G I. K A N I N G S I- X BEE CULTURE 



Jllv, 1921. 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



pressi'il with the way in which it worked. 

 Whiit pleased us most was that combs, 

 filled with eapped sage honey, built on foun- 

 dation given the bees this spring, were lifted 

 from the baskets with the cell walls of the 

 combs absolutely intact. After the day's 

 extracting there was not a particle of comV> 

 adhering to the baskets. This statement in 

 itself means a very great deal. Further- 

 more, combs are extracted cleaner and in 

 less time than with the older-model power 

 extractors. So far we have not detected 

 any bad features and our only criticism 

 (this ajiplies to all power extractors using 

 attached pump) is that there should be a 

 screeu over the inside of the outlet of the 

 extractor to prevent chips from frames, 

 etc., from being forced thru the pump. 



A resumption of short courses in beekeep- 

 ing, conducted by the University of Cali- 

 fornia and the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, will take place at Berkeley during 

 the first two weeks of December. This is 

 good news. Later, we will give you more 

 particulars regarding these courses of in- 

 struction, which mean more to beekeepers 

 than anything else. If any are skeptical, 

 they should attend the courses and then 

 judge for themselves. M. C. Eicliter. 



Big Sur, Calif. 



* * * 



In Southern California. ^^' ^^^.J.^*-^'- 



conditions 

 such as southern Califoinia has not experi- 

 enced in the last 12 oi- 15 years have pre- 

 vailed for a month jiast. The days have 

 been cloudy and cohl, with many days of 

 light rain, making the rainfall for May the 

 gre.'itest of any May record. This unfavor- 

 able weather cut the orange honey to one 

 of our lowest yields. Ten pounds per col- 

 ony as an average for all colonies brought 

 to the groves seems to be a fair estimate.^ 

 The later sources of honey, such as the buck- 

 wheat and white sage, are still uncertain; 

 but it is hoped that the late rains will help 

 to increase the honey flow so that we will, 

 in a small way at least, make up for the 

 shortage from the black sage and orange. 

 Reports from the alfalfa and mesquite sec- 

 tions along the Colorado River delta say 

 that beekeejiers are getting a good crop. 

 Especially is this true in the Palo Verde or 

 Blytlie section of Riverside County. 



It is lamentable to see the manner in 

 which the enthusiasm of the newly con- 

 verted beekeeper rises and wanes with the 

 seasons. During the jiast few years the 

 high prices and satisfactory crops instilled 

 into many the idea that the road of the bee- 

 keeper was all roses and easy lesting places. 

 Enthusiasm ran high and 1000 or more colo- 

 nies was the ambition of many. Some did 

 not hesitate to buy on time or to borrow 

 money to get intci the ganu\ This season is 



proving almost disastrous to some of these 

 and discouraging to many more. Men 

 whose ambition w-as thousands of colonies, 

 now^ say hundreds — just enough so that they 

 can care for them themselves and not hire 

 help except during the extracting season. 

 This is an ideal system and if due attention 

 is given to the business for a term of years 

 the returns will average with any other line 

 of agricultural pursuits. Supposing our 

 crop gives us a net return of $1800. This 

 is an average of .$150 per month. IIow 

 many of our old associates are earning more 

 than that? If we put this money into the 

 savings bank and draw only the amount we 

 need to live on, the balance will earn inter- 

 est money. We can take good care of our 

 business and have nearly half of our time 

 for pleasure, recreation, improvement, 

 study, or anything we like. At the same 

 time our neighbor must put in six days a 

 week, thruout the year, with the hopes of 

 ten days or two weeks off during the sum- 

 mer. We wish that we might instill this 

 great truth into the minds of our fellow 

 beekeepers. It would bring peace and con- 

 tentment to hundreds who are sure to feel, 

 during this 3'ear, the pinch of readjustment, 

 especially those who must not only meet 

 the lower prices but also a partial or total 

 failure of a crop. 



Much more attention than ever before is 

 being given to the question of the actual 

 cost of the production of honey. Many rea- 

 sons might be given for this, the principal 

 one probably being the great advance that 

 has been made in the last 12 or 10 years in 

 the educational and social standing of the 

 men and women engaged in the business of 

 producing honey. We have reached that 

 stage in the development of the industry 

 where the operator is no longer looked upon 

 as that old beekeeper, who is good for noth- 

 ing but to care for a few bugs. Scholars, 

 teachers, and professional men no longer 

 consider it beneath their dignity to own 

 and operate an apiary. When these classes 

 enter any line of business, they soon want to 

 know what the business returns for the 

 time and ability put into it. The time was 

 when 100 colonies of bees, placed in an out- 

 of-the-way part of the farm and cared for 

 at odd times, were considered an all-profit 

 proposition. The honey was sold to the 

 first buyer who came along, and no figures 

 were kept as to the cost of production. Any- 

 thing that brought cash was profitable, 

 even tho father, mother and all of the chil- 

 dren worked early and late seven days a 

 week to produce it. 



At least the large operators hare recently 

 published figures to show the cost or pro- 

 ducing extracted honey. One company, op- 

 erating about 4000 colonies, figures that on 

 a liasis of 60 pounds per colony, it costs ten 



