December, igog. 



AmcFican "Bee JonrnalJ 



RcflectiwiLri 



California Bce-Kcei 



I III I I fil»i-i a 



By W. A. PRYAL. Alden Station. Oakland, Calif. 



A Garden Trowel as a Hive-Tool 



One day I was setting a trap to catch 

 a gopher, and in doing so I usually use 

 a small garden trowel to clean out and 

 sometimes enlarge the rodent's burrow, 

 and when I finished I left the imple- 

 ment on my work bench near the 

 honey-house. Soon afterward I had 

 occasion to overhaul a bee-hive, and 

 along with my hive-tools I took the 

 aforesaid trowel. I thought I would 

 give it a trial as a cover-lifter and a 

 super-raiser, and it worked beautifully. 

 Frames were pried apart, propolis 

 shoveled out of hives occupied by Ital- 

 ians and hybrids; in short, it proved a 

 very useful tool. It is better than a 

 chisel or putty knife, , and it is cheap. 



Another useful tool in the apiary is 

 a paint-burner's triangular scraper. 

 The interior of a hive can be cleaned 

 most satisfactorily and expeditiously 

 with one of these cheap scrapers. If 

 you haven't one, buy one and thank 

 the "Old Reliable" for making you 



About Queen-Rearing 



From a town in Kansas a young gen- 

 tleman sends me this letter: 



" I woul<l like to ko to a country like Cali- 

 fornia wliLTe I could set out queens earlier 

 in the season tJian I can here in Kansas. I 

 havd a chance to buy an apiary at Glendora. 

 27 miles cast of Los Angeles. Calif. My 

 mother has Just returned from Glendora. 

 and she thinks the nights are too cold for 

 queen-reariuK. How early and how late in 

 the season can you rear queens in California 

 and have t:ood ones?" 



In reply I would say that I do not 

 know very much about the queen-rear- 

 ing business in the lower part of this 

 State, but I feel sure my correspondent 

 will find the conditions anywhere about 

 the distance he mentions east of Los 

 Angeles all that he could wish for, at 

 least as far as climate is concerned. If 

 one could manage to keep up a supply 

 of drones through the winter, queens 

 may be reared the year around. For 

 the best results it is better, however, to 

 rear queens only during the natural 

 season, for their propagation (March 1 

 to say Aug. 1). though up to and per- 

 haps in early October, would make no 

 great difference, provided the colonies 

 in which the cells were started are 

 strong, or up to what would be con- 

 sidered normal in early summer. 



To make a financial success of com- 

 mercial queen-rearing in Californa, as 

 well, perhaps, as anywhere else for that 

 matter, it would be well to see that few, 

 or better, no black or other races of 

 bees different from the kind to be 

 propagated, should be in within twice 

 the accredited flying-distance of your 



bees ; that is assuming that your bees 

 travel 3 miles from the apiary, then 

 you would want to be 6 miles from 

 other bees. Six miles is a big radius ; 

 perhaps for all practical purposes 4 

 miles would be plenty, as I am of the 

 opinion that dron s, while husky fel- 

 lows, are just lazy enough, even when 

 on pleasure bent, to fly but a short dis- 

 tance to their trysting grounds or res- 

 ervations. 



Still, on the other hand, a queen may 

 venture further should drones not be 

 close to the apiary in which she was 

 reared. But I suppose you are in- 

 formed in regard to all that pertains to 

 the subject. I only mention it with a 

 view of cautioning you to produce 

 good and J>ure stock. 



To Prevent Swarming 



From Dr. Henry Jones I got a small 

 booklet, entitled, " A Radical Cure for 

 the Swarming Habit of Bees," and he 

 asks me to pass criticism on his plan. 

