1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Si 



ey, and, as I have reason to know, the plan 

 above meets with his approval. 



This plan can be orf^anized in California, 

 Texas, and Cuba, or with an3' other locali- 

 ties that will bring- a continuous honey- 

 yield and an unlimited number of colonies. 

 It is in no sense a trust — it is only a broad- 

 ening- of the industry into a safe business 

 proposition. It is not a visionary scheme, 

 for private parties are carrying- it out in a 

 smaller waj' to-day. The Rambler is now 

 in Cuba, looking- up the industry; and, al- 

 though he is but upon the borders of the 

 land, he feels the influence of much sweet- 

 ness, and hopes, in the next Ramble, to in- 

 troduce the reader into the "Gem of the 

 Antilles." 



SHALLOW BROOD=FRAMES. 



Localities where the Honey=flow is Scant ; 

 thin Foundation for Sections. 



Extra. 



BY J. E. HANIJ. 



OFF FOR CUBA. 



[This plan of co-operation, or bee-keep- 

 ers' trust, is very much like what was ad- 

 vocated by the editor of the Pacific Bee 

 Journal a short time a"go; but bee-keepers 

 generally did not take kindly to it, I un- 

 derstand, and the scheme fell through in 

 favor of some sort of exchang-e. Well, now, 

 here we have the Rambler actually advo- 

 cating- the same thing-. Of course, he says 

 it is not a trust; but nowadays the meaning 

 of the word has been enlarged to incorpo- 

 rate an aggregation of individuals, corpo- 

 rations, or firms, under one head, forming 

 one mammoth corporation not only controlling 

 but actually owning the former independent 

 concerns. Whether such a plan can be 

 made feasible in the bee-keeping line re- 

 mains to be seen. There is much to recom- 

 mend it // bee-keepers will put in their api- 

 aries and equipment as so much stock. Cer- 

 tain it is that some controlling force should 

 handle the entire output of the honey for 

 any one State rather than to let the prod- 

 uct of a thousand different bee-men go into 

 the market in direct and open competition, 

 resulting in a low level of prices rather 

 than those that would put the business on a 

 profitable basis so that those poor years 

 that are bound to come could be tided over. 



The illustration of the pepper-tree is only 

 a fair sample of the wonderful growths that 

 very often take place in California and Ari- 

 . zona. We here in the East would give hun- 

 dreds of dollars for shade-trees on our front 

 lawns; but in California all one has to do is 

 to set out a Cottonwood or a pepper-tree, and 

 in two j-ears' time he has fairly good shade, 

 and in ten years he has a tree of the size of 

 our elms when they are about fifty years old. 

 —Ed.] 



" Well, here I am again. I have been 

 doing some hard thinking about this system 

 of contraction and expansion by means of 

 very shallow frames. I am just starting in 

 the bee business, and am very anxious to 

 start right if I can; but I have been looking 

 up this matter of large vs. small hives and 

 deep vs. shallow fraines, and I find such a 

 difference of opinion among prominent bee- 

 keepers on these questions that I am more 

 than ever at sea as to what size of frame 

 and hive to adopt." 



" Yes, it is true there is a great diversity 

 of opinion on these questions. As on all 

 others, men are differently constituted. 

 What suits one man will not suit another 

 of different temperament. With me it is 

 not simply a matter of like or dislike. 

 There are some things about shallow frames 

 that I don't like, but I am depending on the 

 business for a living for myself and family, 

 and it behooves me to be very careful about 

 this matter. There are locations so good 

 that a fair crop of surplus can be secured 

 with almost any kind of hive, but ours is 

 not one of these. Look around among the 

 bee-keepers of this vicinity. They will tell 

 you that the business is too uncertain, and 

 that it will not do to depend upon bee-keep- 

 ing for a living. If they do not, their rows 

 of hives that are silent and empty have a 

 language of their own that is more eloquent 

 than words. I do not believe there are 

 more than half as many bees in this county 

 as there were five years ago. It is only by 

 the most careful management and the most 

 approved methods that any one can succeed 

 in such a location as this; and unless a 

 man has a natural love for the business, 

 aside from the dollar-and-cent part of it, he 

 will very soon give up the contest as too un- 

 equal, and turn his attention to something 

 that is more certain." 



"These are truths that everyone must 

 face who has an aspiration to become a hon- 

 ey-producer in such a location as ours." 



" In view of these facts, your desire to 

 start right is very commendable." 



"Would it not be better for a man who 

 has a natural love for the business to move 

 to a location that is better suited to this oc- 

 cupation — to some of the paradises describ- 

 ed in the bee-journals? " 



" Well, friend Charles, this is a question 

 that I have thought about a great deal dur- 

 ing the past three poor seasons. There are 

 a great many things to be considered in 

 changing to a new location. I have been 

 in some of these paradises, and there are 

 other things to be desired besides securing 

 a large crop of honey. Many of these 

 places are far from market; and unless 

 bee-keepers heive an organization to protect 

 themselves they are at the mercy of specu- 

 lators who will buy their product at their 



