THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



761 



pepper-tree arbor are to be clipped 

 off. One or two rows of hives may be 

 placed under this arbor, and as years 

 pass the apiarist will more and more 

 love to work among his hives beneath 

 the grateful shade thus afforded, and 

 surrounded with the gentle murmur 

 of his pets; and as he inhales the 

 pleasant aroma exhaled by the leaves 

 of the trees overhead, and which 

 aroma is delightfully mingled with 

 that issuing trom the honey of his 

 hives, he cannot help but feel that he 

 is in a paradise indeed. 



THE ACACIA FOR SHADE. 



Australian acacias make excellent 

 shade for hives in California. Of the 

 many varieties now growing in this 

 State, I consider Acacia latifolio the 

 best. It is of rapid growth, and 

 gives plenty of shade. It furnishes 

 pollen, but no honey. The only ob- 

 jection to the acacias is that they are 

 easily broken by the wind, and that 

 they make an everlasting litter on 

 account of always shedding their 

 leaves. 



have seen nicely cropped Monterey 

 cypress hedges surrounding bee-yards 

 in California, and nothing could be 

 more pleasing. This cypress may 

 succeed in the Southern States, but I 

 hardly think that it will in the North. 

 Have any of the readers of the Bee 

 Journal tried it ? 

 North Temescal,»o Calif. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Selling Honey in Fruit Cans, etc. 



J. M. CLARK. 



MONTEREY 



CYPRESS 

 BREAKS. 



FOR WIND- 



Perhaps no place in the world has 

 better native trees for wind-breaks 

 than California, and strange, too, no 

 other place seems to need wind- 

 breaks less than does ihat favored 

 spot. Her trees are of rapid and 

 gigantic growth, and seem to defy the 

 four winds of the earth. Even the 

 large growths of other countries when 

 transplanted to the soil of the Golden 

 West seem to try and out-do the 

 native giants. This we see in some 

 varieties of Eucalyptus, which are 

 now so common in California. 



Of domestic and imported trees that 

 are suitable for wind-breaks in Cali- 

 fornia, none are equal to the Mon- 

 terey cypress, botanically known as 

 Cupressus macrocarpa. It is the most 

 extensively planted cypress in the 

 State, and is set out in chimps or as 

 single specimens. In clumps with 

 other evergreen cypresses or pines it 

 makes a fine efiect. When alone it 

 is generally trimmed into shapes 

 after the Italian or French fashions, 

 being easy to shape it into various 

 forms, which, however well some may 

 like them, are stiff and unnatural. 

 Hardly a garden is without its Mon- 

 terey cypress hedge ; no matter where 

 you go in California you will see 

 these hedges great and small. From 

 2 feet high up to 1.5 or 20 they are to 

 be seen in nice trim. When the 

 shears are used on them every few 

 months, they present a surface rival- 

 ing the smoothness and beauty of 

 any well-kept lawn. For the bee- 

 keeper they make a hedge and fence 

 that is unsurpassed. 



Seedlings are the best to set out, 

 and after a year or two old may be 

 treated to the shears to get them into 

 uniform shape and heighth. After 

 trimming for -5 or G years, so that the 

 branches near the groimd are closely 

 matted, the bee-keeper may, if he 

 desires, give them no further atten- 

 tion. They will make a wind-break 

 that no wind can uproot, and a fence 

 that stock cannot get through. I 



I commenced bee-keeping 3 years 

 ago this fall with one colony, and by 

 natural swarming, dividing, and 

 transferring bees for some of my 

 neighbors, they giving me the bees 

 and brood and taking the honey, as 

 all they cared for, I had increased my 

 apiary to 14 colonies. These I packed 

 on the summer stands with chaff. I 

 lost 8 of them during the winter and 

 spring, leaving 2 strong, 2 weak, and 

 2 ver^ weak colonies with which to 

 commence the season with last 

 spring. These have increased to 11 

 strong colonies, which are now packed 

 snugly in chaff on the summer stands, 

 with 30 pounds each (including the 

 weight of bees) of honey and granu- 

 lated sugar syrup. My honey crop 

 this season consisted of 250 pounds of 

 extracted white clover honey, 400 

 pounds of extracted basswood honey 

 of very tine quality, and about 150 

 pounds from buckwheat and fall 

 flowers. I fed 100 pounds of granu- 

 lated sugar syrup for winter stores. 



