Aug-. 9, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



499 



each other, .so that both are visible at the same time, one 

 over 300 and the other over 600 feet hiph ! 



Imag-ine, if you can, great glacier-worn domes lookinj; 

 like so many bald heads, crowning the lofty heights which 

 surround this valley. Well, we surrounded, carried by 

 faithful horses, one of these great domes, called the south 

 or half dome, and ascended to the top of Cloud Rest beyond 

 it, when we were over 10,000 feet above the sea. For the 

 last mile of our ascent the pine trees were just drippng 

 with honey-dew, and the chaparral beneath was also shin- 

 ing with the great drops of nectar. The bees have evidently 

 not reacht as high as this in the mountains, as we saw no 

 bees on the honey-dew. 



Some of my students who were with me, who had 

 already been enlightened on the subject, were quick to seek 

 for the authors of this secretion, and found them in the 

 great hosts of plant-lice which everywhere infested the 

 great pines. So thick was the nectar that we could easily 

 collect it in sufficient quantities to test. We found, as I 

 have almost always found it from plant-lice or aphids, ex- 

 ceedingly delicious. I exprest the wish to my student com- 

 panions that I wisht I had an apiary on this grand old 

 mountain summit. I should be sure of a great harvest of 

 most excellent honey. 



Myself, wife, and daughter are now spending a few 

 days in the unique little town of Avalon, situated on Cata- 

 lina Island. The beautiful town is nestled at the foot of 

 high hills — almost mountains — and faces a placid little bay 

 of the same name as the town. The whole place comprises 

 but a few acres, and the streets are lined on both sides by 

 fine eucalyptus trees. There are many of them now in full 

 blossom, and they are musical with the hum of hosts of 

 bees. Thus Catalina has its bees if Yosemite Mountains 

 have not. 



It will be remembered that Mr. Wood proposed to come 

 here to rear queens in hopes to secure pure mating. He 

 gave it up upon finding that there were bees already in 

 abundance on the island. 



Catalina Island, Calif., July 23. 



Feed Value of Bokhara Clover— A Comparison. 



BY T. F. A. CONNELLY. 



THINKING it might be of interest to some bee-keepers, 

 and as I have never seen it publisht, I will send the 

 analysis of bokhara clover hay, and accompany it with 

 the analysis of wheat and alfalfa hay for comparison, that 

 they may learn the feed value of the bokhara hay. Any 

 one can see by the chemical ingredients that bokhara is 

 the equal of either in value as a forage-plant. 



This analysis was made at the California Agricultural 

 Experiment Station (see page 146, report for 1896). In 

 this part of the State no one has yet made any hay from 

 sweet clover. I have now 10 acres seeded to the plant, and 

 will try it, but it is surely a good honey-plant, for last sum- 

 mer near me there was a small piece in bloom, and the bees 

 workt on the bloom from June 10th till Nov. 13th, and I 

 long since learned that bees do not visit flowers unless they 

 contain nectar. I have also learned that no matter what 

 plant the bloom always contains nectar. Within three 

 miles of ray apiary there are 1,000 acres of alfalfa, and gen- 



erally the bloom is profuse, but the amount of surplus 

 varies greatly, and altho I never have to feed, the amount 

 of surplus in 1895 was, on an average, 120 pounds. One 

 colony filled 420 sections. My yield of comb honey was 12 

 tons, while for 1896 my surplus was less than 70 pounds per 

 colony. The conditions were precisely the same, as every- 

 thing here is grown by irrigation. Our rainfall averages 

 about four inches per summer. 



The condition of the atmosphere has more to do with 

 the flow of nectar than many suppose. I have seen the 

 alfalfa meadows an ocean of blossoms, and not a bee visit 

 them. Then it may be but a few days when the entire 

 meadow will be alive with the industrious little workers. 

 Or, the change may be the other way — from a bu,sy scene to 

 a holiday. One would think it was Sunday, or a circus, as 

 there would be no work going on. 



Some report that the rain washes the nectar out ; that 

 could not be the case here, for we have no rain. 



There is no doubt but that with me the electric condi- 

 tion of the atmosphere governs the flow of nectar. 



Inyo Co., Calif. 



Directions for Dipping Cell-Cups or Goblets for 

 Commercial Queen-Rearing-. 



BY W. H. PKIDGEN. 



AS the latest freak in dipping receptacles for larva; to be 

 converted into queens is to make goblets instead of 

 cups, I will explain how it is done. 

 The dipping-sticks illustrated again here (and which, 

 by the way, were shown inverted, on page 401), were used 

 to dip a whole batch at a time, and when heavy enough, 

 and while the wax about the base was still in a liquid state, 



Dipping-Tank /o7- Queen-Cell Cups. 



the whole set was toucht to the bar, which would adhere, 

 and then the bar, or rather a thin slat, cups and all were 

 dipt again, which fixt all to the slat at once. At this stage 

 the slat and base only of the cups were toucht to cold water, 

 and the dipping-sticks withdrawn one at a time, and is 

 shown by one or two of the pegs being elevated in the pict- 

 ure, thus leaving the cups properly arranged on the slat 

 ready to slip in the frame, as Mr. Doolittle tells us to do it. 



The dipping-tank shown herewith was used with this 

 outfit, which is long enough to admit a bar or slat that fits 

 between the end-bars of a brood-frame, and this outfit is 

 still very serviceable for making cups for one's own use ; 

 but the pegs must be rigidly fixt for dipping the commercial 

 article, for convenience in removing the goblets as well as 

 forming them. 



Two lamps are used, one near each end, to keep the wax 



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