50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



his scruples, for it was a hopeless idea to get 

 away from the Kodak. 



The last day of the celebration was given to 

 a tournament by a band of 150 vaqueros. This 

 also drew an immense crowd; and when a score 

 of wild steers, with long sharp horns and 

 wicked eyes, came dashing into the arena, fol- 

 lowed by fifty mounted vaqueros, all on a dead 

 run, the scene was exciting enough. The steers 

 were skillfully run into a corral, from which 

 they were let out one at a time: and as the lone 



rounds of deafening cheers, during which the 

 steer was thrown and tied. 



As I had experienced the delights secured 

 only on the back of a bucking broncho, I was 

 deeply interested in the skill displayed by 

 vaqueros in their endeavors to mount and ride 

 the wildest specimens of kicking and bucking 

 bronchos that could be found, and a few won 

 my hearty applause by sticking to the saddle. 



During the celebration, two of the U. S. war- 

 ships, the celebrated Baltimore and the Charles- 

 ton, were in the harbor, and were visited by 

 thousands of people who had never before been 

 on board a man-of-war. The big guns, the 

 Gatling guns, and death-dealing instruments of 

 all kinds; the electric search-lights that can 

 focus the rays of light on an object at night 

 ten miles away; the scrupulous neatness of 

 siiip and implements, and the neat appearance 

 of the crew in their spotless white uniforms, all 

 gave the visitor new ideas and lasting impres- 

 sions of the power of the White Squadron. 



All together, the three days of festivities 

 were filled with pleasant, unique, and exciting 

 scenes; and from it we obtained a good idea of 

 far Western life in its various phases, and long 

 to be remembered by thousands, including the 



Rambler. 



"lo! the poor INDIAN " conquered at last. 



steer entered the arena on a mad rush for lib- 

 erty, a vaquero on his well-trained pony gave 

 chase. The slender-looking rawhide lariat, 

 after a whirl or two around the head, was 

 thrown out in a large loop, which settled over 

 the horns of the steer. The pony settled back, 

 and, just as soon as he felt the rope tighten, 

 and the steer halt, he then rapidly made a cir- 

 cuit around the dismayed bovine. The lariat 

 began to tighten around the steer's feet, and 

 the pony braced himself for the shock, which 

 came when the steer tumbled in the dust. The 

 vaquero then leaped from the saddle, and, with 

 a hair rope, securely tied the hind legs of the 

 steer, and the capture is complete. A cash, 

 prize was offered to the vaquero who would 

 rope and tie a steer in the shortest time. This 

 was accomplished in one instance in 58 seconds, 

 which, I was informed, broke the Pacific Coast 

 record. 



During the competition, many exciting in- 

 cidents occurred. A lariat broke after it had 

 enciicled the horns of a steer; many of the 

 crowd, and especially camerists and notably 

 the Rambler, had scaled the fence and entered 

 the arena to get a better view and a favorable 



Eosition for a snap shot. The steer, finding 

 imself at liberty, recklessly made a dash for 

 the crowd; and such a scrarnbling to get out of 

 the arena, man never saw. While many shin- 

 ned up the fence, others, notably the Rambler, 

 went under on all fours. A professional, with 

 his big camei'a and tripod, got the latter mixed 

 up with his legs, and he went under the fence 

 also, with a two-forty lunge. The steer, how- 

 ever, changed his mind and ran off in another 

 direction. The crowd laughed and. shouted, 

 and evidently thought it didn't "make any 

 hods as long as yer 'appy." 



The youngest-appearing vaquero of all, roped 

 a vicious-looking steer; and, as he tightened 

 up suddenly on the rope, it was jerked from the 

 saddle, and the steer ran like a deer up the 

 track. The little pony bounded rapidly in 

 pursuit, and, as he drew alongside the rope 

 rapidly trailing in the dust, the young vaquero 

 swung down head first from the saddle, grasped 

 the, ropo, and resumed his position in the saddle 

 \yithout slackening the speed of his horse. 

 This feat brought down the crowd, with several 



WIRING FRAMES. 



PBIOKITY OF LOCATION, ETC. 



As I have sat at my bench on rainy days, 

 wiring frames. I have sometimes wondered how 

 many of my fellow bee-keepers practice that 

 method of strengthening their foundation 

 comb, and Dec. 1st Gleanings answers the 

 thought by telling me that enough of them do 

 so to use up. even in a poor season like the last, 

 two tons of wire. This wiring of frames is a 

 little tedious, but I wish that all the work I do 

 paid me as well for the trouble as it does. Some 

 years, owing to laziness, or a like inexcusable 

 cause, I put a good deal of foundation in frames 

 that are not wired, and always regret it after- 

 ward, when, on initiating them to the extractor, 

 I see many combs fall from the frames, and 

 pile up in a sticky mass on the bottom of the 

 can. Besides giving strength to the combs, 

 wiring makes them more shapely and better, 

 yet prevents sagging and the consequent two- 

 inch strip of drone comb along the top of the 

 frame. The limitation of drone comb in my 

 hives is a hobby with me, and I would wire my 

 frames were its restriction the only thing gain- 

 ed. I can not see what objection some have 

 to wiring frames. The satisfaction of knowing 

 that good combs will result, when hiving a 

 swarm on wired foundation, is of itself worth 

 more than the cost of the wire, while the work 

 entailed by wiring is not so great as that which 

 is required to look after unwired foundation to 

 see that it has not fallen down, nor is being 

 drawn out wavy with kinks and curls. 



Comb foundation is used very extensively in 

 California, but I believe only a comparatively 

 small proportion is fastened to wi'-ed frames. 

 The practice most in vogue here is to use 

 strips of foundation only about half the depth 

 of the frame. This is not so apt to break down 

 or to sag; but of that last it matters not, for, 

 though the upper half of the comb may have 

 cells of worker size, the addition put on by the 

 bees is most apt to be of drone size, especially if 

 honey is coming in fast when the comb is built. 

 In every apiary. I suppose, there is some nat- 

 ural comb built, and much of this will be drone. 

 I make it a point to watch for all such combs; 

 and where the drone-cells are only in patches I 

 cut them out and fit worker comb in the place; 



