If^Ol 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



893 



trees had to be thrown down as an induce- 

 ment for them to pose for a photo. Thej' 

 fulfilled their part adinirably. The pig"- 

 <fies are fairly ijfood for the destruction of 

 weeds, and do not molest the hives. 



Mr. Stearns and I could not a<_rree on the 

 subject of hives. He uses a half-inch side 

 and the attendant weewaw. I called atten- 

 tion to one hive with a piece split 

 cut to a loose knot. You could 

 almost chuck your fist throuLfh it. 



" OhI that's nothing-," said Mr. 

 Stearns. 



He then related an incident 

 where an old g-unny sack had 

 been thrown on to a bush. A 

 swarm of bees had taken pos- 

 session of the limb under it, and 

 made it their home. I told Mr. S. 

 that he had better adopt that sort 

 of hive in the future. It would 

 be nearl}' as good as the half-inch 

 hive. 



" Much better." said he, " than 

 the Heddon hive. Nobody but the 

 veriest cranks use that and the 

 Hoffman frame." 



If Mr. S. purchases an apiary 

 in which are Hofi^man frames, 

 out comes the jack-knife and oif 

 come the spacing- sides to the 

 frame, or, as he terms it, he cuts 

 off their ears. 



When buying- bees, Mr. Stearns 

 has occasion to rnove i"nauy col- 

 onies. His moving- plan is very 

 simple. He drives into the api- 

 arv' after dark, and just loads the 

 hives right on without fastening 

 the covers or stopping- the entrances. Of 

 course the bees cluster to quite an extent 

 on the outside of the hives. "But what is 

 the harm?" says Mr. S.; "they will g-et 

 back again when the wag-on stops." He 

 had moved bees over sixty miles; was two 

 days on the road, and every colony arrived 

 at destination all right. During the day 

 the wagon and its load were left alone, and 

 the bees went to work without much confu- 

 sion. 



When Mr. Stearns first came to Califor- 

 nia he worked his bees for comb honey, as 

 did nearly ever}' bee-keeper in this valley; 

 but owing to low prices there has been a 

 revolution, and extracted honey is now al- 

 most exclusively the product. A good share 

 of the crop comes late, and Mr. S. cited an 

 instance where a colony with onlj' two 

 frames of brood on the first of June built up 

 and produced 64 lbs. of comb honey. Ouite 

 a few bee-men claim that only half of the 

 crop is secured up to Sept. 1; but this is a 

 varyingcondition, owingto climaticchauges. 



Mrs. Stearns and the two daughters are 

 quite an impoi-tant factor in Mr. Stearns' 

 prosperity. They can nail hives and crates 

 as dextrously as a professional carpenter; 

 dip wax, roll foundation, and. if the rush 

 of the season demands, they ciin work the 

 extractor. 



It is right that Mr. Stearns should be 



proud of his helpers, for they have helped 

 him to lay by many dollars. For instance. 

 Mr. Stearns needed a new foundation-ma- 

 chine, and sent to The A. I. Root Co. for 

 one. In due course of time it arrived all 

 right, and as bright as a new dollar, and 

 Mr. Stearns proceeded to roll some founda- 

 tion; but he found it one thing to proceed. 



y^Ty ^ 





NONSENSR . YOU STAY RIGHT HERE: I M GOING TO 



WIN THAT NEW DRESS I 



and quite another to roll. Although he was 

 already an expert at the business, £ill of 

 his experience was thrown awaj' upon this 

 machine. After repeated efiorts it would 

 not work. Mr. S. evidently became nerv- 

 ous. Almost anybody would in such a case. 

 Mrs. Stearns heard unusual sounds in the 

 shop. She knew right off something was 

 going wrong, and she presented herself be- 

 fore her husband. His hat was ofi^, hair 

 tousled, sleeves rolled up, a frown upon his 

 usually placid brow, and "his mouth was 

 drawn down at the corners." 



"Why, Orville! what is the matter?" 

 said she, as she beamed kindly upon him. 



"What is the matter, hey? Why, Anna, 

 this machine a'n't worth a — a — " He was 

 going to use a real bad word, but a better 

 spirit prevailed, and he said, " It a'n't 

 worth a row of pins. I'm going to send it 

 right back to the Root Co. W^h}', they don't 

 know how to make a mill that will work. 

 The good-for-nothing inangy thing! " And 

 he looked as thoug-h he could kick the ma- 

 chine and the Root Co. into the middle of 

 next week. 



"Well, Orville," said Mrs. Stearns, 

 "men are always impatient. Now, I be- 

 lieve I can make that machine work. The 

 rolls look so nice, bright, and perfect, that 

 I believe it will work — it inns/ work." 



"See here, Anna," said Mr. Stearns, 



