GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 192'j 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Southern California.— ^.^ ^""^ 



still m re 

 dry are the weather conditions thruout 

 southern California. It is a serious ques- 

 tion as to whether the early rains were 

 a help or an injury to next year's honey 

 crop. Sage, that put on two or more inches 

 of growth after the rain, is now drying up. 

 This severely injures the prospects for sage 

 honey next season. Perhaps we count too 

 much on expectant rainfall. An old Indian 

 once said when asked if he thought that 

 there would be much rain: ''Don't know; 

 this all time dry country; no big trees, all 

 time small brush. ' ' He may have been right 

 as it is only on the mountains and along the 

 waterways that we find natural timber of 

 any size. 



Considerable off bloom is found on the 

 different varieties of fruit trees. Only a 

 week or two ago a pear orchard was in full 

 bloom. This was probably caused by the 

 early rainfall, followed by very warm weath- 

 er. Lately we have had several days of 

 "norther," a severe, dry and dusty wind. 

 We always hope for a rain after one of these 

 winds; but, as they blow from the north and 

 east, we seldom get any moisture for some 

 time after. 



As the year draws to a close, beekeepers 

 begin to ask themselves questions somewhat 

 like the following: Did 1 make any money 

 on my bees in 1921? What are the prospects 

 for good honey prices in the future? Are 

 bees likely to continue to be considered good 

 property and to have a value commensurate 

 with their earning ability? The first ques- 

 tion can be answered only by the individual 

 beekeeper. As to the second, I feel confi- 

 dent that good living prices will prevail for 

 years to come. Values will always fluctuate, 

 and we can hardly expect ever to see the 

 war-time prices again, nor need we expect 

 the extremely low prices of a few years ago. 

 In answer to the third question, I would say 

 that bees will always be considered good 

 property and will have a value more or less 

 in proportion to their earning ability. Eight 

 now bees are being offered much cheaper 

 than a year ago and may go even lower be- 

 fore another honey season. It is quite often 

 the case that when a beekeeper needs money, 

 he will sell the "goose that lays the golden 

 egg." Also once in a while some one wants 

 to leave the locality or go out of the busi- 

 ness and offers his bees and equipment at 

 a bargain. These are opportunities that 

 every real beekeeper should take advantage 

 of. 



For a term of 26 years, tliru lean years 

 and fat, with crops varying from nothing to 

 200 pounds per colony and with prices rang- 

 ing from three and a half to 22 cents per 

 pound by the earlot, and good crops at each 



time, with bees ranging in price from the 

 cost of the hive or less to $15 per colony, I 

 can still say that the business has been sat- 

 isfactory and has given good returns for the 

 time and money put into it. We know of 

 nothing that a young man can go into, capi- 

 tal and labor considered, that will give bet- 

 ter returns during a period of years. The 

 big proviso in connection with these state- 

 ments is that the young man must have 

 "pep" and must thoroughly enjoy the 

 work. 



An old boyhood friend of mine once said 

 to me: "If I could only let my business run 

 itself or let others run it satisfactorily for 

 one or two months in the year, as you bee- 

 keepers do, I would be very willing to take 

 the responsibility for the other ten or eleven 

 months. But, you see, it is like this. I am 

 in the chicken business, and I must.be at 

 home Sundays and week days, mornings 

 and evenings, 365 days in the year. ' ' This 

 man enjoys his work and is successful finan- 

 cially, and yet he longs for a little time for 

 recreation. But our business is different in 

 many ways and takes a different manage- 

 ment. Our work is not continuous thruout 

 the year, but neither do our returns come 

 in every day, week or month. We must 

 often distribute the returns from one sale 

 over a whole year. Day after day do we 

 work, with no financial reward for several 

 months or even more. And last but not 

 least, the work often gets monotonous, as a 

 feilow has to work day after day alone, with 

 no one to speak to from morning until night. 



Two men from Arizona were making a 

 tour of southern California during the 

 month of November and called to see me. 

 They were seeking information in regard to 

 shipping packages of bees by mail or ex- 

 press. In their locality they have a peculiar 

 condition that should be good for this line 

 of work. Colonies under normal condition 

 get very strong during the early spring 

 months, and yet the real nectar flow does 

 not come until the summer months. A great 

 problem with the beekeepers of this district 

 has been to retard early brood-rearing, and 

 thus try to prevent swarming. It has been 

 some problem, but by doing this they save 

 part of the stores that would be consumed 

 by a somewhat useless early brood. The idea 

 now is to allow the bees to get strong early, 

 and then to sell several pounds of bees from 

 each colony. By this method nature is al- 

 lowed to take its course, and besides a large 

 part of the low-grade honey, that would 

 necessarily have to be sold at a low price, 

 can be used in raising these young bees. The 

 northern beekeepers need young bees early, 

 and these southern beekeepers have more 

 than they need. Co-operation will be a good 

 thing for both. L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif. 



