944 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



FIG. 



-J. \vp:bstek JOHNSON s apiarv, side view. 



structure strong" enoug-h to stand the winds 

 and support a bed of dried weeds, palm 

 leaves — any sort of shrubbery that can be 

 easily obtained. Of course, it dries up 

 under the iniluenee of the sun, but that 

 makes no difference, for all that is needed 

 is something to break or split the rays of 

 old Sol. The loose stuff is piled loosely 

 on top, and then the whole is held down by 

 means of wire. In some of the views will 

 be seen end-braces that are put up to pre- 

 vent the g-eneral collapse of the structure 

 endwise. Then everj' one of these is fur- 

 ther braced across the top by means of 

 strips or wire. No attempt seems to be 

 mnde to shut out the light entirely by piling 

 up grasses or weeds, as that would" be un- 

 necessary. All that is required is simply 

 to break up the sun's rays. Even if the 

 light does streak through, as appears in 

 the picture in patches, it does no harm. 



Every apiary that I visited in Arizona 

 was covered with this kind of trellis, with 

 one exception; and this was the case of a 

 bee-man who had his bees under some great 

 cottonwood-trees along- an irrigating-ditch. 

 Let us now examine these pictures. 



Fig. 1 is a view of a portion of J. Webster 

 Johnson's apiary where I visited. The long 

 rows of hives in such perfect straight lines, 

 under a shade alike comfortable to man and 

 his bees, presents a rather pretty perpec- 

 tive. Indeed, it is really cool and delight- 

 ful under these sheds, especially in a light 

 breeze; and, as these structures are very 



cheap, I wonder that more of them are not 

 in use in other hot, arid climates. The bee- 

 keepers of Texas, Central California, and 

 of the whole South would do well to adopt 

 them. In the Arizona sheds one can per- 

 form all necessary work with the bees, be- 

 cause the hives face outwardly, leaving a 

 nice clean pathwaj' in the center, unob- 

 structed by the tfight of bees. Combs can 

 be taken out and strewn all around with- 

 out the least danger of the sun doing" any 

 mischief; and it is indeed a pretty sight to 

 walk down one of these long avenues and 

 watch the bees piling in from the alfalfa- 

 fields. And that reminds me that the tield 

 at the right in Fig. 1 as seen in the picture 

 is alfalfa. All the bees had to do was to 

 g-o across the fence and help themselves, 

 and then go rolling and tumbling" in at the 

 entrances with big" loads of honey. 



Mr. Johnson, as will be seen by Fig". 1, 

 numbers his posts. One post, for instance, 

 will be marked 344, and the next one 348. 

 Between these ninnbers there will be four 

 hives about four inches apart, so it is easy 

 to see which hive, for example, would be 

 345 and which 347. It is not, therefore, nec- 

 essary to tag the individuiil hives. 



Another fact in this connection is that, all 

 the hives shown under the Johnson sheds 

 are of the Jumbo type; that is to say, the}' 

 are 10-frame Langstroth hives, but 2 inches 

 deeper. Their owner seems to be satisfied 

 that this big hive is better for him than the 

 regular L. depth; and the consequence is 



