1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



623 



another year for the same reason. One of the 

 things we were very anxious to decide upon 

 was the size of hive we want. We were trying 

 some with 11 frames, some with half-stories un- 

 der the eight-frame hives, and some with two 

 full stories, or 16 frames. For myself I feel 

 pretty sure I want the frames all in one story. 

 Two stories makes too much lifting. I don't 

 know that Dr. Miller agrees with me in this. 



I am afraid the eight-frame hive is not large 

 enough; in fact, I'm sure eight frames are not 

 enough for some of our colonies in the spring. 

 As I said in my last article, some of our colonies 

 had as many as eleven frames of brood. But 

 I believe eight frames are enough during the 

 honey-harvest. I should dreadfully hate to 

 give up the eight-frame hive. It is nice to han- 

 dle, and makes the hauling to out-apiaries far 

 easier. But then, when I think of the big crops 

 of honey we used to have with the larger hive, 

 I wonder if it's the eight-frame hive that's the 

 trouble, or have the seasons changed ? and are 

 we never to have any more honey crops'? I do 

 not think the size of hive has made any differ- 

 ence with our crop this year or last, for there 

 has been no honey to be had, either for large or 

 small colonies. 



We certainly did not have the swarming with 

 the larger hives that we have had with the 

 eight-frame hives. But there may be another 

 reason for that. We always, during the honey- 

 harvest, left a small opening at the back of the 

 hive, for upward ventilation, and a current of 

 air was constantly passing through the hive, 

 that may have helped a good deal to prevent 

 swarming. We have not been giving this ven- 

 tilation since we have had the eight-frame hive 

 in use. The bees will not finish up the sections 

 quite so quickly at the back end when the ven- 

 tilation is given, and for that reason we have 

 discarded it. But I'm not sure but it's a good 

 thing to have the ventilation nevertheless. 



For the last two or three years we have been 

 placing small blocks at the corners under some 

 of our hives, raising them ^g^ of an inch from 

 the bottom-board, leaving an opening all round, 

 and I believe it's a good thing. It gives them 

 more air, and it may help to prevent swarming 

 — not that we're troubled with swarms at pres- 

 ent. We've not had any this year, and are not 

 likely to have. I'm not fond of swarming bees, 

 but I would even put up with the swarms if the 

 honey would only accompany them. 



There is one thing I don't like about our lat- 

 est eight-frame hives, and that is the dummy. 

 It is made of two pieces, and some of them warp 

 and bulge at the center. Dr. Miller says the 

 trouble is they are made of basswood. 



Oh, yes I another thing I don't like. The hive 

 is not wide enough to suit me. 1 want a little 

 more room to get the dummy out. The way I 

 generally do now is to pry out a frame first and 

 then remove the dummy, or else leave the dum- 

 my in. I am speaking now of the hives with 



the first Hoffman frames with the wide ends to 

 the top-bars and the end- bars with square 

 edges. These have been in use some lime, and 

 the bee-glue has accumulated about a sixteenth 

 of an inch. Of course, that makes about half 

 an inch less room in the hive. We ordered fifty 

 hives last year having narrow ends to top-bars 

 and V edges to end -bars. They are all made 

 with frames wired ready for use, but we have 

 not as yet succeeded in getting bees into many 

 of them. They may be better. We have not 

 had much chance to try them. 

 Marengo, 111. 



[You would not have trouble with the dum- 

 mies providing you had in use the latest Hoflf- 

 man frames. Those that you refer to were the 

 very first we put out, several years ago, and we 

 sold only a very few of them, as we saw at once 

 it would be necessary to change them. Some- 

 times I remove the dummy first, and sometimes 

 the brood -frame, but more often the former. 

 The dummy— or, as we call it, the division- 

 board, is now made so as to have a projection 

 that facilitates very greatly its removal. I 

 very often pry over the entire set of frames 

 clear to one side. This gives ample room for 

 the removal of the division-board; then I split 

 the brood-nest perpendicularly at any point 

 desired, and remove a frame if I wish to. — Ed.] 



RAMBLE 138. 



IN THE GOLD-MINES. 



By Rambler. 



ESIDES the bee-keeping 

 profession. Mr. Schaeftle 

 is a mining expert, and 

 he bears the U. S. Gov- 

 ernment's say-so as proof 

 of it. He has had much 

 experience in this science 

 in Colorado as well as in 

 California. He has traveled over a good share 

 of Northern California in the mining interests; 

 and, always having an eye open to the bee- 

 keeping interests, he can give much interesting 

 information in relation to the honey-flora of 

 this portion of the State. He claims that the 

 counties of Lassen, Modoc, and Shasta, are 

 practically undeveloped so far as bee-keeping 

 is concerned; and, owing to the large area cov- 

 ered with sage, the quality and yields would 

 equal the more favored South. Thus far, how- 

 ever, the cost of transportation from those 

 wilds would hardly warrant trying the experi- 

 ment of bee culture on a large scale. 



In the early mining days, Murphy and all of 

 these towns in Calaveras Co. were surrounded 

 by placer diggings. The surface has been torn 

 and upheaved with the pick and the spade, 

 and the best of the soil has been sent down 

 stream with the washings, while millions of 

 dollars in golden nuggets have been taken from 

 the pan and the rocker.,^ In some places the 

 surface of the country is honeycombed with 



