144 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



readily see that I can not do very much with 

 bees." 



"Sure enough, Mr. McCubbin. Truly you 

 have your hands full. I think it would be 

 highly conducive to your peace of mind to al- 

 low me to work your bees. How many colo- 

 nies have you ? " 



"At this Reedley ranch I have about 40 

 colonies. I will attend to these and work 

 them for increase. I have one of Doolittle's 

 $5.00 queens. You know in our raisin trade 

 here we have the celebrated London layers. 

 Well, in order to be up to date I call this 

 Doolittle queen my Dublin layer, and will re- 

 queen my apiaries from her. And say. Ram- 

 bler. I believe Doolittle is the best all-round 

 bee keeper and queen breeder in America." 



"Pshaw! McCubbin, do you really think 

 so? I think you had better revise that state- 

 ment a little." 



" Well, I don't. I mean every word of it. 

 Why, what have you against Doolittle ?" 



"Oh! not much. I was only thinking it 

 would sound better to say he is the best all- 

 round bee-keeper on earth." 



"That's so, Rambler — that's so; that hits 

 his case exactly — on earth. Why in time 

 didn't I think of that? Well, as I was saying, 

 I have 115 colonies at tlie peach orchard, 3}i 

 miles south, and 105 three miles further on, 

 in an alkali-weed patch. Now, these two api- 

 aries, with a total of 220 colonies, are at your 

 service. I think these, with now and then a 

 few miles spin on your wheel, will give you 

 all the recreation you need. And now sup- 

 pose we swap ideas as to the terms of manage- 

 ment. Now let your ideas loose first." 



" Well, Bro. McCubbin, my idea is for you 

 to let me have all of the honey and — " 



"You? You have all of the honey ? well, 

 well. I must say you have an eye for No. 1. 

 Want to make up for lost time, hey? And, 

 Rambler, what am I to get ? " 



" Why, my dear McCubbin, you are to have 

 the increase." 



"Well, well! who ever worked bees that 

 way ? Did you ever do it yourself, Rambler ? " 



"Certainl}'. I worked an apiary for Mr. 

 Wheeler, of Riverside, Cal., and the agree- 

 ment was that I should have all of the honey, 

 and make as much increase as I deemed judi- 

 cious." 



" But, Rambler, how many colonies did you 

 manage that way ? " 



"Ahem — ahem-m-z-z z-z — it seems sort of 

 chilly under this figtrte — le'me see — what did 

 you remark, Mr. McCubbin? " 



"Why, I want to know how many colonies 

 you managed for all of the honey, less a judi- 

 cious increase." 



"Why — ahem — z z-zz — getting cool and 

 cloudy ; d'ye think it'll rain ? " 



"Well, now, see here. Rambler. I want to 

 know how manj' colonies of bees you manag- 

 ed under those peculiar rates." 



"Well, if you must know all about it, I 

 managed one swarm, more or less — did well 

 too ; got 127 lbs. of honey, and increased to 

 three, and it was not much of a honey year ei- 

 ther. The same plan applied to your 220 col- 

 onies would give you nearly 700. All you 



have to do is to furnish the hives, the bees, and 

 I will do the rest." 



" Now, Rambler, I think your remark more 

 or less covers up something ; but I am not go- 

 ing into any such scheme as that. I want 

 honey instead of bees ; and unless we can 

 make arrangements with that in view you 

 might as well pick up your duds and travel." 



"Heigh-ho! all right, McCubbin; it is 

 again the voice of Dame Fortune calling, 

 ' Move on, move on.' I am so used to that 

 command, it seems as though my weary limbs 

 would never find rest. But, see here ; you 

 have not let any of your ideas loose. I am 

 listening." 



"My ideas will be few and to the point. 

 When I rent or let an apiary I do not believe 

 in making a complicated contract. I give the 

 lessee half of the honey, each party to fur- 

 nish his own packages for the honey. I must 

 have all of the increase, and will provide hives 

 for the same, the lessee to make as little in- 

 crease as he deems judicious. How does that 

 strike you ? " 



" Why, it strikes me as would a fountain of 

 ice-cold soda on a hot summer's day. Your 

 plan is about the one I have operated in the 

 past ; but in addition to half of the honey I 

 must have half of the wax. That is quite an 

 item sometimes. I have known bee-keepers 

 to ignore this very important product, and al- 

 low scores of pounds to go to waste. The 

 careful bee keeper saves every scrap of old 

 combs and scrapings of hives and frames, and 

 in so doing he adds to his revenue. I am 

 pleased with your 'judicious increase' provi- 

 sion, for it must be understood that, when I 

 work bees for extracted honey, I will so man- 

 age them that but few swarms will issue. If 

 you wish to make a considerable increase by 

 natural swarming I should have something for 

 hiving the swarms. I know of parties who 

 have received fifty cents a swarm for such 

 work." 



" Rambler, I am not anxious for increase ; 

 therefore, if it is agreeable to you we will fix 

 the terms at half the honey and half of the 

 wax, and go it as light as you please with 

 swarms. Furthermore, I have a few supers 

 with sections I had left over from last season, 

 which I should like to work in, and I think it 

 can be done without interfering with the 

 swarming. The way I manage in the produc- 

 tion of comb honey is to put on the extract- 

 ing-supers ; and when the bees get vigorously 

 working in them I take them off and put on 

 the comb honey supers, and the bees just fill 

 the sections in no time. You observe the sec- 

 tions are in broad frames, double tier, and oc- 

 cupy the same space as the extracting-super." 



"Why, Bro. McCubbin, that is Mrs. Bar- 

 ber's plan as she described it in Gleanings. 

 Did you learn it from her? " 



"Oh, no! I have practiced that plan for 

 several years, and I believe Mr. Brodbeck, of 

 Los Angeles, told me some time ago that he 

 indulged in such practice. I think the idea 

 has been mentioned in print ; but you see it 

 has taken a lady to make the idea attract at- 

 tention." 



" But, see here, McCubbin. It seems to me 



