308 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



"mesa"). On this is located Mr. Rob- 

 inson, a young man with his family. He 

 combines stock-raising, blooded-horse 

 raising and bees. Passing here we move 

 on up, then down and up again, over 

 into Bell canyon, where Mr. Joplin is 

 located. He combines stock, bees and 

 fruit. He sold $600 worth of fruit to 

 our World's Fair committee, put up in 

 glass in the most attractive form. He 

 was also the Manager of our county ex- 

 hibit at the World's Fair. The fruit 

 was raised on a very small piece of 

 ground. He raises the finest kind of 

 oranges, and all kind of fruits. 



The next is Mr. Miller, who a few 

 years ago at one time shipped out of 

 Santa Ana 95 tons of honey of his own 

 producing. He raises fruits of the finest 

 kinds, and also raises stock. 



Two miles from here, away up, is Mr. 

 Fox, with stock and bee raising com- 

 bined, also raising boys, for here we 

 could see four little chaps on a gentle 

 horse or mule every morning, loping 

 away over the mountains five miles to 

 the Trabuco school and back again at 

 night. The horse would be staked out 

 to feed on the natural grasses through 

 the day. 



The largest proportion of these people 

 were in straightened circumstances, 

 and out of health, when they went into 

 the mountains. They are all now, with- 

 out an exception, in excellent circum- 

 stances financially, and enjoying excel- 

 lent health. 



From Mr. Fox's we can go over the 

 mountains on a mule trail into the Hot 

 Springs canyon, where two bee-ranches 

 are located. Hot Springs is a fiimous 

 resort in summer for invalids and health 

 seekers. The road from this place 

 comes down into the valley at old San 

 Juan Mission, 25 miles from Santa Ana. 

 There are two more bee-ranches located 

 high up above the San Margarita stock 

 ranch. There are three more located 

 in Laguna canyon, on a road leading 

 from the valley to Laguna and Arch 

 Beach Bath, quiet summer resorts for 

 people from Riverside and San Bernar- 

 dino counties. 



In another article I will tell what I 

 know about California bee-keeping. 



Santa Ana, Calif. 



Getting Bees to Work In tlie Sections. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY A. M. TOWNER. 



Honey as food andl IVledicine is 



just the thing to help sell honey, as it shows 

 the various ways in which honey may be 

 used as a food and as a medicine. Try 100 

 copies of it, and see what good 'sales- 

 men " they are. See the third page of this 

 number of the Bee Journal for description 

 and prices. 



Allow me to say something on Query 

 899, and give my method of getting 

 bees to work in sections. First, the hive 

 I use consists of two shallow brood- 

 chamber sections, each holding eight 

 shallow frames. It is called the " Alter- 

 nating " bee-hive. It uses supers the 

 same size as the brood-case. 



Now, instead of using both sections 

 over one bottom, I have a bottom and 

 cover for each section. I have a queen 

 and small colony in each, placing them 

 side by side, both facing east. Each of 

 the sections are equal to five Langstroth 

 frames. You will see that by stimulat- 

 ing a little I can cause each queen to fill 

 these small combs almost solid with 

 brood. I stimulate a little from a month 

 to six weeks before the expected honey- 

 flow. 



Hold on, I think I hear some one say, 

 '■' Don't your bees ever swarm?" The 

 truth is, I am not troubled with swarm- 

 ing at that time of the year (July) when 

 the stimulating is done. The reason I 

 have assigned for this is its being out of 

 the natural swarming season, and bees 

 are then slow to get the swarming fever, 

 as our swarming season is in May, if 

 there is any nectar at that time, and 

 there seldom is. Our main flow is from 

 Spanish-needle in September. 



I watch the bees closely, and as soon 

 as the combs begin to whiten, I take 

 one of these colonies and turn it half 

 way around. I then lift the other off 

 the bottom and set it on the ground, 

 placing a super in its place. I now shake 

 the bees, queen and all from this last 

 section in front of the super, and place 

 these combs over the colony first re- 

 moved. Now the bees in the super with 

 the addition of field-bees from the col- 

 ony first removed, makes them so strong 

 that they at once commence drawing 

 out the foundation, which I use in full 

 sheets. 



In 24 to 48 hours I raise this super 

 and place a brood section under, filled 

 with eight of the most solidly capped 

 brood-frames to be found in the whole 

 16, shaking the bees off so as to be sure 

 not to get the queen. Then I turn this 

 small colony gradually around beside 

 the one with the super, then suddenly 

 back again, causing the bees that hatch- 

 ed meanwhile to join the colony with the 

 super. 



I have tried the above plan the past 



