1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



577 



the desert plants or shrubs. Some of them, in t heir 

 season, are full of nectar; such as the shrubs called 

 musquito and cactus plant, and a shrub called rab- 

 bit-bush. The latter is great for honey. It is now 

 just beginning to show its golden blooms. I must 

 say, that it is quite diverting to see a honey-bee in 

 a cactus-bloom after pollen. If he is a black when 

 he enters the bloom, in coming out he is an Italian 

 (perfectly yellow all over.) There are many other 

 tiowers that grow on the desert, that I have noi men- 

 tioned, from which bees get more or less honey. 



Our climate here is quite mild and pleasant; bees 

 are hi lull blast here the first of March, and from 

 that time until the middle of November; there are 

 not many days throuyh the winter but you can see 

 bees around the entrance, or Hying; yet, through 

 the summer we often have Some unpleasant weath- 

 er, it being so very warm. It is not uncommon for 

 the heat to be up to 110 to ll. r r in the shade for many 

 days together; but yet, as soon as the sun hides it- 

 self behind the western mountains, you can feel the 

 cool, cheering, and bracing atmosphere, which 

 makes everything pleasant; and quite likely you 

 will want a blanket over you before morning. As 

 for this heat that 1 have been speaking of, 1 always 

 considered it a little unnatural. 



The lay of country (a basin-shaped tract— in fact, 

 it is called the Great Basin of Utah), is surrounded 

 by a heavy chain of mountains The soil in this 

 Great Basin don't amount to any thing very great. 

 If you look at the face of the country as you pass 

 along, it shows that it has been literally burned up. 

 There are two places in our settlement that show 

 where the hot lava has been thrown from the earth, 

 and has run for miles away. The face of the land 

 has a very hard appearance, from the fact that it is 

 mostly stone. Thousands of acres are paved with a 

 sort of rotten stone— just right to conduct the heat 

 in warm days. This being the case, the sun, pour- 

 ing its brilliant rays upon those rocks that I have 

 just mentioned, makes them very warm; yes, s iwarm 

 that it is quite disagreeable to hold<>ue in your hand. 

 This being the case, day after day, every thing be- 

 comes very much heated. Now, in this exec-ssive 

 heat, if bees are not well shaded, they are very lia- 

 ble to melt down. Such is a very common occur- 

 rence; in this location, bees are very apt to build ir- 

 regular combs without foundation, I thiuk. Foun- 

 dation, in this country, would work uicily. Last 

 summer 1 had two melt down. I have had good luck 

 this way. I have lost none at all. Don't understand 

 me, that I have a great apiary. My apiary consists 

 of five hives of blacks, and the one of Italians that I 

 got of you. All are doing finely. I have taken 50 

 lbs. of honey from each black colony up to the first 

 of August. They arc still making stores (I use top 

 hfves). I many times think that, if you were here 

 with your facilities, you would build up a place that 

 would be greatly admired by all tidy and ihdustrious 

 people. Your climate is too cold; the warm season 

 is too short Ihere are many things that we grow 

 here that you can't grow in Ohio. Here we have 

 cotton, almonds, pomegranat' s, all kinds of grapes, 

 figs, and many other fruits that grow in warm cli- 

 mates. 



I must Bay something to you in relation to our 

 lovely climate. From October until the last of Feb- 

 ruaiy, every thing is quite calm. Day after day you 

 may look at the heavens, and not see a cloud, and 

 scarcely feel enough wind to furl a pocket-handker- 

 chief—the sun pouring forth its lovely rays week 



after week, just right for a workingman to enjoy 

 himself in getting a living in the way the Almighty 

 hits marked out ; that is, by the sweat of the brow. 

 In our little town there is, I thiuk, about 225 or 230 

 stands of black bees, all in movable trames. 



One man sent and got the ABC and Gleanings 

 through my influence. 1 thiuk there will be others 

 who will follow suit; if they don't I shall always 

 think they ought to. At present, they know how to 

 kill bees at any rate. W. Lancaster. 



Washington, Washington Co., Utah. 



FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR. 



THE PKET CAGE. 



*T\] ItlEND ROOT: — 1 know you are an honest man. 

 Jlp" 1 1 have had enough dealings with you to prove 

 this tome beyond a doubt ; but my experi- 

 ence compels me t«» think that jou are mistaken in 

 regard to the Peet cage, which statement you will 

 find to be true, if you will give it a fair trial. With 

 it, the past season, 1 have introduced 10 queens wit fa- 

 out a single loss; and have also caged all of my 

 queens with it iu uniting bees, without losing a 

 queen. Besides this, I saw several queens intro- 

 duced with it iu my brother's »piary without a loss. 

 In the ABC, under rhe head of Hybhids, jou say, 

 '•If you should desire to introduce a queen or queen- 

 cell to these bees, they would be very likely to de- 

 stroy all you could bring." I have introduced queens 

 to several cross hybrids with the Peet cage without 

 any trouble. 



For introducing only, T make it about ]?£ in. long 

 by I in. wide, without any bottom. An entrance is 

 provided at the top for putting theqiteen into it, alt- 

 er it is fastened to the comb. All bee-keepers owe 

 Mr. T. O. Peet a vote of thanks for giving his valu- 

 able invent ion free to the public. Now, friend Hoot, 

 do give the cage a fair trial, and you will think as 

 favorably of it as I do. 



wintering two colonies in one chaff hive. 



I have five of your chaff hives, with two colonies in 

 each. They are arranged as f. 11' ws: a thindiv ision- 

 board made of comb-guides (an illustration of which 

 W. B. Moore sent you), is plact d in the center of the 

 hive, which divides it into two equal apartments. 

 Now, a % in. pit.ee, long enough to reach from the 

 outer shell of the hive to the iun< r shell, is placed in 

 the entrance against th*> end of th" division-board. 

 A ?i in. board, 18 in. long by 12 iu. wide, is now stood 

 against the hive at the middle of the entrance, and 

 securely fastened. My hives have slanting alight- 

 ing-boards, and the board which div idt s the entrance 

 is given the proper slant at the bottom, to make it 

 rest on the alighting-board. I have had some hives 

 arranged thus ever since the first of August, and not 

 a queen has been lost yet. My alighting-boards are 

 | made of 7a lumber, 20 in. long by 14 in. wide, and are 

 prevented from warping by nailing a piece about 

 14x2x?a across each end on the upper side. Blocks 

 are nailed on the under side, at the edge that comes 

 against the hive, to raise the board even with the 

 entrance. Thus you see ir slants to the ground, 

 making them a nice "porch," at a cost of only about 

 two cents. I have been using i hem ever since last 

 spring, and have not had one to warp. By painting 

 them, they could be made to look very beautiful. 



J. P. Mooke. 



Morgan Station, Pendleton Co., Ky., Oct. 30, 1880. 



