September, 1914. 



American l^e Journal 



man in cliarge that they were saved. 

 Mr. Bradley has charge of this branch 

 of our business, and like Mr. McCain 

 he is at home, having been reared 

 down the river a short distance. Both 

 are ambitious. Their greatest desire is 

 the management of a great bee busi- 

 ness, and perhaps I will never be able 

 to furnish them all the bees they could 

 handle. 



^. -^ i^l 



Mr. Wilder's Fargo Apiary in Fargo. Ga. 



of bees sucking water and going in 

 every direction to the great forest be- 

 low, which is not inhabited. All around 

 us was the roar of bees, for the horse- 

 mint grows there in all its glory. The 

 forest must be full of bees, and this is 

 a great bee and honey country. Bee- 

 keepers suffering from diseased or 

 weak lungs could come up to this high 

 country and be restored to health and 

 at the same time enjoy prosperity by 

 engaging in beeke aping. 



When we reached the rocky peak 

 which was the goal of our climb, we 

 raised our hands to heaven, said our 

 "little prayer," rested, ate our dinner, 

 then went upon the tower and with our 

 field glasses saw a mountain sight 

 which only those can comprehend who 

 have had a similar opportunity. Some 

 mountains looked like stacks of rocks, 

 others were in every imaginable shape. 

 We saw, at the foot of our mountain, 

 a little village, on the table land, which 

 we reached before night, and found to 

 be Highlands, North Carolina, where 

 is located a great tuberculosis sanita- 

 rium where thousands of people have 

 been and are being cured of this most 

 dreaded disease. We found in a store 

 there some honey in 2-pound sections, 

 the first I had ever seen put up in this 

 way. It was fancy. I paid 34 cents for 

 a section of it. It was as fine in flavor 

 as it ever was my pleasure to eat. 



After spending the night there we 

 returned home by private conveyance, 

 as there is no railroad near and it is 

 reached only by a steep, winding moun- 

 tain road. 



*-•-» 



Our Yard at Fargo, Ga. 



This is the picture of the home yard 

 of our Fargo apiaries. It consists of 

 90 colonies. This was taken when 

 about half the honey had been removed. 

 This yard and the McCain yard gave 

 us over lOit pounds average per colony 

 of extracted honey. 



Under the trees in the background 



flows the famous old Suwanee river 

 near its head waters. The yard is 

 divided into two parts. This was done 

 by moving them each way this spring 

 to keep them out of the high back 

 waters of the river. While our Te.xas 

 beekeeping friends were losing their 

 bees from floods, it seemed that the 

 same fate awaited us, and it was only 

 after much effort on the part of the 



Our McCain Yard at Fruitland, Ga. 



The picture of the McCain yard, con- 

 sisting of UH) colonies, the home yard 

 of our Suwanee river apiaries, was 

 taken while the spring crop of honey 

 was on the hives. It averaged four 

 shallow e.xtracting supers per colony. 

 We believe in using plenty of supers, 

 and we usually get them filled, too, by 

 our method of spreading brood and 

 storing room. These hives are raised 

 one inch from the bottom-boards, also 

 the covers are rested on end cleats, 

 allowing nearly one inch at the top. 

 We talk and write "ventilation " and 

 "practice what we preach." Some one 

 might say that these "open" hives 

 would be a good prey for robbers, but 

 they don't attack such hives much, es- 

 pecially if a little precaution is used to 

 keep down robbing. 



We interested Mr. McCain in bee- 

 culture two or three years ago. L'p to 

 this time he was a trapper and hunter 

 in the great Okefinokee swamp, near 

 which he now lives. He is a bee en- 

 thusiast, and says that he never ex- 

 pects to go back to his old trade or do 

 anything but keep bees. He follows 

 closely my instructions and reaps re- 

 sults. 



Caufornia ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by J. E. Pleasants, Oranee. Calif. 



Closing of the Honey Season— Light Crop 

 But Quality Good^How is Foul- 

 Brood Carried? 



The honey season, which is just clos- 

 ing, records the dullest market the 

 trade has known for years. Very little 

 honey has been sold so far. Producers 

 are holding for better prices. This is 

 probably the best course, with a light 

 crop of excellent quality and sugar on 

 the rise. Extracting from wild har- 

 vest is over. Beans are now in bloom, 

 and are reported yielding well. 



This ought to be an excellent season 

 for fall increase, which is frequently 

 done in this climate. There is consid- 

 erable blnom yet from which the bees 

 may gather stores, so there ought to be 

 little trouble from robbing. White 

 sage has held out even yet, and there 

 is some sumac and wild buckwheat, 

 while all the stubble fields abound in 

 drouth weed. Wax weed is still in 

 and blue curls in restricted areas. It 

 is well to build up what we can this 

 fall, as there was comparatively little 

 spring increase. The number of bees 

 was also reduced last year from differ- 



ent causes. There was little natural 

 swarming in the spring, and most bee- 

 keepers were after honey rather than 

 artificial increase. 



Just as soon as possible, we should 

 begin fall increase. Have ready young 

 laying queens and start nuclei, either 

 by division-boards or small nucleus 

 hives. In these new hives should be 

 placed several frames of hatching 

 brood. If starting right now, queen- 

 cells could also be used, as there will 

 probably be drones for two or three 

 weeks yet. I have practiced this 

 method for several years, and it usually 

 works well here. A 5 or 6 frame nucleus 

 is preferable. These should make 

 strong colonies for next spring. 



A good many here practice the 

 method of taking off the supers and 

 wintering the colony in one story. If 

 this is done it should be later in the 

 season when all the honey can be put 

 in one story. The extra combs, of 

 course, must be put away in moth- 

 proof quarters. 



The health of the bees in southern 

 California, generally speaking, is good, 

 though European foulbrood has crept 



