38 



THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER. 



contemplate starting out-apiaries, the 

 Hoffman frame offers very superior 

 advantages. My opinion is, that bee- 

 keepers who keep out-apiaries, and 

 who move bees considerably, will in 

 time settle down to the fixed frame. 

 I shall no doubt experiment consider- 

 ably with fixed frames the next few 

 seasons. 



In Ventura county this state, the 

 bee-keepers have adopted the Lang- 

 stroth as the standard frame, and 

 there is something like 1,600 hives in 

 that county, which produce annually 

 about $60,000 worth of honey. The 

 one pound section is rapidly gaining 

 favor with the progressive apiarists of 

 this state, and are fast superceeding 

 the old Harbinson two pound section. 



Our honey crop here last season 

 was about one fourth of a crop. In 

 the upper Sierras, at an elevation of 

 3,000 feet and upwards, there was a 

 good crop. Some honey plants yield- 

 ed well. In all extensively irrigated 

 districts bees did pretty well because 

 of the abundance of alfe alfa grown. 

 .Reports from Antelope Valley state 

 that in that section the honey crop 

 was far better than usual, 200 to 400 

 lbs. to the colony for entire apiaries 

 being the yield. 



The Italian race of honey bees I 

 have tried pretty extensively, and 

 found them to be very good, but I 

 like the Carniolans better. t I think 

 they are a fixed race ; the Italians are 

 not. 



In an apiary composed of Italian 

 and hybrids if a Carinolan queen be 

 introduced and the Carinolans then 

 be left to reproduce themselves nat- 

 urally they will hold their own for 

 hundreds of generations before their 



markings will begin to be eliminated. 

 Place a colony of Carinolans in an is- 

 solated location, and allow natural 

 breeding, and in ten years they will 

 not detoriate a single bit; but take a 

 colony of Italians, and allow natural 

 breediog and in a year or two we 

 have nothing but common black, or 

 very poor hybrid bees; thus proving 

 conclusively that the Italians are not 

 a fixed race. 



Grizzly Flats, Cal. 



A Few Words to Beginners; 



BY T. K. MASSIE. 



As The American Bee-Keeper 

 is published in the interest of begin- 

 ners, allow me to say to them that 

 the first thing to be learned is the fact 

 that no set rules can be given to suit 

 everyone under all the varying con- 

 ditions of climate, location, etc., and 

 that everyone must use intelligence 

 and make rules to suit his own indi- 

 vidual case — must make a vigorous 

 use of his own "think shop." He 

 must thoroughly acquaint himself 

 with the flora of his location ; he must 

 know when the honey flow is likely 

 to commence and end, and must man- 

 ipulate his bees to suit that time. 

 Friend Doolittle's advice to manipu- 

 late our bees at the proper time can- 

 not be too strongly impressed upon 

 the minds of beginners. In my local- 

 ity we have two honey flows each 

 year. The early flow last season end- 

 ed on the 24th day of July, the fall 

 flow commenced on the 16th of Sep- 

 tember. There was a dearth from 

 July 24th to September 16, of 53 

 days. A hive full of bees during 

 these 58 days are not only of no use 

 to me but a positive disadvantage. 

 They are only consumers and not 



