JANUARY 15, 1913 



to receive $30.00 a month, and room and 

 board. The room was the veranda. I was 

 snpplied with a spring cot and blankets. 



As to board, breakfast consisted of badlj' 

 cooked gTeasy bacon, diy bread with a 

 tong'h crust, fiap jacks cooked in an old 

 frying-pan which was as black as charcoal, 

 ii]side and out (honej' supplied the place of 

 butter and sugar), canned milk liberally 

 watered, and i^runes. The latter were put 

 on the table in the same pan in which they 

 had been cooked. Dinner consisted of fried 

 bacon, boiled beans, and a kind of stew 

 composed of macaroni, tomatoes, potatoes, 

 and bacon grease. Bacon and leftovers from 

 dinner were used for supper. I saw fresh 

 meat about half a dozen times in three 

 months, and then it was usually liver. When 

 the crew worked the apiaries away from 

 home, the lunch consisted of canned beans, 

 a cheap grade of sardines, and dry bread. 



The cook employed bj' this outfit was an 

 old man past 80, who had been a miner in 

 the early days. What salary he received I 

 never discovered. I only knew that he 

 never by any chance cleaned out his kitchen, 

 tlie floor of wliicli bore the grease of ages. 



As you may readily imagine, a few daj's 

 of this kind of thing was usually sufficient 

 for most of the help who came. As an in- 

 ducement to some of the help to stay, they 

 were offered a bonus of $5.00 per month if 

 thej' stayed during the entire season. But 

 this failed to hold most of them. 



A young fellow from Chicago, after put- 

 ting in about four montlis, was cari-j'ing a 

 hive of bees, when he stumbled. The owner 

 happened to see him, and shouted, " If you 

 had dropi^ed that hive I would have knock- 

 ed your d d head off." I asked the 



young man why he stood for that kind of 

 thing, and he replied, " Oh! he wants me to 

 quit so he won't have to give me the extra 

 $.5.00." Is this the kind of treatment to be 

 expected on bee-ranches? 



About this time of the year a good manj' 

 men from the East come to California in 

 answer to advertisements for help. Let me 

 give them some advice. First, if you can 

 get any kind of labor by wliich you can get 

 enough to live on. stay where you are. I 

 honestly believe from personal observation 

 that there are more able-bodied men work- 

 ing for their board and a small pittance, 

 in the State of California, than in any three 

 other States in the Union. 



Second, liired help in most ranches is re- 

 quired for only a few weeks, after which 

 the men must hunt other work. They must 

 cany their own bedding. The board is in- 

 ferior, and so are the sleeping accommoda- 

 tions. 



There is an old story told of a hired man 

 who, on asking the employer Avhere he was 

 to sleep, received the reply, "' I own 5000 

 acres around here, and you can sleep any- 

 where you like outside the house." 



[We are afraid our correspondent is a 

 little hard on the California men as a whole. 

 We have known students who have been 

 treated most roj'ally by their employers in 

 the Golden State.— Ed.] 



BEEKEEPING IN THE SOUTHWEST 



The Scholl Improved Hive-numbers 



BY LOUIS SCHOLL 



Continued from page 43. 



course, the number can be painted with a 

 brush, but it can not be done as nicely nor 

 as quickly as with the rubber stamps. 



They are easily applied to either end of 

 any story at any part of the hive by simply 

 hanging over the edge of the upper story 

 or the rabbet of the hive. Fitting snugly, 

 they do not interfere with the ends of tl:e 

 frames nor with any upper stories or su- 

 pers i^iled on, nor with the covers, as those 

 sUp right over them. These numbers can 

 be changed quickly to any other part of the 

 same hive or to any other hive. 



They are always securely in place, being 

 eith^- locked down by the covers of the 

 hives or the upper stories and supers. 

 Hence they can not be misplaced easily by 

 a strong wind, and are more secure against 

 mischievous depredatore who might be apt 

 to remove them or exchange them on the 

 hives, and thus cause considerable trouble. 



They are cheap and everlasting, there- 

 fore, and I am giving them to beakeepers 

 who desire a good hive-number as the 

 " Scholl improved number-tags." You are 

 welcome to use them if jon like them. 



New Braunfels, Texas. 



CONVERSATIONS WITH DOOLITTLE 

 AT BORODINO, NEW YORK 



Continued from page 44. 



In addition to what I have already giv- 

 en you, use partly finished sections, which 

 are generally quite numerous during the 

 middle of July, and if you thin the honey 

 to about the consistency of the nectar as 

 it comes in from the field when it is given 

 t-o the bees you may be quite certain of a 

 profitable outcome. Lacking in any of the 

 points given, any one ti-ying the experiment 

 is likely to conclude that his time and honey 

 can be more profitably used otherwise. 



