1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTQEE. 



40!) 



It is about 20 miles from the ocoan, and from 

 some of the mountain-spurs above the apiary 

 the sheen of the ocean can be seen. The live- 

 oak grows licrc 10 perfection, making a delight- 

 ful shade an>l the very ideal of camping-places. 

 The ranch Imd over .3000 acres of grain sown, 

 and supported large lierds of cattle and horses. 

 The baud of cattle had a tenderfoot cowboy at- 

 tached, mounted ou a broncho, with a large re- 

 volver sticking conspicuously from his belt. 

 The hoiK'y-pastnrage was excellent— white sage 

 from valley to hilltop; black sage more sparing- 

 ly distributed, but much of it; wild buckwheat 

 of rank growth; other plants too numerous to 

 mention; fruits, none to speak of; fruit-men 

 and tlieir cranky notions, ditto. Having in 

 mind what Mr. Muth-Rasmussen said recently 

 in Gleanings about cross bees aud lack of 

 shade, I observed that the bees in this apiary, 

 though not directly under the trees, were very 

 mild-maniKM-cd beside others I have managed 

 where theire was no shade. Yes. Bro. Ras.. if I 

 ever settle down it will be in the delectable 

 shade of an oak grove whei'e there are babbling 

 brooks and singing birds, where bees are kind, 

 and where feminine per.-ecutors are unknown. 

 Where, oh where! can such a place be found? 

 Echo answers, " Where ? " 



I present to the readers a beautiful and artis- 

 tic photo of the apiary which was the seat of 

 our operations for several days. It was our 

 duty, as an advance fnrce. to get the 200 colonies 

 ready for moving. Upon arrival we found our 

 honey-house, and what we expected to be our 

 residence, blown over, and only one end sup- 

 ported by a pile of hives. We found room in 

 here for our bed, and established our " kitchen" 

 under the oaks, at the rear of our wagon. There 

 were 50 colonies in new portico L. hives. These 

 were easily prepared for moving; but the 1.50 old 

 Harbison hives were a vexation of spiilt, and 

 extremely lacerating to all the members of our 

 bodies, as you will hereafter see. 



That the reader may understand the beauties 

 of a Harbison hive I present a photo of two 

 which are samples of all the rest. It will be ob- 

 served that there is an attempt to stop the 

 cracks with rags. A good share of the liives 

 were well cracked in frunt, and all of the roar 

 doors fitted as shown in the picture, or so that 

 bees could crawl out all up and down the corner. 

 Add to this open knot-holes, rotten places in the 

 corners, etc., and it will be readily seen that we 

 had quite a little recreation on our hands. The 

 real work came in where we had to nail on 

 those ill-fitting rear doors, and then saw the 

 hives off at the center, or just above the interi- 

 or immovable frames. These colonies were to 

 be transferred to new hives when they reached 

 their m-w location, and it did not make much 

 difference how much we mutilated the hive if it 

 would only hold the bees. Mr. Powell and I 

 pitched into our work right and left. There 

 was a large number of old combs in the upper 



part of the Harbison hives. We decided that 

 these should be rendered into wax forthwith; 

 and, finding a suitable boiler, we started a Hre. 

 As soon as the water boiled, in went the combs, 

 frames and all. We fed our fire with old hives, 

 and the waxed and propolized lumbin- made a 

 brilliant flame. We kept this waxworks going 

 until 11 o'clock, or until the job was finished, 

 and secured a large lot of wax. We retired to 

 our flat, and had our restful slumbers, and found 

 our flat, surrounded by the silence of nature, 

 much better adapted to sound sleep than was 

 the granary of the previous night, with its va- 

 rious vocal and instrumental attachments. 



HARBISON HIVES. 



The next morning we commenced the nailing 

 and sawing operations; and aftersawing off the 

 Harbison hive, and tumbling its old cracked 

 head in the dust, a piece of burlap was nailed 

 over the top. a liberal supply of cotton bat-ting 

 tucked in cracks and holes, and it was ready lo 

 move. This cotton-batting idea is a very good 

 one, and it stops a hole much better than rags 

 or paper. 



We h.id thus prepared the two front rows 

 when I brought the camera to bear upon the 

 situation. Mr. Powell will be seen mounted on 

 the top of a tall bee-hive. The noble oaks in 

 the foreground; ourstylish "flat" in thecenter. 

 and the many Harbison hives, make a varied 

 and interesting picture. 



In the afternoon we were busy at our woik 

 when we heard the rattle of big wagons coming 

 through the oaks, and Mr. Wheeler and George 

 made their appearance upon the scene. We ex- 

 pected them about 24 hours later; but Mr. W. is 

 a hustler, and believes that, when there is work 

 to be done, it is best to do it. The two big wag- 

 ons were drawn by teams of great strength and 

 endurance, and it was the plan to load .50 colo- 

 nies on a wagon, taking KM) at a trip, making 

 two trips. Mr. Powell and 1 thought we couldn't 