 As it is too late in the season to try it 

 in my apiary, I shall have to wait until 

 next spring before I can treat my bees 

 to its drastic use. The system might 

 be called " abortionating baby bees;" 

 'tis cruel, and I might uncharitably re- 

 mark, it would only take a doctor to 

 think of such a plan. It is almost on 

 all-fours with Dr. Osier's idea of 

 killing off the old gentlemen and ladies, 

 as they arc useless. For me, I like to 

 see the old folks ; I think there is noth- 

 ing so inspiring as a grand old man 

 and woman, especially if they have led 

 a good and useful life. But, still, to 

 decapitate a portion of the sealed brood 

 when a colony shows signs of swarm- 

 ing, is — well, the dollar-and-cent equa- 

 tion comes in and our scruples may 

 melt into nothingness — we might do as 

 we would do with the poor little kit- 

 tens we do not want to see grow up 

 about us, and, perhaps, have a half- 

 starved existence. So, until ne.xt sum- 

 mer I shall hold my peace about the 

 Doctor's plan, which may be just the 

 thing we have been so long looking 

 for. 



Some Gladioli Cranks and Bees 



The griiwing of the gladiolus is get- 

 ting to be quite a popular fad ; it well 

 might be, for it is a fine flower of good 

 form, easy culture and beautiful ap- 

 pearance. Some of the newer sorts 

 are fairly gorgeous, and in colorings, 

 markings, etc., are close rivals of the 

 orchids. For many years I have been 

 an admirer and grower of gladioli, but 

 it was not until this year that I " broke 

 loose "as a genuine " gladioli crank," 



as an enthusiast of this flower is 

 dubbed. This year my named varieties 

 run into the hundreds, and in my mix- 

 tures there are thousands of variations. 

 When my crossed seedlings come into 

 bloom I expect to have something even 

 better than I have been able to pur- 

 chase or secure by e.xchange with col- 

 lectors. (That sounds big, but it is 

 one of the anticipations of the specialist 

 who hand-fertilizes his flowers.) 



Here I might mention that the bee 

 has played an important part in bring- 

 ing about the improvement of this 

 popular garden flower. Some growers 

 still believe bee-fertilized seed is better 

 than hand-fertilized seed. This may be 

 true up to a certain point; by hand- 

 pollination the hybridist can secure 

 about what he wants in a cross; while 

 the bees may use some useless parents 

 in their mi.x-ups. It is almost impos- 

 sible, also, for the bee to effect ferti- 

 lization in some of the large-flowered 

 modern gladioli, as the organs are too 

 often beyond the reach of these insects. 

 Dr. Van Fleet, associate editor of the 

 Rural New-Yorker, and the originator 

 of Gladiolus /'rincct<s. the largest flower- 

 ed variety so far produced, mentioned 

 this fact in a recent issue of that paper. 



I notice that bees work very indus- 

 triously on tlie flowers of some varie- 

 ties of this plant; that at times nectar 

 collects quite plentifully in them. I 

 don't know but there are some varieties 

 that are good nectar-secreters. 



In this connection I might mention 

 that I have heard that one of the past 

 bright and shining lights of the bee- 

 keeping galaxy, has left the apiarists' 

 camp entirely and is now in the ranks 

 of the gladioli cranks. I refer to A. E. 

 Manum, the one-time famous Vermont 

 bee-keeper. I am informed that he is 

 now somewhere near Los Angeles 

 communing with Flora, aud has a big 

 family of rare gladioli under his skill- 

 ful care. Shake, brother, shake; but. 

 remember, I have not deserted the bees, 

 and I think I nevershall entirely. 



Apogem— A Fertility Producer 



Yes, 1 don't think you will find it in 

 the dictionary. I think it is a new word 

 and may die a-borning, like many an- 

 other word that was brought into this 

 cold and heartless world, for some 

 other word may take its place. 



Apogem — or Apisogerm, which I am 

 inclined to discard on account of its 

 greater length, if for no other reason — 

 is the innoculation of the soil with a 

 certain bacteria that scientists have so 

 far failed to investigate, and which by 

 its presence causes the soil into which 

 it is placed to become inordinately fer- 

 tile. Great crops may be easily pro- 

 duced wherever apogem is sown. It 

 has not yet been placed upon the mar- 

 ket, and I am not aware that any of the 

 experiment stations have issued a bul- 

 letin setting forth its wonderful prop- 

 erties. Of course, it gets its great vir- 

 tue from the honey-bee. To the alfalfa- 

 grower it is a boon indeed, as it is, in 

 fact, to all other cultivators of the soil, 

 as may be surmised. 



If 1 were avaricious I might make a 

 fortune by tliis discovery. I <lon't want 

 to be a Rockefellow and be cursed 

 with tainted money. The secret will 



