92 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1&22 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California. ^"^ ^^.^^'"^^ ^'". 



sections o i 

 our part of the state, colonie. ent into the 

 winter period strong in y( g bees and 

 heavy in stores — ^strong in yo ;• bees owing 

 to various sorts of fall flow„ ui almost all 

 localities, and heavy in stores, owing partly 

 to the fall flows and, to a greater extent, be- 

 cause the market, for the lower grades of 

 honey especially, was so negligible that it 

 hardly paid the beekeepers to extract. This 

 condition is particularly true where it con- 

 cerned members of the California Honey 

 Producers' Co-operative Exchange, who 

 were receiving as an advance but 3 cents 

 per pound, and, as rumor had it, were to 

 receive no more. We have been favored 

 lately with some very heavy rainfall, and, 

 with bees in such good condition, prospects 

 for next season 's crops are excellent. 



Many of us are greatly concerned regard- 

 ing the future of co-operative marketing of 

 honey in California. It will be remembered 

 tliat the Exchange's three-year marketing 

 contract has expired. Will the various local 

 exchanges continue to exist and, if so, are 

 they again to become members of the State 

 Exchange? And when will the State Ex- 

 change inform its members, the local ex- 

 changes? and, in turn, when w" he local 

 exchanges inform their m^ , the bee- 



keepers, regarding a se^ at on the 1920 



and 1921 pools? It . oeen many months 

 now, according to the best information that 

 the writer can gather, since members of local 

 exchanges have received any correspondence 

 relative to the settlement of pools from 

 either the local or state exchanges. 



Two weeks of beekeepers' short courses, 

 conducted jointly by the University of Cali- 

 fornia College of Agriculture and the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, for beginners 

 and advanced students, were held at Berke- 

 ley during December. The attendance was 

 small, especially for the last week, which 

 was devoted to advanced students. It seems 

 to be almost impossible to convince bee- 

 keepers generally that it is their distinct 

 advantage to attend such courses when some 

 of the best authorities in the country are 

 })repared to give them the very latest on 

 beekeeping practices. Beekeeping has be- 

 come a specialized industry and has changed 

 very rapidly during the past few years. We 

 liardly realize that this is true. A few years 

 ago we did not know where to find good 

 locations, nor would we have known how 

 to secure the crops in such locations, were it 

 not for the teachings of the past few 

 years. To combat diseases is a much more 

 serious problem today. And we are just 

 beginning to find out that wo must know 

 what it costs to produce honey. Dr. E. 

 F. Phillips of Washington, Geo. S. Demuth, 

 of this journal, and other qualified men 



iliscussed and imparted the latest teachings 

 on the foregoing, as well as other subjects, 

 wliich we cannot afford today to pass over 

 lightly. If we do, others are bound to 

 take our places. Beekeeping journals are 

 recording our progress, and every one of us 

 should devote much more time to their care- 

 ful perusal. M. C. Richter. 



Big Sur, Calif. 



» * * 



In Southern California.— ^ ^ «? ™ ^^'^ 



came m very 

 dry, and, until after the middle of the 

 month, it looked as if we would have a dry 

 year. Then it began raining, and the 

 ground has not had such a soaking for many 

 years. There was rain, rain, rain and for a 

 change a few more showers. From seven to 

 thirty inches have fallen over the bee-ranges 

 of southern California since my last report. 

 Roads were made impassable in many sec- 

 tions, railway and highway bridges were 

 washed out, some of these being repaired 

 and going out a second time during the 

 storm. 



The rain has surely put a different aspect 

 on the prospects for honej^ and there ap- 

 parently seems to be no reason for anything 

 but the best of crops for the season of 1922. 

 Of course, spring rains, winds or climatic 

 conditions can still materially help or hinder 

 in the making of a crop. But, generally 

 speaking, everybody is happy. 



The short course in beekeeping, iield in 

 Exposition Park, Los Angeles, early in De- 

 cember, was not as well attended as it should 

 have been. The course was one of much 

 value to beekeepers, and it is not often that 

 we are given the opportunity of attending 

 lectures of the nature of those given. But 

 the great majority of beekeepers are in- 

 clined to pay little or no attention to such 

 things. When spring comes they get busy 

 for a little while with the bees and then 

 ' ' lay them by ' ' for the rest of the year. It 

 is amazing sometimes how well some apiaries 

 really do— considering the care they get. 



Referring to page 743 of December 

 Gleanings, we beekeepers of California think 

 that we are entitled to some of those ' ' Short 

 Cuts ' ' promised by ye editor as ' ' Season- 

 able Articles" for use during the year 1922. 

 We hardly think that we are a year behind, 

 so we must be ahead. At any rate, an ar- 

 ticle on swarm control in the May issue 

 would be of little use to a beekeeper whose 

 bees had swarmed during March or April. 

 Or, an article in July or August on harvest- 

 ing a crop of honey and packing it for mar- 

 ket would not do much good to a fellow who 

 had produced his honey during May and 

 June, as many of us do in California. How 

 about this, Mr. Editor? 



[The Editor had not forgotten the needs 

 of California beekeepers when he wrote the 



