THE AMERICAN' BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



vL-mber. Consequently the bees have 

 swarmed very little, and the only safe mode 

 of increase is by artifit-ial swarming. 



This winter, however, we liave had more 

 rain than of late, and everybody expects a 

 <!;()od honey season. By using the extractor 

 you c;an in any ordinary season rely on get- 

 ting an average of at least one hundred 

 pounds of honey from each swarm, besides 

 Uoubliug your "stock, as I shall further ex- 

 plain. The honey season lasts from May 

 till the eiul of September. In July the 

 tlowers give very little honey ; in August 

 and September the bees gather some, but 

 The principal harvest is during May and 

 June. It does not require much to take 

 Them through the winter, but we generally 

 leave them all the honey they have in the 

 lower story at the end of the season. The 

 bees here are, with a few exceptions, all 

 black. Foul-brood troubles us some, but 

 not enough to discourage anybody. 



We plant nothing for the bees, although 

 it might be well to have a field of rape or 

 other honey-producing plants coming in by 

 the first of July. Bees are worth from 

 .f 2.50 to |5 in box hives. Mr. Harbison, I 

 believe, sells Italians in his frame hives at 

 ^12 a swarm. Box hives are still much 

 used, the honey being cut out of the upper 

 part, and strained as described above. The 

 same method has been used a good deal 

 with the Harbison hive, which for a long 

 time has been the principal frame hive in 

 use here. A couple of years ago, however, 

 Mr. John Beckley of Minnesota introduced 

 the Langstroth hive, which is being adopted 

 by a number of bee-keepers, and, no doubt, 

 ■will be " the '' hive within a few years. 



The size of our frames is eleven and 

 three- fourths inches long by nine and three- 

 fourths inches deep, outside measure. The 

 iiive, being eighteen inches long inside, will 

 take from ten to twelve frames in each 

 €tory, according to the thickness of the 

 leomb. All the apiaries kept for business 

 are situated at the foot of the mountains or 

 in the canons. Many bees are found scat- 

 tered round in the valleys, but only a few 

 at each place, as the harvest-time is short, 

 and the bees will just gather enough for 

 their own use and for home consumption. 

 They swarm, however, much more antl 

 ■earlier in the valleys than in the mountains, 

 because the willows and some other plants 

 commence blooming about New Year, and 

 give an abundance of i)ollen and some 

 honey, which stimulates the bees to breed 

 ■early. 



The honey from willow and mustard, the 

 principal honey-sources in the valley, is 

 strong and not very palatable, besides gran- 

 ulating very fast. AVild sage gives a fine 

 flavored, colorless honey, sumach a straw- 

 colored honey with good flavor. The for- 

 aner always lakes the best price. So in 



looking for a location for an apiary, or 

 " bee-ranch," as it is liere called, these are 

 the principal plants to have near and in 

 abundance. Alpilaria, yellow alfalfa (wild), 

 sycamore, oak, mountain-mahogany, grease- 

 wood, and a variety of other plants and 

 trees give considerable honey. In some 

 localities the alders are often covered with 

 honey-dew in the fall. 



A few enteri)rising bee-men ar(^ this year 

 trying an experiment, which, probably in 

 time, will hv. repeated by many others. 

 About New Year they moved their bees to 

 the valley, where they are already prepar- 

 ing to swarm, raising queen-cells and drones, 

 and a few hives have even before this date 

 been divided. By the first of May they 

 will have been doubled, moved back to the 

 mountains, and commenced their honey 

 harvest in good earnest. As I have only 

 been in the business four years, I cannot 

 tell you what the increase would be for so 

 long a time as you ask ; and being inexpe- 

 rienced and "bothered" with an unman- 

 ageable patent hive, I have not had much 

 success in that respect. Moth-worms have 

 been more troublesome than foul-brood, 

 seeming to thrive exceedingly well in this 

 warm and dry climate, and aided, no doubt, 

 by the half-hundred safe retreats in the 

 just-mentioned hive, where the moths are 

 proof against the attacks of the bees. 



Nearly all the honey from here goes to 

 San Francisco, mostly in five-gallon tin 

 cans, and sells at from eight to fifteen 

 cents for strained and extracted, and twelve 

 to twenty-five cents for comb-honey. We 

 have had considerable trouble in disposing 

 of the honey for the last two years. It 

 would remtiin in the store, there being no 

 demand for it, until it was candied, and 

 then be sold for a very low price. Twelve 

 and one-half cents is, however, the average, 

 and regarded a fair price for strained honey. 



The Bee-Keepers' Association of this 

 County has now taken the matter in hand, 

 and we hope to succeed in getting better 

 prices and quicker returns by putting the 

 honey up in cans and glass jars of sizes to 

 suit customers, and by placing the bulk of 

 the honey in the hands of one firm, which 

 will prevent the price from falling as low 

 as it has of late. At the last meeting, a few 

 days ago, the president was authorized to 

 go to San Francisco, and confer with 

 merchants there about the sale of honey for 

 the coming season. We are also in com- 

 munication with Mr. Chas. F. Muth of 

 Cincinnati, O., in regard to the sale of jars, 

 no action having been taken yet on that 

 matter by the Association. Several mem- 

 bers expressed, at the last meeting, a desire 

 to take their part in a car-load, but it was 

 thought best to wait until we hear from 

 San Francisco which size of packages will 

 be most desirable. 



