1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



767 



ber, probably the majority, of acres are kept 

 pastured by stock the entire time, so that there 

 is no bloom'on it. and very little is being plant- 

 ed, owing to lack of markets for hay. so that 

 the bee-range is not increasing as fast as the 

 bees ai"e. 



In regard to yield. I can speak with some au- 

 thority, and not from hearsay, as Mr. King evi- 

 dently doe.s, as I have been connected with oar 

 association, which ships nearly all the honey 

 produced in the valley, and I know the number 

 of colonies owned and amount of honey pro- 

 duced by nearly every bee-keeper of the valley. 

 Dr. Gregg's yield last year averaged, according 

 to his report. i>0 lbs. of extracted honey, and it is 

 less this year, owing to his range having been 

 closely pastured. 



The best average yield, both last year and 

 this, was secured by W. L. Osborn. who report- 

 ed about KJO lbs. extracted per colony, from 

 nearly 200 colonies last year, and about the 

 same so far this year. He has the best range in 

 the valley. Mr. Osborn is a bee-keeper of many 

 years" experience, and is up with the times, and 

 I think he makes his bees yield as much as any 

 one could. 



The average yield of extracted honey per col- 

 ony reported by our membei's varied from 7.5 to 

 1(50 lbs. Of comb honey. 50 lbs. per colony is 

 considered a good yield. 



The past two years which I quote were fully 

 up to the average, if not better: so you see that 

 Mr. King's 200 to 300 lbs. per colony fails to ma- 

 terialize when put to the test. In regard to the 

 quality. I do not think he has overdrawn a par- 

 ticle, except in the case of a little mixed spring 

 honey. Mr. Brooraell. upon his return from 

 Chicago recently, broughtsamples of clover and 

 basswood honey, both comb and extracted: and 

 while it is some lighter than ours in color, all 

 who have tested both, side by side, pronounce 

 our alfalfa or mesquite very much superior in 

 flavor. J. Webstek John.s<)X. 



Tempe, Ariz. 



CHIPS. 



BY WOODCIIOPPER. 



Dr. Miller, please tell Miles Long that he is 

 wrong, for bees don't swarm because it's 

 s'warm. but because it's nature's way of in- 

 crease and propagation: and if it is warm 

 when they get ready, all right: but. on the oth- 

 er side, they often swarm when it's s'cool that 

 they nearly starve, and the brood in the old 

 hive has a narrow escape from chilling. 



Queens of second swarms are no better than 

 the one left in the old hive, and there is no bet- 

 ter chance for a choice, for not once iniKX) times 

 do over half the cells hatch with the second 

 swarm, or third either. 



The Porter escape is not a success with me. 

 It takes three days to get about two-thirds of 

 the bees out. and the rest come out only after 

 carrying to the honey- house. lean beat that 

 by two and three-fourths days, and get the 

 bees out five times as clean, on the average, 

 without any escape. 



XOT A SURE SIGN OF SWARMING. 



The backward and forward movement on the 

 alighting-board is no sign of swarming. Bees 

 do it all the time some years during August, 

 when they are not working at all. They do it 

 sometimes, too, at swarming time: but they do 

 it much more when they don't swarm at all. 



WIDTH OF TOP-BARS. 



You need not be afraid to reinforce your top- 

 bars to 1,V. It's only what they should have 

 been at first. Just try a few hives; and when 



you know, tell us how they work spaced ^ to 

 '% apart. 



DRONE COMB IN HIVES. 



J. A. Green says it is practically impossible 

 to keep all drone "comb out of hives. I agree with 

 him so far: bat when he says he doesn't want 

 any drone comli I disagi'ee. Bees work better 

 with a fair amount of drone comb than without. 

 I have had hives with one-fourth drone comb, 

 and they outsti-ipped those with but little. 

 This season I have had drone-cells built under 

 the bottom and between the end-bars of frames 

 where there was only room for one or two rows 

 of cells, and lots of drones raised there. 



PROPER PLACE FOR DRONE COMB. 



I have always thought it should be in the 

 outside frame or in the lower corners, so as to 

 be as far away from where the queen was lay- 

 ing as I could" get it. so she would be later in 

 getting to it; but this summer I have made a 

 discovery. It may be old. but was new to me. 

 It is this: If three" or four of the center combs 

 have an inch strip of drone comb right close up 

 to the top-bar it will be kept full of brood all 

 the season, and no honey can be stored between 

 the brood-nest and sections: so if they store 

 any above it will have to be in pound sections. 



FIXED FRAMES. 



These are all right some of the year, especial- 

 ly for new swarms: but after the first year they 

 are entirely unni'cessary. at least for my bees, 

 for they fix the distances so that theie is no 

 danger of their getting loose in wiring in han- 

 dling. I formerly used the Durant hive, hav- 

 ing closed-end frames, without any outer case 

 except sides, and over 100 of them, for 10 years 

 or more, but finally I fixed them all over to 

 hanging or swinging frames: and as I now use 

 them i don't want any thing more fixed than 

 they are after the bees have had them a year: 

 and if that is not sufficient for new swarms, a 

 vei'y simple arrangement can be made with two 

 small strips the length of the hive crosswise 

 and the thickness of the top-bar of frames. It 

 is made by nailing one on the other, like a rab- 

 bet. To use. just as I want it I tack it down 

 over the ends of the frames at each end. and 

 they are ready for moving any distance by rail 

 or wagon that bees ever ought to go: and to 

 loosen them will not take over two seconds aft- 

 er the hive is opened. But phase don't take 

 this as an argument against fixed frames. Let 

 anybody try some if they want to: but they 

 will be like a new broom, and sweep clean for a 

 time: but I very much doubt whether they 

 will have much of a hearing five years 

 from now. The same care that is necessary to 

 get those closed ends together without killing 

 bees will save more bees without the closed 

 ends or fixed distances. 



don't 'KILL THE KING-BIRDS. 



J. W. Porter says they are an enemy of bees. 

 \yell. they do eat lots of drones, and I used to 

 shoot them: but after opening many of their 

 gizzards, and never finding a single worker, but 

 some di-ones and a great many more bugs and 

 beetles than drones, I came to the conclusion 

 that they are one of our best friends — that is, 

 of those that wear feathers, although they are 

 not as showily dressed as some of them. In the 

 instance of the bees stinging them, which he 

 gives. I will say that any other bird would have 

 fared about the same in the same place. There 

 has been a king-bird's nest close to my bees 

 every year for a long time: and as soon as the 

 youiig ones were large enough to fly they would 

 take up their position on a wire about eight 

 feet high, which ran the whole length of the 

 apiary, and stay there as long as drones were 

 plentiful, the old ones catching them and feed- 



