1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



309 



our clime, or those which have become 

 accUmated, have a strong deep tap-root. 

 Our sages and bucliwheat, which make our 

 region famous for its honey product, are 

 very marked in this respect. By this deep 

 rooting they find moisture and fertihty suf- 

 ficient to keep them alive, even in the years 

 of greatest drouth, while with a more gen- 

 erous rainfall they are enabled to store up 

 energy suflRcient to hand over to the bee- 

 keeper often a phenomenal yield of most 

 delicious honey. 



The vegetation in arid regions is found to 

 possess many peculiarities. First, we often 

 find a curtailing of leaf material. This is 

 most emphasized in such plants as the cac- 

 tus, which has no leaves at all. Its green 

 succulent stem surface is a substitute for 

 leaves, and thus the evaporating surface is 

 curtailed to the utmost. Other plants, na- 

 tive to our clime, though possessed of leaves 

 almost always show them in compound 

 form. These long narrow leaves also give 

 less surface, and thus limit transpiration or 

 the giving-off of moisture. Others of our 

 plants have leaves that are thick and 

 leathery, and thus transpiration is further 

 reduced. All who have observed our South- 

 ern California vegetation have no doubt 

 noticed the shining aspect of much of our 

 foliage, the leaves looking as if they had 

 been varnished. This is another attempt on 

 the part of our vegetation to lessen the 

 escape of moisture and hold on to that which 

 is the one great need of every arid region. 



There is another feature of our vegetable 

 growth in these arid regions which surprised 

 me the first spring after I came to Southern 

 California. I refer to the fact of the differ- 

 ent periods of the germinations of the seeds. 

 In the East we expect all the seeds of each 

 species of plant to germinate in their sea- 

 son. Thus the adder-tongues, the spring 

 beauties, and the hepaticas all spring up 

 with the first warm breath of the season. 

 In California it is far otherwise. With the 

 early rain will come scores of gilea, shoot- 

 ing-stars, and baby blue-eyes, to be followed 

 in succession over and over as the rain 

 comes again and again. We can see why 

 this is so. If an early rain comes, followed 

 by a long period of drouth, the early plants 

 will spring up and die. With a much later 

 rain others will germinate, find sufficient 

 moisture to live and grow, and thus seed 

 will be produced, and the real object of the 

 plant will be accomplished. Thus the plant 

 is continued as a result of varied dates in 

 germination. 



Closely correlated with the above is an- 

 other feature of our flora that is more sig- 

 nificant to bee-keepers. I refer to the long 

 period of bloom of most of our plants. From 

 whnt I have just stated we see that this 

 must be true of our annuals. It is as strik- 

 ingly evident in our perennials, like the 

 white and ball or black sages. While the 



black sage usually commences to bloom in 

 June I have known it to anticipate this 

 period by at least six weeks or two months. 

 Then, again, most of our plants produce long 

 racemes or panicles. They commence to 

 bloom usually below, and continue the blos- 

 soms clear to the tip of the plant. This is 

 nowhere more strikingly exhibited than in 

 the common white sage. Thus we may have 

 bloom for several weeks, and we can readily 

 understand the phenomenal harvest which 

 the bee-man is likely to secure. In case of 

 the wild buckwheat, the first blossoms will 

 open in early June, while the date of the last 

 knows no limit except as frost calls a halt. 



Everywhere in our country the sparrow 

 (or finch) is a favorite with bird-lovers. 

 Who in the East has not early fallen in love 

 with the modest little chippy and the equally 

 attractive song sparrow ? Who has not said 

 "blessed," as he has listened to the song of 

 the latter or seen it busily employed ridding 

 his lindens of the young scale insects ? If 

 we except the European (or house) sparrow 

 of the East (and he is a late foreigner from 

 the old world), I know of none of this spar- 

 row tribe that are not welcome guests in 

 every field, garden, or orchard. Not so in 

 California. The house linnet, or little red- 

 breasted linnet, is our most common bird. 

 Its welcome matin greets my ears all the 

 summer through, even long before sun is 

 up. Yet it is a little rascal. It devours the 

 luscious loquats of April, not waiting for 

 them to ripen. Even before this it has 

 stripped the apricots wholly of their fruit- 

 buds. Later the apples, pears, and quinces 

 are gauged by this same little varmint. No 

 sooner has he broken the peel than the bees 

 hasten to stay the waste. Thus the bees get 

 the curses where they by good rights belong 

 to this rascally bird. The Hnnet is our one 

 bird-pest that merits death at the hand of 

 the orchardist in Southern California. 





CELLAR WINTERING. 



' ' Say, Doolittle, what do you think about 

 giving bees, which are being wintered in the 

 cellar, a flight or two during the winter ? " 



"Well, Mr. Clark, may 1 ask you a ques- 

 tion?" 



"Certainly. I should be as willing to 

 have questions asked me as I am to ask 

 them of you." 



"That being the case, allow me to ask 

 you how high you have seen the mercury 

 between the 12th of November, 1904, and 

 this, the 3d day of March, 11-05? " 



