1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



907 



es, something- as shown in the picture here- 

 with. In the mean time, if there are ques- 

 tions thtit our subscribers desire to ask re- 

 garding- these bee paradises, I should be 

 pleased to answer them as I g-oon. Let me 

 tell you rig-ht now that the bee paradises 

 about Tempe and Phonix are already over- 

 stocked with bees. The only waj' a bee- 

 keeper can g-et into them at all honorably 

 is to buy of some one else who is alread}^ 

 located — or — or go out on the desert, buy a 

 water privilege, and go at it in true Arizona 

 style. But, more anon. 





^^M^alM^ff 



A NEW SCHEME FOR A TOP-BAR. 



I send by this mail a sample of top-bar. 

 Draw the four sinall brads, and you will 

 then have it. These pieces can be used for 

 bottom-bars — a very economical top-bar. 

 It has the advantage of the thick top-bar 

 for strength, with none of the sawlog dis- 

 advantages. 



FISHER S PLAN FOR A TOP-BAR. 



The last four years have been failures 

 with me with the bees. I have had no 

 chance j'et to test this top-bar. This is 

 wh}' I should like to have you bring it be- 

 fore the public so they can have a chance 

 to test it as to its merits; then should the 

 bee-keepers in general pronounce it a mer- 

 itorious invention, all I shall ask is justice. 



A. J. FiSHEK. 



East Liverpool, O., Oct. 8. 



[I do not think that j'ou would find this 

 kind of top-bar would prevent burr and 

 brace combs. While it might not sag, yet 

 so far as those nuisances are concerned I 

 am of the opinion that you will find many 

 more of them on it than you would of the 

 old-fashioned j'n bar. The two pieces taken 

 out of the side would be no direct saving in 

 expense, for every supply-manufacturer has 

 usually enough refuse to make all the bot- 

 tom-bars he can possibly use; so that what 

 would be saved out of the top-bar would be 

 of no particular value. After an experience 

 of one or two years j^ou will probably find 

 that your bar will be much better with the 

 wood all left in. — Ed.] 



RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOW PRICES ; PUTTING 

 THE SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT. 



Your article in the Oct. 1st issue, page 

 792, has the right ring to it ; but let us see 

 if it is all the "animus" of the "bears," 

 or if some of it is not the stupidity of the 

 bee-men themselves. There is a small town 

 in this county, Escondido by name, which 

 boasts of a bee-association. Just on the eve 

 of extracting-time, this association called a 

 meeting to ascertain 'so I am told) how 

 many honey-cases would be needed among 

 the members, and in a day or two after I 

 heard they had decided that there would be 

 10,000. Think of it — 1,200,000 pounds of 

 honey, 40 carloads of 30,000 pounds each, 

 and the area covered b3^ the bee-keepers of' 

 the association is a mere speck compared 

 with the rest of San Diego Co. ; and there 

 are other locations in the county that are 

 much better. With such a yield through 

 the entire State of California, I am think- 

 ing you folks in the East, who are in the 

 bee and honey business, would have to hunt 

 another job or "go west." 



Now, the next issue of the San Francisco 

 Chronicle, after the meeting referred to, 

 had a clipping from a paper printed at Es- 

 condido, stating that there would be 10.000 

 hone3'-cases needed in that vicinity. I think 

 it was the next issue after the one referred 

 to above, or the next but one at furthest, 

 that quoted honey half a cent lower, and 

 it's been going lower ever since, until within 

 the last two or three weeks, ^ind now buj^- 

 ers who would hardly answer a letter from 

 a pi-oducer are writing-, tisking the produc- 

 er his price. I think we should not blame 

 the "bears" too much when such state- 

 ments come from bee-keepers and bee-asso- 

 ciations themselves. There is no excuse 

 for such statements being printed and sent 

 abroad to be reprinted. Why do not the 

 members of the association see to it that 

 such reports are given the lie? If they are 

 to benefit the bee-keepers, that is one way, 

 and one of the very best ways, they could 

 do it. This is only one of many instances 

 I could cite; but this one is sufficient to 

 show that the honey-buj^ers have something 

 to base their reports on. 



I was in San Diego a short time ago, and 

 met a bee-keeper from Escondido, and he 

 told me there was not nearly so good a crop 

 in that section as there was last year, and 

 the average would not be more than half a 

 crop. E. M. G. 



Jamul. Cal., Oct. 10. 



[What you say is very true; and while it 

 may and probablj^ does appl}' to some sub- 

 scribers of bee-papers, j^et the verj' persons 

 who ought to see it are the ones who do not 

 take any bee-paper, but they tliink they 

 know it all. It was a strange thing to me 

 that so many large bee-keepers in the West 

 do not take any journal at all. If they but 

 knew it the}' could save the price of a pa- 

 per a thousand times over, even by the mar- 

 ket reports alone, to say nothing of keeping 



