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SLfiA KINGS iisr BEE CUL'jftJRE 



January, 1^'2'2 



SOME LOCALin DIFFERENCES 



Importance of Fitting the Manage- 

 • ment to Conditions Peculiar to the 

 Locality and the Season 



By Geo. S. Demuth 



TSE free in- 

 terchange of 

 ideas among 

 b e ekeepers, 

 which has been 

 such an impor- 

 tant factor in 

 the development 

 of the industry, 

 revealed, years 



ago, many differences of opinion among 

 careful observers in different parts of the 

 country. Many of these differences were 

 of course due to differences in the localities 

 where the observations were made; so, early 

 in the history of beekeeping in this coun- 

 try, the influence of locality upon the be- 

 havior of the bees, as well as upon the man- 

 agement necessary for best results, was 

 generally recognized. In those days bee- 

 keepers in their conventions and thru the 

 bee journals, finding that they could not 

 agree on many important beekeeping ques- 

 tions, usually explained their differences by 

 the differences in the localities. 



But beekeepers are not inclined to agree 

 on many questions of management when 

 located in similar regions, and even in the 

 same region. They would not be living up 

 to the traditions of their craft, if they were 

 inclined to agree fully when discussing 

 many of the questions of management that 

 naturally come up whenever two or more 

 real beekeepers meet either in person or 

 thru their literature. In the earlier days 

 many differences of opinion were explained 

 by "locality," which really were the result 

 of faulty observations or personal preju- 

 dices. Out of this there has come a grow- 

 ing tendency for beekeepers of one region 

 to reject the experience of beekeepers in 

 other regions as not being applicable to their 

 own, instead of searching out the differences 

 in the environment which brings about the 

 apparent difference in the behavior of the 

 bees in the different regions. This unfortun- 

 ate tendency, to a certain extern, has hin- 

 dered development, for it is much easier to 

 blame the "locality" than to search out the 

 real reasons for the differences. For this 

 reason during recent years the term "local- 

 ity" has been held in ill repute, many writ- 

 ers avoiding its use; and when it is used in 

 conventions to explain away differences of 

 opinion, it often causes considerable merri- 

 ment. 



To avoid the use of this term in our liter- 

 ature may be as great a mistake as its for- 

 mer abuse, which led to its degradation. 

 Those who have been tolerant enough with 

 the other fellow's views to go to the trouble 

 of analyzing the factors in the environment 

 in each ease, have learned much about the 

 way honeybees respond to different factors 

 in their environment and the differences in 

 management indicated for the various con- 

 ditions. But they have also learned that 

 bees can be expected to behave in the same 



way in every lo- 

 cality, if the to- 

 tal environment 

 could be made 

 the same. 



The factors 

 which make up 

 the locality are 

 (1) the various 

 combinations of 

 weather conditions and (2) the honey plants 

 of the region. Almost endless combinations 

 can be made up from these. The differences 

 in management necessary for different locali- 

 ties are largely brought about by the time 

 of the occurrence of the main honey flow in 

 relation to the time of the natural great 

 expansion in brood-rearing activities in the 

 spring. The length of time between the nat- 

 ural occurrence of these two things gives 

 several types of localities. 



In the white and alsike clover region of 

 the northeastern portion of the United 

 States and the adjacent portion of Canada, 

 the natural heavy brood-rearing of spring 

 occurs just before the beginning of the main 

 honey flow from clover, so that under good 

 management the colonies are ready for the 

 short honey flow with a great horde of 

 young workers. The citrus-fruit region in 

 southern California is very much like the 

 clover region of the far North, so far as 

 management is concerned, in spite of the 

 great difference in climate, for in each re- 

 gion the main honey flow is short and rapid 

 and occurs at about the time the colonies 

 have reached their peak in spring brood- 

 rearing. 



In the midst of the buckwheat region of 

 southern New York and northern Pennsyl- 

 vania where there is but little if any clover, 

 the bees plunge ahead with their brood-rear- 

 ing in May (provided they have wintered 

 well and have plenty of food) as tho they 

 were getting ready for the honey flow from 

 clover in June, altlio here the main honey 

 flow does not come in June but comes in 

 August. The splendid force of workers 

 reared in May, which become the harvest 

 hands in the clover region, are of but little 

 if any value for the honey flow from buck- 

 wheat. In fact, many of them may already 

 have died of old age before buckwheat be- 

 gins to bloom; and, if still alive, they are 

 too old to help much in gathering a crop of 

 buckwheat honey. 



The problem of building up for the honey 

 flow in the buckwheat region is therefore 

 quite different from that of- the clover re- 

 gion. The same thing is true, to a less de- 

 gree, in the irrigated regions of the West 

 where alfalfa is the chief source of nectar. 

 In some portions of this region the bees 

 build up early, if well managed, just as 

 they do in the clover region and the citrus re- 

 gion; but the main honey flow does not come 

 until a month or six weeks later, at which 

 time the colonies may not be in as good con- 



