present, as 

 they had never had the privilege of seeing 

 bees prepared for shipment in combless 

 packages. 



The beekeepers of the Guadalupe Valley 

 Beekeepers' Association held their annual 

 field meet April 1.3 on the Guadalupe River 

 near Seguin. Over 50 beekeepers were pres- 

 ent. After a bountiful picnic dinner the 

 beekeepers were addressed by Louis H. 

 Scholl, editor of the Be'ekcepers Item, on 

 present-day problems confronting the bee- 

 keeper; by E. G. LeStourgeon, on Market 

 Conditions; by H. B. Parks, on Honey 

 Plants; by Miss Alma Hasslbauer, on Bee- 

 keepers' Associations; by Mr. Alex, on 

 Queen-rearing; and by Mr. Solomon, on 

 Marketing of Apiary Products. The pro- 

 gram closed with a question box, which 

 brought out a number of quite interesting 

 discussions. This association has been hold- 

 ing field meetings for five years, and this 

 year because of the increase in interest 

 among its members it will hold a second 

 field meet in August. 



Differences in locality were forcibly 

 lirought to mind the first part of the month 

 during a visit to Dilley in Frio County, 



