1908 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



943 



mends the same procedure; but though I had read 

 his advice many times last season, I never suspect- 

 ed the principle was applicable to my own case. 

 The best way to open one's eyes is from the rear; 

 then we can see with the mind as well as the 

 brain. 



Hive No. 2 had sufficient stores and plenty of 

 cell room for the queen, and therefore came along 

 at a gallop. It exemplified the beautie" of the 

 happy medium, the too often unattainable balance 

 of conflicting conditions. No. 3 was strong in 

 bees but weak in stores, so " played safely. " 



I am free to admit that possibly — nay, proba- 

 bly — my solution is all wrong; but at any rate I 

 have a working theory to guide me in spring 

 manipulation — something I never had before, 

 and I have always found a wrong theory more 

 useful than no theory at all. With a theory one 

 is always watching facts closely to see how they 

 square with it; without a theory, one pays little 

 heed, and soon forgets. So, thank goodness, I 

 am in possession of a theory, but I am perfectly 

 willing to discard it for one that looks better. 

 Anyhow, this spring I will note carefully the 

 ratio between the honey supply on hand and the 

 cells available for egg-laying by the queen, so 

 that I may learn what constitutes the ideal bal- 

 ance, for such must exist. I will take care that 

 my bees have "millions of honey," but not nec- 

 essarily "all in the house." A reserve store in 

 the barn may probably be better. 



Medfoid, Oregon. 



THE BRITT APIARY, JACKSON- 

 VILLE, OREGON. 



BY F. DUN DAS TODD. 



In the early fifties, when Southern Oregon was 

 attaining notice as a mining camp, there settled 

 in its most important town at that date, a young 



Swiss photographer by the name of Britt. He 

 attained both fame and financial success in his 

 calling, dying only a couple of years ago. But 

 he is better remembered as the maker of the Britt 

 place which is one of the show places in this part 

 of the State. 



True to his blood he chose a barren knoll for 

 his home, and then proceeded by the liberal use 

 of natural taste, brains, ard water to convert it 

 into a wonderful garden in which not one square 

 foot of ground is unproductive. Forty years ago 

 he added bees, and until the day of his death he 

 was never without a fair-sized apiary. It is now 

 managed by his son, who has about 40 hives of 

 hybrids, about the only kind possible in this 

 part of the world at this time where there are 

 many keepers of bees but no bee-keepers. 



Medford, Oregon. 



HOME-MADE HIVES AND COVERS. 

 Big Honey Yield from Alsike Clover. 



BY A. D. SHEPARD. 



The hives shown in the engraving are home- 

 made with the exception of the inside furnishings, 

 which came from the factory. The most of the 

 extracting-supers are also the " saw-and-hammer " 

 brand, but they are not satisfactory, for they do 

 not hold their shape. They get out of square, 

 and warp away from the end pieces, making- 

 openings that invite robbers IVIy preference for 

 home-made hives is to halve the ends and sides, 

 and nail each way, which makes a strong corner. 



The covers are patterned after the regular met- 

 al covers, except that, instead of simply three 

 strips across the top, this rim is covered with 

 wood, and on top of this is the metal cover. The 

 heat of the sun does not strike through this as it 

 does through the galvanized iron alone. 



THE BRITT APIARY, JACKSONVILLE, OREGON, THE OLDEST IN SOUTHERN OREGON. 



