July, 1914. 



221) 



American T^ee Journal 



)>=^^#> ] 



shallow side, but latterly I leave the 

 deep side up summer and winter. 



"Of course, with a 2-inch space un- 

 der the bottom-bars the bees would 

 build down, sometimes even as early 

 as dandelion bloom. Before that time 

 I shove under the bottom-bars a bot- 

 tom-rack. As material for a rack 

 there are two pieces 18xlx'4, and 21 

 pieces lOJixjsxJs. The little pieces 

 are nailed upon the -'4 -inch sides of the 

 two larger pieces, ladder-fashion, with 

 |2-inch space between each two strips. 

 The strips are allowed to project over 

 at each side about an inch. 



"I value this bottom-rack highly. It 

 prevents building down, and at the 

 same time gives the bees nearly the 

 full benefit of the deep space, prevent- 

 ing over-heating in hot weather, thus 

 serving as no small factor in the pre- 

 vention of swarming. It also saves the 

 labor of lifting the hive off the bottom- 

 board and then lifting the hive back 

 again, spring and fall." 



Something additional might be said, 

 both for and against thisbottom-board. 

 In winter, it is hard to conceive of any- 

 thing better. In the cellar that 2x12 

 entrance gives opportunity for the 

 fullest ventilation of the hive, and there 

 is never any danger of its being 

 clogged with dead bees, even though 

 it should never be cleaned out through 

 the entire winter. It is a nice thing, 

 however, to be able to clean out any 

 dead bees that may at any time be 

 found on the floor of the hive, and for 

 this the deep space gives plenty of op- 

 portunity, wfhile with a space not more 

 than -'4-inch deep it is rather difficult, 

 especially when the cluster of live bees 

 reaches down to the floor. 



For outdoor wintering this deep 

 space is also a fine thing. It prevents 

 clogging with dead bees, and allows 

 them to be cleaned out easily. Of 

 course only a small part of the open- 

 ing will be left open through winter, 

 what is left may be either at the lower 

 or upper part of the entrance. 



On the other hand, it must be con- 

 fessed that during the summer season 



the action of the bottom-rack is not 

 always perfect. There is more or less 

 building of comb below, although of 

 course nothing compared with what 

 would be built in a 2 inch space with- 

 out the rack. Doubtless the rack might 

 be so made as to prevent all building 

 down. 



If one does not mind the labor of 

 lifting the hive, it would doubtless be 

 better to dispense with the bottom- 

 rack altogether, and then when hot 

 weather comes to reverse the bottom- 

 board, putting blocks under each cor- 

 ner of the hive. Experiment would 

 determine just how high the hive could 

 be thus raised without any danger of 

 building down. I^ike enough it might 

 be an inch, possibly more. At any rate, 

 with all four sides open there would 



be less danger of building down than 

 with only one side open, and more ven- 

 tilation. Indeed some have re|)orted 

 freedom from swarming when full 

 opening at front and rear was allowed. 

 But when we have had hives thus 

 blocked up there has been some trou- 

 ble with bees coming out at the side, 

 when we were working at the hive. 

 Also it makes trouble about finding the 

 clipped queen when a swarm issues. 

 But it is a good deal of trouble to 

 draw the staples at the beginning of 

 the season, lift the hive ofT the bottom- 

 board, reverse the latter and then lift 

 the hive on again, and then in the fall 

 to drive in the staples again, lifting the 

 hive twice. Yet //' it would prevent 

 swarming, there would be big pay for 

 the trouble. 



Caufornia ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by,]. K. Pi.EASANTS. Oranee. Calif. 



Planting of Eucalyptus for Honey Produc- 

 tion in Southern California 



While it has never been considered 

 profitable to plant nectar-producing 

 plants on land that can be made to 

 produce other crops, it would be a 

 wise economy to utilize waste land in 

 this way. On all the mountain bee 

 ranches in southern California there is 

 considerable waste land. Much of it is 

 too steep to till. In places small flats 

 and slopes are too small in them- 

 selves to make tillage for any crop 

 a profit, but in the aggregate would 

 make a total of considerable value if 

 planted to something of permanence. 

 The planting of dift'erent species of 

 eucalyptus on such land would be both 

 profitable to the beekeeper and add 

 much to the beauty of his holding. The 





dull green of the eucalyptus blends 

 harmoniously with our native shrubs 

 and trees, and from a practical stand- 

 point the more trees we can grow in 

 southern California the better. 



Of course, I do not mean to clear tht 

 land of any of our native honey plants, 

 but there is much land on every moun- 



Bi.AcK Sage. 



White Sage. 



tain ranch that could be cleared of un- 

 profitable brush and planted to some- 

 thing of value. The artemisia, for in- 

 stance, has spread to an alarming ex- 

 tent in the last few years. Its only use 

 is for winter pollen, but there will 

 always be plenty of it left. It is easily 

 grubbed out, and its place could be 

 filled by a better plant with little trou- 

 ble and much profit. 



The various species of eucalyptus 

 would be a fine cover for such land, 

 and once established would need no 

 further care. Scattered, or in thinly 

 planted groves, these trees would yield 

 nectar for the bees, and are valuable 



