1254 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



is little on no dew. In the famous Coaohel- 

 la Valley, contiguous to the great Sal ton Sea, 

 where I believe bee-keepei"s will tind a re- 

 gion unrivaled for their business, the atmos- 

 phere is so dry that asparagus will thrive in 

 face of this rust. This, then, will make 

 asparagus growing very popular in this val- 

 ley. Ihis is the more true as there are few 

 crops that pay better. 



It is an intere ting fact that our bees util- 

 ize these ru^ts, as they collect the spores, 

 for food. Like the pollen of tiowers, ihese 

 spores are rich in proteid food, and so are 

 just what the bees require. In the Coachel 

 la Valley the bees will not be able to gather 

 rust spores from asparagus; but in the great 

 plantations of asparagus and alfalfa, where 

 ten crops are raised in a season, they will be 

 able to get abundam-e of both pollen an<l 

 honey. I know of few flowers from which 

 the bt es gither pollen more abundantly than 

 from the asparagus 1 feel sure that in the 

 Coachella and Imperial Valley bee keepers 

 are to find localities that will leave littl-^ to 

 be desired. The new county (Imperial) has 

 voted that no liquor may be sold in its limits 

 — another recommendation. 



Conve^^a fj'ons 

 ^^ ^with Dooliitle 



-"■■^- ^■ ■ ■"^- — f '^^^^ 



SECURING BEES IN TIME FOR THE HARVEST. 



"I wonder if Doolittle ever had some of 

 his colonies of bees give him a much better 

 yield of honey than did other colonies." 



"Certainly he has; and in turn I wonder 

 if Brown ever had things turn out that way 

 at the end of any honey season." 



"Yes, Brown has, and that is the reason I 

 am over here to-day to have a little talk with 

 you. I ran across Smith yesterday, and in 

 our conversation he made this remark: 'All 

 practical observing apiarists know that much 

 depends on having conti'ol of the bees and 

 concentrating their efforts toward honey- 

 gathering while honey is to be had. ' This set 

 me to thinking, and resulted in my coming 

 over to see you." 



"Did you believe what he said?" 



" I did not know just what to believe. Do 

 you believe that there is truth in such a 

 statement? " 



"Well, yes, perhaps so; but if all practical 

 observing apiarists do so know, the most of 

 them ai'e as silent as the tomb regarding thj 

 matter." 



" What makes you say that? Smith spoke 

 right out about it." 



"I said it because one thousand words 

 have been written on wintering bees, feeding 

 bees, uniting bees, preventing after-swarms, 



clipping queens' wings, etc., to where one 

 word has been on the subject which Smith 

 tells you all prcK^tical apiarists know about." 



"That does seem a little strange, I admit." 



"It certainly does If they had known 

 about these things why have they not told 

 the world about them, and not been writing 

 all the while about something of lesser 

 value? " 



"But what do you say in the matter?" 



"1 contend with Smith that the control 

 and con(^entration of bees with an eye on 

 the honey harvest not only has much to do 

 with the success or non-su<'cess of any api- 

 arist, but I go still further and say that it 

 has nearly all to do with the matter of suc- 

 cess or failure of the person keeping bees." 



"That is a strong assertion, and I should 

 like to know how you can figure it out." 



•'Do you remember where we started?" 



"Yes — about a part of our colonies giving 

 a greater yii Id of honey than others." 



"Correct. And if you had been a close 

 observer you would have ascertained that 

 tho.se colonies which did the best for you in 

 honey the past season were those colonies 

 which controlled and <'oncentrated their bees 

 toward the honey end of the hive rather than 

 the bee end." 



"What do you mean by that expression?" 



" I mean that it so happened that the bees 

 which gave you your best honey yields came 

 up to a condition of control and concentra- 

 tion equal to the occasion, of their own ac- 

 cord; and had you known about these mat- 

 ters yo^i could very largely have brought ev- 

 ery colony up to where it would have done 

 as well as the best.'' 



"Do you mean it?" 



"Yes. And I go still further, and say that 

 Mr. Smith left out one of the great big fac- 

 tors 'n the matter by not including, in his 

 talk with you, securing the bees in time for 

 the harvest, coupling that with the control 

 and concentrating; and the securing the bees 

 in time for the harvest should lead the other 

 two in the bargain." 



"This matter is leading out into broader 

 fields than I expected when I came." 



"Indeed the field is broad; for unless we 

 secure a full and overflowing working force 

 just in time for the harvest, control and con- 

 centrate as much as we will, we shall fail of 

 securing first prize from the harvest." 



"But Smith claimed we should always 

 have our colonies strong. ' ' 



"Undoubtedly. And that is much better 

 than never to have any of them strong; for if all 

 are always strong, surely they will be strong 

 at time of harvest. However, had you care- 

 fully examined those colonies which gave you 

 your best yields in honey you would have 

 found that they were those which were not 

 the strongest during the whole of the season, 

 but that they were such colonies as come up 

 to their maximum sti'ength just at the begin- 

 ning of the honey-flow, and then in addition 

 saw fit to control and concentrate during the 

 whole of the flow." 



"What do you mean by that, 'control and 

 concentrate,' the way you now put it? " 



