1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



945 



that all his hives- some 375 — are of this biij: 

 si/e. 



As the Johnson bees were as nicely luit 

 up as any I had seen, I show a ninnber of 

 views. The proprietor was absent at the 

 time; and as he knew nothing- of my pro- 

 ]iosed visit, or probably did not, one can 

 see how neat and orderly he keeps things 

 about his apiary; and when I say "'apia- 

 ry" it comprises three different sheds all 

 constructed in the manner I have described. 



Figs. 2 and 3 show other views of the 

 same yards and the same bees. It will be 

 noted that the space between the sheds, as 

 well as under them, is entirely free of 

 .grasses or weeds. To bring about such a 

 result in the East costs more in labor than 

 it is worth. But in an irrigated country it 

 is perfectly simple and easy — why. just cut 

 off the water, and vegetation of all kinds 

 will die off". It is the rule, then, that no 

 water is billowed to flow near an apiary — 

 result, a patch of ground as clean as a 

 floor. 



Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the apiarv' 

 of Mr. Wm. Rohrig-, of Tempe. His sheds 

 dift'er from those of Mr. Johnson in that, 

 instead of using strips of wood across the 

 top to support the weeds and g-rasses, he 

 makes use of wire braided back and forth. 

 He flnds that this answers every purpose, 

 and is somewhat cheaper. 



Usually near one or the other (jf these 

 long sheds there will be an extracting-house. 

 Sometimes it stands about midway. This 



is particularly the case where there are 

 two or three rows of sheds, and it is desir- 

 able to have the extracting-house at a point 

 where it will save steps as much as possi- 

 ble. In Fig. 4, that showing the Rohrig- 

 a]iiary, the building is centrally located, 

 or about half way down the long aisle. 

 The extracting-building of Mr. Johnson 

 was located just back of the camera where 

 I stood when these pictures were taken; 

 that is, at the ends of the sheds. 



All through Arizona I found a decided 

 preference for hives made of redwood rather 

 than white pine. I was shown hive after 

 hive, of the same age — that is, rnade and 

 put up at the same time, one of redwood and 

 one of white pine. The very dry climate 

 would affect the latter very seriously, while 

 the former, in nearly every case, seemed to 

 be sound and good. This California red- 

 wood is quite expensive, and costs more 

 than white pine. Still, the bee-keepers of 

 that country, if they can not bu}- such hives 

 of supply-manufacturers, make their own 

 hives on foot-power buzz-saws and horse- 

 pow'er machines, because they find that 

 redwood hives are cheaper in the end, even 

 if they are not so well made. But redwood 

 will not do for brood-frames, as it is too 

 brittle. As a rule these are made of white 

 pine, and shipped from the East. 



Mr. Wm. Rohrig-, whose picture I pre- 

 sented in our last issue, the g-entleman sit- 

 ting on one of his hives, is the local supply- 

 dealer for that country. Indeed, he see.ns 



FIG. 3. — J. WKB.STKK JOHNSON'S APIAKV, SIDK AND l-.ND \IKW. 



