6(56 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



this way for two or three days they would be 

 allowed to have their liberty, and be fed and 

 accepted as the mother of the colony, only to 

 be a poor substitute for the same. This will I 

 say: I never knew a queen to be so used unless 

 there wei'e from KjO to a pint of dead bees 

 brought out at the entrance; while, when the 

 queen is killed outright, there may be dead 

 bees at the entrance and there may not. After 

 years of careful watching and experimenting I 

 feel like saying that any plan of introduction 

 which allows the bees to have a quarrel over 

 the queen while she is loose among them is 

 faulty in the extreme, for not one queen in ten 

 comes out of such a tight as good as she was 

 before. This is why I recommend using a large 

 wire-cloth cage to fasten the queen under on 

 the combs; for with such a cage, should a fight 

 result, it always does so before the queen is 

 out among the bees, consequently she is un- 

 harmed. When bees, fairly hissing with rage, 

 crowd tightly around a cage having a queen 

 under it (in which case friend Root has so often 

 told us it is not safe to let the queen out), they 

 would ball the queen in the same way were 

 she out of the cage; and if it is not safe to let 

 her out when the cage is thus balled, it is cer- 

 tainly unsafe to have her loose among the 

 bees at such times. After the bees cease to 

 hover around the cage, the fight is over, and 

 then the queen can safely go out among the 

 bees. I have known as many as a pint of bees 

 to be killed when a cage was thus covered, 

 yet the queen would not be harmed at all; but 

 let half that number of bees be killed when the 

 queen is among the fighting bees, and she will 

 be materially injured, if not spoiled entirely— 

 at least, this is my experience after scores of 

 experiments along this line. 

 Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Dooi.ittle. 



RAMBLE NO. 91. 



MK. BKODBECK S APIAEY. 



The location of Mr. Brodbeck's apiary, near 

 the outlet of Cold Water Canyon, is especially 

 adapted to the comfort of the apiarist. The 

 large house is not only surrounded by a broad 

 veranda, but the comfort is further enhanced 

 by a wealth of shade. The tall sycamore and 

 the blue-gum interlock their branches, while a 

 tangle of small trees and blooming shrubs 

 grows in profusion and lends a charm. The 

 water from the dark recesses of the canyon 

 above has to leap many rocks and boulders: 

 and its subdued roar, like a distant waterfall, 

 adds another charm to the place. An ample 

 ditch conducts some of this water to the very 

 edge of the veranda; and such cool and refresh- 

 ing soft water as to give health with every 

 draught. 



A person living where rains are frequent, and 

 springs of water abundant, will never appre- 

 ciate the wonderful value of water until he has 

 lived in a dry country; and the appreciation 

 will be strengthened if he has lived several 

 months where the precious fluid is a mile away; 

 and where the only shade is that of a buck- 

 thorn bush, scarcely large enough for a jack- 

 rabbit to waggle his ears uuder, water and 

 shade will be appreciated as never before. Ow- 

 ing to this fact, the canyon is a popular resort 

 and picnic-ground for the inhabitants of the 

 plains below. 



Mr. Brodbeck is now the happy owner of 83 

 good strong colonies of bees, and can no longer 

 be ciilled the little bee-man with one swarm. 

 He is one of us, sure, in point of numbers. The 

 bees were moved to this location too late to get 

 the early honey- flow, and, as a consequence, 



his yield is not so great as that obtained by 

 some of his neighbors; but, nevertheless, it 

 makes a good showing. I found that Mr. B. 

 was a very careful and painstaking workman 

 among the bees and fixtures, and every thing 

 about the apiaiy was kept in first-class order. 

 The hives are all new L. hives; and, instead of 

 piling unsightly stones on the covers to hold 

 them on. the cleat on the ends of the cover 

 shuts over the hive far enough for its lower 



''''■'■^& 



4» 



'v "t'^-v 



,'^'^i 



YlirCA-PI.ANT, OR SPANISH BAYONET. 



edge to come even with the lower edge of the 

 cleat on the hive. A button on the cover-cleat 

 secures the cover firmly to the hive. The fine 

 strain of Italians found in the hives are bred 

 from an imported queen which came through 

 the Home of the Honey-bees, and the nectar is 

 extracted with a Cowan extractor from the 

 same place. The honey-house is a temporary 

 concern, like many others in California, and is 

 covered with cotton cloth, and makes a very 

 pretty appearance among the peach and apri- 

 cot trees among which the hives are located. 