I took some basswood honey to our 

 County Fair, on which 1 obtained the 

 first premium, Many of my bees 

 attended the Fair on their own 

 account, very much to the annoyance 

 of the " warm candy " and " popcorn 

 ball " venders. I find ready sale for 

 my honey in fruit cans and jelly 

 glasses, from my news-room window, 

 where it attracts mucli attention. 

 The average price is 123^ cents per 

 pound. The past summer I put out 

 214 acres of fruit. I expect to make 

 specialties of berry raising and bee- 

 keeping. 



Hillsdale,? Mich. 



Read at the Wabash Coanjy, Ind.. Convention. 



Spring Management of Bees. 



AARON SINGER. 



Successful spring management de- 

 pends upon the knowledge of the 

 operator, the condition of the colonies, 

 and the natural surroundings. One 

 of the essential objects to be attained 

 is strong colonies at the beginning of 

 the honey harvest ; and in order to 

 obtain this our colonies should begin 

 breeding as soon as surrounding cir- 

 cumstances will admit. As a general 

 rule, in this latitude, bees begin to 

 breed, when in a normal condition, 

 about the last of February or by 

 March ] . 



Breeding can be stimulated from 

 this time, by the apiarist, if he sees 

 fit to give his colonies proper atten- 



tion. The manner in which this maV^ 

 be done is by feeding. We are all well 

 aware that the queen is most active 

 in depositing eggs when the bees are 

 gathering honey rapidly. If we feed 

 small quantities of sugar syrup, or 

 good honey, as soon as the bees can 

 (ly in the spring, this will have a ten- 

 dency to stimulate the queen to 

 greater activity in laying than if no 

 feed is given ; but this feeding of 

 honey or syrup is not the only food 

 that is necessary to produce the 

 desired results in rearing young bees. 

 It is a known fact that the brood 

 requires something else for food than 

 honey, and that is pollen. If the bees 

 can fly readily before natural pollen 

 comes, feed Graham flour, rye flour, 

 or something of that sort, as a sub- 

 stitute for natural pollen. 



As soon as the weather will permit, 

 open the hives quietly and give them 

 a thorough examination, noting every 

 particular in your apiary register, or 

 make a memorandum on a piece of 

 paper and drop it into the cap of the 

 hive for future reference. When 

 making the examination do not 

 spread the cluster in early spring, but 

 rather crowd them closely together in 

 order to keep as much heat in the 

 hive as possible, putting proper ab- 

 sorbents on top of the frames to 

 allow the escape of excessive moisture. 

 Do not examine the colonies often in 

 early spring, as the brood is very 

 easily chilled, and when once chilled, 

 it will all be lost. The bee-keeper 

 can refer to his memorandum as to 

 the wants and conditions within the 

 hive. 



All colonies are more or less re- 

 duced by "spring dwindling." Old 

 bees that have been confined all win- 

 ter, live but a short time when en- 

 gaged in foraging in the fields. It is 

 therefore very necessary that this loss 

 is replenished at the proper time, or 

 the colony will be deprived of a field- 

 force when it is most needed. Many 

 bees are lost by venturing forth on 

 cold, cloudy days, and being overcome 

 with cold they can never reach their 

 hives again. This might be avoided, 

 to some extent, by darkening the en- 

 trance to the hive. Colonies wintered 

 on the summer stands are less liable 

 to "spring dwindling" than those 

 wintered in a bee-house or cellar. 

 Colonies that were wintered in cellars 

 should not be put out too early, as 

 more injury will come by being placed 

 out too eanly than by remaining in 

 dark quarters. When natural pollen 

 comes it is early enough to put bees 

 out of the cellar, if they have had 

 proper flights during the winter. 



One of the most important objects 

 is to get the colonies strong by the 

 time the honey flow comes, so that the 

 bee-keeper may have many worthy 

 servants to garner the precious sweets 

 which nature yields for the benefit of 

 mankind. 



Colonies, when weak, may be built 

 up by taking frames of brood from 

 strong colonies, but great care must 

 be exercised that the brood does not 

 become chilled, and a strong colony 

 made weak on account of the mis- 

 management of the operator. The 

 brood must not be spread too early in 



