i8;ti 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



157 



watcliiiig I found the bees would cluster on the 

 cones, filling them full of bees, and secnn^d to 

 be able to eonununieate to tjther bees the way 

 through the escapes. After satisfying myself 

 where the dilticulty lay. I at once commenced 

 experimenting to overcome it. I soon decided 

 that the escape tnust be so made that bees could 

 not readily cluster on it. 



Remembering my original board. I again 

 commenced with a bdiwd the full size of the 

 hive, lii'st making a bee-space between two 

 thin boards, and making a series of runways 

 and stops in it. I found it to work all right. I 

 then began reducing the size of the escape, and 

 kept tcstingthcm all the time by removing part- 

 ly tilled supers and putting them on again. I 

 linally adopted a size 4'.jx6'^. beyond which I 

 could not well reduce it. and made it n^nov- 

 able. I experimented a good deal with them 

 and took off all my cases, some iiOO. I also sent 

 out more than :.'0i) to other bee-keepers, and did 

 not hear of a failure. Mine could not have 

 worked better, and 1 do not see that any thing 

 better can be desired. The idea that bees un- 

 cap any honey before leaving the surplus case 

 is unfounded. They sometimes do. when they 

 can go back through th(' escape, and will carry 

 honey down if they have time enough. It is 

 practically impossible for bees to return and 

 open up a highway through my new escape. 

 Sevei'al bee-keepers have lately reported using 

 my escape with unsatisfactory results. I have 

 investigated all that have coriie to my attention, 

 and invariably found it was the old four-point 

 escape that made the trouble. 



THE HOIMZOXTAL BEE-ESCAPE. 



This has come to stay: and if we have not yet 

 obtained the best forni. it will soon be here. I 

 want to say right here, that ""the war" as to the 

 rightful inventor is over, and it is free to all. 

 Many other bee-keepers have brought out hori- 

 zontal escapes that are ingenious, and will proba- 

 bly work all right. Some that I tested proved fail- 

 ures: but that was to be expected. I am sure 

 we have got something that will be appreciat- 

 ed more and more as the years I'oll on. Even 

 some of our great bee-men and eastern bee-ed- 

 itors will have to " acknowledge the corn" after 

 a while. I know the horizontal i-scape is a good 

 thing, and can abide mv time. 



Milan, 111. C. H. Dibbekx. 



[The star-shaped horizontal did not work 

 very satisfactorily in our yard: but your origi- 

 nal pear-shaped escape woi-ks well.] 



SHADE FOR HIVES. 



HOW THEY PKOVIDE FOH IT IX CAEIFUKXIA. 



In foot-notes to Miss Wilson's article in Jan. 

 1st Gleaxixgs you invite a discussion as to 

 whether it is best to have our hives under 

 shade-trees or not. It is a matter I have been 

 giving some thought to of late, and I hope to 

 see it thoroughly discussed. 



In California I have never seen an apiary lo- 

 cated undei- trees, though a good many" use 

 shade-boards, keeping them in place by laying 

 on them a heavy rock. This method is objec- 

 tionable, as it necessitates much extra and 

 fatiguing work, and affords no shelter from the 

 sun's i-ays to the apiarist. Permanent sheds 

 are much better. One .5 feet high in the front. 4 

 feet at the rear (which should be to the south). 

 3 feet wide, and 7.") feet long, can be built for 

 ^r)..50. reckoning lumber at 3 cents a foot and 

 shakes at ^14 per thousand, allowing M cents 

 for the nails, and charging nothing for putting 

 it up. the roof to be one layer of shakes. This 

 makes enough shade, but does not shed rain. 



By moving the hive to the southern side of the 

 shed in the spring, they will get the desired 

 sunshine. In summer, place them to the north 

 s[de. and they will be in the shade all day. 

 Under sheds, however, in order to economize, 

 we are apt to put our hives nearer together than 

 is good. 



PECAX-TREES for shade IX THE SOUTH. 



In Louisiana I once kept bees beneath a grove 

 of pecan-trees. They make a dense shade, 

 with branches liigh above the apiarist's head. 

 For that climate nt)thing can be better. In 

 California the difference in temperature in 

 shade and sun seems to me to be much greater 

 than in the East: and it is probable that, some 

 days in the spring, stocks in the shade would 

 be kept so cool as to do much less work than 

 those in the sun. 



The peach is a nice tree to plant in the apiary. 

 It grows rapidly, and makes a shade of just 

 about the right density. Some varieties are 

 later in putting out leaves in the spring than 

 others. These are the best to plant, as at that 

 time of year the hives should have all the sun- 

 shine possible. In California. French prunes 

 might be better than peach-trees. They are of 

 slower growth than the peach, but more profit- 

 able \\ hen it comes in bearing. This tree has 

 been termed the lazy man's tree, as its fruit, in- 

 stead of rotting when not gathered, will dry 

 into a marketable commodity. 



Build your honey-house in the center of a 

 two- acre orchard. Put two hives under each 

 tree, and it will be about right for a 4(X)-hive 

 apiary. Scattered over so large a space, young 

 queens will have no difficulty in locating" their 

 own home, and I believe that, in that respect 

 alone, it will more than repay for the extra 

 travel necessary where hives ai'e so scattered. 



One very great advantage, where hives are 

 scattered among trees, is the lessened liability 

 of swarms uniting, which issue at the same 

 time. Last year, in my apiary (located on an 

 open plat), I had 1(5 swarms unite, making a 

 cluster as large as the body of a good-sized horse, 

 ^lany other times I had from two to six unite. 

 The consequence was. that a majoritv of my 

 queens were killed at a time when the eggs laid 

 would have produci'd workers for the main 

 honey-harvest. 



The tiees should be trimmed high, both to 

 get the branches out of the apiarist's way and 

 permit a free circulation of air. A neighboring 

 bee-keeper told me quite recently that his hives 

 in the shade melted down worse" than those in 

 the sun. He had set them in some low brush, 

 which grew thick from the ground up. 



^^'here. from preference or necessity, hives 

 an' to be placed near each other, if the" ground 

 be planted out to a variety of trees it will bet- 

 ter enable the bees from the different hives to 

 identify their own home. In my apiary I am 

 planting grapes, apples, peaches", prunes, wal- 

 nuts, pears, and tigs. With the exception of ap- 

 ples and pears, no two trees look alike. 



A year ago I purchased some 300 enameled- 

 cloth quilts for my hives. While they are good for 

 preventing the escape of warmth from the hive, 

 I believe those quilts have been the cause 

 of more profanity in my apiary than the 400 

 stocks of hybrids, though each of which (last 

 summer at any rate) seemed possessed of the di- 

 abolism of a thousand demons. If any wind is 

 blowing it is almost impossible to keep the 

 quilt spread out smooth while one puts on the 

 top. I have often had it go sailing off ten feet 

 or more, just as I was closing the hive. I have 

 thought of tacking them to the cover. A much 

 better quilt is a piece of canvas well daubed 

 with thick paint. Its weight being great, the 

 wind does not bother much. Wm. G. Hewes. 



Newhall. Cal.. Jan. 13. 



