1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



983 



BEE-HUNTING IN THE SIERRA NEVA- 

 DA MOUNTAINS. 



BY A SUCCESSFUL HEE-KEEPEK. 



Continued from last issue. 



TN the spring of the year, bees prefer salt to hon- 

 ||P ey; and using salt and water instead of honey, 

 W works first rate. Toward the latter part of the 

 "*■ season, bees pay no attention to salt, but are 

 crazy after honey. The breeding season is 

 about ended, I suppose, and they have no more 

 need of salt. 



Some varieties of trees are more frequented by 

 bees than others. This is owing, probably, to the 

 large cavity these trees contain. In this location 

 most bees construct their hives in sugar pines and 

 firs. Old trees of the fir family are usually dead at 

 the top, and sometimes broken off, caused by win- 

 ter snows and winds. Trees thus broken off, usual- 

 ly send out a number of younsj shoots which grow 

 up parallel with the main axis of the tree. Trees 

 that are hollow within, usually give some outward 

 signs of such defect, such as dead tops, the end of 

 the branches dead, etc. When oak-trees are divest- 

 ed of their foliage in the fall of the year, is a good 

 time for hunting bees where oak timber abounds. 

 When saving bees, oak-trees are the best, as they 

 can generally be felled pretty easily. When there 

 is four or five feet of snow on the ground, that is 

 the best time to cut the larger trees, as they do not 

 fall so heavily. 



HUNTING BEE-TREES WHEN SNOW IS ON THE 

 GROUND. 



I usually have as good success in hunting bees in 

 the winter as in the summertime. When the ground 

 is covered with snow, and the bees come out for a 

 tly-spell, a great many become chilled, or snow- 

 blind, I do not know which, and the snow around 

 the tree is generally covered with dead bees. In 

 running over the mountains in the winter time, on 

 snowshoes, we frequently find bees on the snow. 

 Marking the location, we return some warm day 

 and find the tree. On Jan. 1, 1887, we found and 

 cut a bee-tree. The bees were working on the 

 black alders, in great numbers. I filled five L. 

 frames with brood, and two with honey. That 

 was an immense swarm of bees for that season of 

 the year. I have taken bees out of trees almost 

 every month in the year, and generally have pretty 

 good success. 



My method of taking bees from trees is as fol- 

 lows: After getting the tree opened, take all the 

 combs containing brood, and cut each piece of 

 brood so it will fit securely in the frame. With 

 small wire nails, tack securely four small strips on 

 I I i I the frames thus: Incline your hive to 

 I'M one side, and set in your frames as 

 soon as filled. When you have all brood and empty 

 comb in the frames, and your hive inclined to one 

 side, so there is no danger of combs tumbling down, 

 you will be ready to put the bees in the hive. Wait 

 until they get clustered together, then lay a piece 

 of cloth underneath them, and, with a small brush, 

 drive all the bees off, causing them to drop on the 

 piece of cloth. Shake the cloth in front of the en- 

 trance, and the bees will soon commence to call for 

 their comrades. Put about half of the bees in this 

 way, and the remainder will go in of their own ac- 

 cord. After they have been in there a few days 

 you can remove them to their permanent location ; 



and if the weather is pleasant, and they have had 

 a chance io fly out, you can take out the frames 

 and remove the small strips, tacked to one side. 



DISTANCE BEES GO FOR STORES. 



Black bees rarely if ever go over one and a half 

 miles for stores in this mountainous part of Califor- 

 nia. I suppose that, in a level country, they would 

 go considerably further. _Jn bee-hunting I never 

 tracked black bees over a mile and a half from 

 their habitation. All the wild bees here in the 

 woods are black bees. Some of these bees are 

 wonderful workers too. Bee-trees have been cut 

 here at an elevation of 6000 ft., and some of these 

 have contained upward of 300 lbs. of honey. Large 

 quantities of honey are sometimes taken from 

 wild bees here in these mountains, being the accu- 

 mulation of several years of gathering. I remem- 

 ber one bee-tree in particular. In the month of 

 July, having some leisure time at my disposal I 

 started out bee-hunting. Having arrived at the 

 place, I found a number of bees working on penny- 

 royal. I was soon trapping them, and noting their 

 line of flight. In a few moments I had a pretty 

 fair line started r.p the mountain-side. I had to 

 crawl on my hands and knees quite a distance. 

 The mountain-side was covered with a dense 

 growth of young hazels, deerbrush, flowering dog- 

 wood, young firs, and spruces. After wandering 

 about considerably I came across a large dead fir- 

 tree, a regular old patriarch, having withstood the 

 storms of several centuries. After making a care- 

 ful scrutiny, I observed the bees^entering where 

 an old limb had broken off, at a height of about 130 

 feet from the ground. The tree was about seven 

 feet in diameter. A few days afterward we cut it 

 down; and in felling it it struck a large rock and 

 was mashed all to pieces, throwing bees, honey, 

 and brood in all directions. What few bees were 

 not killed were terribly cross. We had quite a time 

 gathering up comb and honey. The ground around 

 where the tree had burst was covered with it. 

 There must have been nearly 300 pounds of honey, 

 if we could have saved it. Part of it was candied. 

 We did not try to save the bees, too many being 

 killed. S. L. Watkins. 



Placerville, Cal. 



To be continued. 



HOW VANKIRK|OBTAINED|20 CTS. 

 FOR HIS HONEY. 



BUIDDING UP A REPUTATION. 



fRIENDROOT:— As I have not time to answer 

 private letters I will ask space to answer 

 some of the questions that my report in 

 Gleanings, Sept. 1, has brought. I have been 

 selling honey in our town for about fifteen 

 years, and I have a set of customers that always 

 depend on me for their honey. My price for about 

 a dozen years has been 30 cts. per lb. for choice 

 comb honey, and I have no trouble in getting my 

 entire crop off at this price. It is sometimes high- 

 er and lower in our market, but all that buy my 

 honey know that the price is the same, year after 

 year. Choice comb honey has been worth 35 cts. 

 per lb. in our town this present season, and I could 

 have had that price for mine. But if I should raise 

 on my customers when it is scarce I should have to 

 come down when it is plentiful. It is not scarce 

 here, by any means; but the consumption is great- 



