1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



941 



Where the honey has not been extracted, I believe 

 this has been considered a very Kood houej' year, 

 althoug-h I have been too busy to gather much in 

 regard to the business. I believe San Diego is the 

 great honey-region of California, while Pasadena 

 excels in fruit and beautiful homes. 



I have worked up to date, since I liave been in 

 Pasadena, 157 days. I have not worked one day for 

 less than $3.00 per day, and I am at present getting 

 !*3.50 per day in gold, every Saturdaj' night. My 

 boss won't employ iiny man who uses tobacco, 

 drinks liquor, or swears, so, you sec, I have good 

 company to work in. and might be e.vpected to have 

 a good time. I am a journeyman cari)enter. I Ite- 

 lieve all occupations pertaining to the construction 

 of houses, or building uji a city. ha\e imid ;is well 

 as carpenter's work. 



Now. just one wo)'d about Pasaileiui. It is anew 

 place, and one can't tlnd such a thing as a dilapidat- 

 ed house, barn, or fence. The buildings are all new. 

 and some are of the finest architecture. The build- 

 ings are mostly wooden — Oregon jjine for the 

 frame, and California redwood for finishing. Lum- 

 ber can be obtained here of almost any length, up to 

 HO or 80 ft. Selected redwood makes the finest finish 

 of any soft wood I ever saw. 



There are some peo])le who come here and don't 

 like the place (chi-onic {jrowlcrsi. and I do believe 

 there are many who. if liansported to heaven, 

 would not like it any better, because the associa- 

 tions would not be the class they were used to. 



1 used to hear of an occasional earthcjuake in Cal- 

 ifornia; but after spending T months here, where 

 every day is as calm as June, and reading about the 

 awful earthquakes and cyclones and Hoods they are 

 having in the East and South. T just thank God that 

 I am in California, and wish that many of the suf- 

 fering ones were here too. Let me just say. that I 

 am not interested, more than any other good citizen. 



Pasadena. Cal.. Nov. 8. ISfii. IL H. Hilmek. 



THE HONEY-BOARD. 



OLD-FOGV .lUDGES. 



EXPEKIENCE a great deal of trouble with 

 honey-boards. I have the enameled cloth, but 

 I want a board that will hold itself up so I can 

 put on boxes for honey, holding 10 or L') lbs. 

 each, without foundation. Such i)ackages sell 

 much the best in this section. I have never used 

 the zinc. Will that be the best thing I can get'/ I 

 see in Gleanings, Oct. I.'), page t^l4, something said 

 about the Heddon and Tinker honey-boards. I 

 should like to know where I can find a description 

 of those boards. I take Gle.4MNGS, and have the 

 A U C book. What do you use for a honey-board':' 

 I glued wooden strips on the top of some of my en- 

 ameled cloths, ^jX'^ inch, and ^> inch apart, that 

 kept the cloth up all right, and worked first rate to 

 cover the frames; but I can't use that to set my 

 boxes on, that I can see. I could use the old wood- 

 en boards with holes through thcni ; but I do not 

 like them to remove from over the frames, for they 

 are quite apt to take the frames along with them, 

 with me. I should like to know what you would 

 use if you were in my place. If zinc were to be 

 used, I should think the bees would be likely to 

 stick both to the boxes and frames, and when taken 

 oH' would bend and spoil the zinc (perhaps not). 

 J must tell vou of one of my experiments with tlie 



honey-boards. One of our best bee-keepers in this 

 State uses the old-style honey-board in two pieces. 

 The thought struck me, that if two were better than 

 one, why four would not be better than two, so 1 

 had enough made to cover 13 hives; but I at last 

 took the precaution to try but one at first, and that 

 proved enough; so when I wanted to remove it to 

 put on the cushions t-n- winter I commenced and 

 took ott' the first and then the second, and the third; 

 but by this time there was a good deal of a rumpus, 

 and ott' came the fourth, and with it, not all the bees 

 in the hive, but enough to completely cover my 

 hands and wrists; and when T got them shaken ofl', 

 my hands looked as though they had got nicely pin- 

 feathered, the stings were so thick; and I found 

 more real sharp points in that experiment than in 

 any other I ever madt^ with bees. 1 can stand a 

 dozen or so bee-stings; but when they come b.\tlie 

 hundreds I can't sa.\- I like it very much. 



I want to use those large boxes, for Ihe reason 

 that our people here in Vermont do not like to buy 

 honey In such small packages as 1-lb. sections, or 

 even 2-lb. Those who are able to buy honey at all, 

 want It in from 5 to 30 lb. packages. They seem tt) 

 feel as though they had got enough to last them 

 over night, and it is so with other things they buy- 

 sugar by the 1(X( lbs., fiour by the barrel, beef by 

 the 100 lbs., whole hog, etc. Our l)ee-men here who 

 had their honey in such boxes as I mention, this 

 year could not supi)ly the demand, even at 30c. i)er 

 lb. ; while my honey, in clean white 1-lb. sections, 

 went begging for a buyer at 15c., and then they 

 would turn them over several times to see if every 

 cell was perfect, and then take it, only for the rea- 

 son they could get no other. Before leaving they 

 were apt to ask if the comb was artificial or pure, 

 and what I fed my bees on, etc. 



MORE '• ItOOUr-E" IN RENDERING DECISIONS ON 

 HONEY -VT F.\IRS. 



1 took two packing-cases, full of my best 1-lb. 

 sections, to our county fair this fall. There were 

 two other lots besides mine— one an old 15 or 30 lb. 

 box with round holes in the sides, and pieces of 

 glass tacked t)ver those holes on the inside. I should 

 judge it had been used a dozen times or more. The 

 next lot was in a little later style. I stood at a little 

 distance when the committee came around. They 

 first came to the old box, looked it over carefully, 

 took ott' the cover, smelled and tasted of it; did the 

 same with the next lot, then came to mine, held a 

 section up to the light to look through it; smelled it; 

 made some low remarks to themselves, and passed 

 on. The result was, the old box drew the first, and 

 the next the second prize, and mine not noticed. 1 

 learned afterward that the committee wei-e told that 

 the comb in my sections was made by machinery, 

 and was not made of beeswax either, and that they 

 were filled with sugar that was fed to the bees. 



I think now I shall get some of the old boxes my 

 father used over 50 years ago, and have them filled 

 ready for the county fair next fall; and I feel very 

 much as though 1 should like to.be present and 

 stick the committee's noses into one of the old boxes 

 up to their eyes, so they could see and smell at the 

 same time. 



The 1-lb. of bees I got from you last spring did 

 first rate, and are now as good a swann as I have. 



Moscow, Vt., Nov. 1.5, 1880. J. W. Smith. 



Why, friend S., your letter is really re- 

 freshing'. We have not had any thing like 

 it for a lontf time ; luit if yoti will take uiy 



