IS. 



GL.KAMNCS IX BEK CULTURF.. 



Feb.. 15 



on one side and placed on top of the brood- 

 frames. Our experience in giving liquid feed 

 in cold weather is not favorable. We always 

 use^ combs of sealed stores first; then, if we 

 have-not the combs, candy. —Ed.] 



IDAHO bee-keepers; foul-brood legisla- 

 tion. 



We have before the legislature a bee-dis- 

 ease bill combining the best features of the 

 county-inspector systems of California and 

 Utah. Foul brood is spreading rapidly, 

 threatening all alike, so we want you to 

 write your Representative and your Senator, 

 indorsing this measure and asking his sup- 

 port for it. Then write me a ringing letter 

 in a few words, indorsing our efforts to se- 

 cure such a law. These letters will be pre- 

 sented to the legislature. Then get up a 

 petition for such a law, with as many signa- 

 tures of bee-owners as possible, and send it 

 to me. All this will take but little time, but 

 may save the bee-owners thousands of dol- 

 lars, if we secure such a law. We must act 

 at once. E. F. Atwater, Pres. 



South Idaho and Eastern Oregon Ass'n. 



Box 37, Meridian, Ida. 



HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE, AND THEIR RE- 

 LATIGN^TO HONEY- FLOWS IN HOT CLIMATES. 



• I should like to know if there is any ma- 

 terial difference in the honey-flow where the 

 thermometer ranges from 110 to 120°, with 

 a dry atmosphere, such as we have in the 

 Imperial Valley. My bees did not make much 

 honey here through May and June; but 

 through July and August they did very well. 

 The thermometer during the former months 

 ranged from 100 to 120, with a dry atmos- 

 phere, and through the latter it ranged from 

 100 to 110, with a humid atmosphere. Ow- 

 ing to our proximity to the Salt River Val- 

 ley, the climatic conditions ought to be 

 nearly the same, and perhaps some one in 

 Arizona can answer the question. Most of 

 the honey here comes from alfalfa. When 

 does the swarming season commence in the 

 Salt River Valley, and how long does it last? 

 Brawley, Cal. S. D. Ulrey. 



[When in Arizona some few years ago I 

 remembered hearing Mr. Wm. Rohrig dis- 

 cuss this very question, and I therefore turn- 

 ed this letter over to him for reply, and here 

 it is. — Ed.] 



Before attempting to answer Mr. Ulrey 

 it will be only fair to say that I have had no 

 experience where the temperature ranged 

 as high as 120 degrees; but for practical pur- 

 poses in honey-gathering there may be but 

 little difference between that and our tem- 

 perature of 100 to 112 degrees. 



After an experience of 14 years in this 

 climate, where the atmosphere is very dry 

 for days and even weeks at a time, I am 

 forced to the conclusion that dry hot days 

 are not at all times detrimental to the hon- 



ey-flow, and I dare say perhaps never are 

 when other conditions are right; for during 

 the period of extreme heat we have had very 

 good honey-flows, the bees doing good work 

 before 10 A. m. and after 4 p. m., while do- 

 ing but little during the middle of the day. 



I can not believe that the dry or more hu- 

 mid conditions of the atmosphere were 

 alone responsible for Mr. Ulrey's experience. 

 There are, I believe, atmospheric conditions 

 that are not conducive to nectar secretion, 

 but just what these conditions are I am not 

 prepared to say. There are times when we 

 have apparently ideal weather and abun- 

 dance of bloom, and our bees largely remain 

 at home, and but little honey is stored. 

 This is equally true when the atmosphere is 

 dry or more humid. 



Here in the Salt River Valley, June is 

 usually the best month we have for a honey- 

 flow from alfalfa, and it is invariably a very 

 dry month. 



I am not sure just what the necessary 

 conditions are; but I would be willing to 

 take my chances of securing a crop of honey, 

 if we had plenty of irrigating water, during 

 spring and early summer, and alfalfa within 

 range be permitted to bloom before cutting. 

 The swarming season here is during April 

 and May. Wm. Rohrig. 



Tempe, Arizona, Jan. 3. 



WINTER FLIGHTS. 



I have been much interested in the argu- 

 ments for winter flights of bees that have 

 been placed in cellars. I am only a beginner 

 in this, and perhaps should remain in the 

 background and let the older and more ex- 

 perienced bee-keepers decide; but on page 12, 

 replying to a Straw by Dr. Miller, you say 

 you would like to know how the midwinter 

 flights work in other localities, so I am writ- 

 ing my experience of the last year. 



My cellar has to be kept as cold as possi- 

 ble, and not freeze— about 34 on the average, 

 on account of keeping fruit well, so bees 

 have to stand the cold. About the middle of 

 February I noticed my bees were getting a 

 little uneasy; and so on the first bright warm 

 day I placed one hive in my shed doorway 

 in the sun. Why, you would have thought 

 it was swarming time, they poured out so; 

 and after having a good cleansing flight they 

 began to carry out dead bees. I watched 

 them quite closely for two hours, when they 

 had nearly all returned to the hive. I saw 

 only a very few live bees drop on the snow M 

 and fail to rise again. After all had return- f 

 ed I carried the hive back into the cellar, 

 and they were as quiet as could be until I 

 placed them on summer stand. There was, 

 as Mr. Quinn says, page 83, a lot of bees, 

 come from my other hives, dead on the cel- 

 lar floor. I believe bees wintered in cellars 

 need a winter flight, particularly if cellars 

 are as cold as mine has to be, for they have 

 to eat more to keep up their bodily tempera- 

 ture. I shall give all of my bees a flight, if 

 possible, the last of February. 



Augusta, Me., Jan. 23. John Jackson. 



i 



