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comb the year round ; from all other 

 colonies I keep out all the drone-comb 

 possible. 



In earlj' spring I crowd tlicse drone- 

 rearing colonics with worker brood, 

 thereby getting earl)' drones. When 

 I find drones well started, I remove 

 the queen from sonic populous colonj', 

 on the second day remove part of the 

 brood, and the next da)' the balance, 

 leaving plenty of honey, and giving 

 back about half the number of combs 

 taken from them. 



I then take a frame of just-hatching 

 larval from my choicest breeding 

 queen, and break down about a half 

 dozen cells on each side, wherein the 

 larv;e are of proper age, and hang this 

 frame in the centre of the colony made 

 queenless. On the second and third 

 days I again break down another 

 dozen cells, which will be as manj' 

 queens as ought to be reared in any 

 one colony at a time. On the fifth 

 day I destroy all other cells that may 

 have started. 



I now work all the brood back into 

 this hive taken from it, and into each 

 frame on the tenth day I fasten one of 

 these cells in a wire-cage, and divide 

 the colony into 9 nucleus colonies, 

 tucked up warmly, and shut up tight ; 

 tlie balance of the cells I fasten in 

 provisioned queen-cages, and place 

 them in colonies from which queens 

 have been sold, or place them in wire 

 cages, and hang in strong colonies to 

 i hatch, to be used later in making 

 forced swarms. 



Now, to return to the 9 nucleus col- 

 onies : On the fourth day after mak- 

 ing them, I place on all colonics in my 

 I yard (except the 3 or 4 drone-rearing 

 I ones), the drone-traps, and keep them 

 on 5 to 7 days, which secures mating 

 as nearly pure as possible. As soon as 

 these young queens are fertile, they 

 are introduced into other colonies from 

 which queens have been sold or sent 

 away direct to customers, and tlie 

 nucleus again supplied with queen- 

 cells. 



Now we will return to the cell in a 

 queen - cage placed in a colony to 

 hatch : On tlie third to the lifth day 

 after hatching, I place her in a queen- 

 cage the size of a finger, and over the 

 open end I tie a piece of newspaper, 

 as you would a sore tliumb ; this cage 

 is fastened to a frame of liatehing 

 brood, and jilaced in a hive with a 

 close-fitting division-board. Now from 

 some strong colony "shake the bees 

 from two frames into this hive, fasten- 

 ing all up tight for 24 hours ; during 

 that time, they release and accept that 

 queen, and in from 8 to 5 days she is 

 fertile, and ready to ship, having 

 mated with the pure drones Hj'ing at 

 that time. 



PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEV. 



I am requested to give a brief out- 

 line of my management in securing 

 comb honey. I am not sure that it is 

 better than any other system, but it 

 has worked satisfactorily with me, and 

 if any brother bee-keeper will in any 

 w.ay be benefitted by following or 

 adopting any part of it, I shall feel 

 well repaid. 



I winter my bees in a cellar, and 

 place them on the summer stands from 

 April 15 to the 2Uth. On the first still, 

 warm day after, I shut them on what- 

 ever number of combs they can cover 

 well, placing tight-fitting division- 

 boards up to them, and put chaft" cush- 

 ions, or papers and old carpet over the 

 brood-frames, and make them as warm 

 as possible. 



They are now allowed only entrance 

 room for one bee at a time, in order 

 to retain the heat in the hive, and pro- 

 tect themselves against robbers. Thej' 

 are left in this condition until dande- 

 lions bloom, when I examine them all, 

 and clip the queens' wings, and spread 

 the brood, giving each colony what- 

 ever additional room it may need. 

 During apple bloom I spread the 

 brood, usually every three days (in all 

 about three times) equallizing the 

 brood in the hives, and classifying 

 tlieni that all swarming may be done 

 within three weeks. 



From the close of apple bloom to the 

 first white clover bloom, there is a 

 honey-dearth of ten days, and during 

 that time I feed every colony in my 

 apiaiy from one-half to a pound of thin 

 honey, to insure continuous brood- 

 rearing. At the beginning of white 

 clover, sections are put on, and I ex- 

 amine and equallizc again. All colo- 

 nies are then of about equal strength. 



When a swarm issues, I catch a 

 wing-clipped queen, placing her in a 

 wire-cage, while the swarm is in the 

 air ; I remove the old hive to a new 

 stand. ))lacing a hive on the old stand 

 with 2 frames of empty comb and 8 

 frames of wired foundation in tlie cen- 

 ter, placing a surplus case from the 

 old hive on the new one. By this time 

 the bees are returning, and the queen 

 is allowed to run in, when the work 

 is done. 



A just-hatching <|ueen-cell is now 

 given the old colony, and sections are 

 placed on the hive. Honey is taken 

 ofl" as fast as it is completed, and room 

 taken or given to them as I think that 

 they retpiire. 



At the close of the honey season, the 

 brood from both liives is placed into 

 one of them, with the 3-oung queen, 

 and carried to a new stand. Hive- 

 covers are placed on the old stands to 

 catch all the old bees, which are brim- 

 stoned at night, and given a respecta- 

 ble burial. I 



This plan gives young, vigorous bees 



for winter and the following spring, 

 and saves boarding from 4 to 12 (piarts 

 of bees from 8 to 6 months, which 

 means money. 



The hives are now weighed, and if 

 wanting any luimber of pounds tO' 

 make 25, actual honey weight, the 

 colonies are fed that amount at once, 

 and left alone until carried into winter 

 quarters, which is about Dec. 1. 



Arcade, N. Y. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Early History of Bcem and Honey 

 in Southern California. 



Written for the Lou Aiujelex E.r]>rc>i>< 



BY S. M. V,'. KASLEY. 



The bee-industry in California dates 

 back to 1854, when a Mr. Apphston 

 brought 2 colonies to Santa Clara 

 county and placed them on the Stock- 

 ton ranch, near San Jose. Bees from 

 those 2 colonies were often seen six 

 and seven miles from home. They did 

 so well that other importations sood 

 followed, and in two or three years 

 some 200, perhaps more, colonies were 

 introduced. From those colonies the 

 States of California, Oregon, Washing- 

 ton and Arizona have been stocked. 

 In Southern California bees are found 

 everywhere. In this, Ventura county, 

 they are found in the house-tops, in 

 trees, between brick walls, in clift's of 

 rocks, and for want of a better place. 

 they find shelter in the ground. 



The writer of this article bought 

 some of the first bees that were ship- 

 ped to the State. In 1859 I sold 17 

 colonies for 11,700. Honey was worth 

 |1 per pound. Two years later they 

 sold for ^ per colony. The price per 

 colony now ranges from 50 cents to fl 

 in box-hives, to |l.50 to $4 in movable- 

 frame or Langstroth hive, according to 

 qnality of hive and condition of colony. 

 I took charge of two apiaries in 1884, 

 located on the Simi Ranch in this 

 county. The two contained 444 colo- 

 nics, and were located about two and 

 a lialf miles apart. The total yield of 

 extracted honey from those two api- 

 aries (now three, anotlier having been 

 located in 1885, and their increase in 

 swarms now numbering in all 1,500 

 colonies) has been 568,000 pounds, or 

 284 tons. 



The largest amount m.ade in any one 

 year was in 1884, when 87J tons were 

 taken from 552 colonies, and the api- 

 aries increased in number to some- 

 thing over 1,200. The lightest yield 

 in any one year was last year, when 

 only eight tons of honey were taken 

 from 1,500 colonies. The highest price 

 obtained for honey in any year was 7 

 cents, the lowest 4 cents. 



