162 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MXK. 1. 



honey-producer, we availpd ourselfof the first 

 opportunity to call upon him. To get the 13 

 miles we followed the sinuous course of the 

 Sacramento River for 20 miles on one of those 

 boats that have a large paddle-wheel in the 

 rear. In early limes the river was noted for its 

 purity; but liow it lias a very dirty and even 

 muddy appearance. This is caused by hy- 

 draulic mining on the American. Feather, and 

 other of its tributaries. The lands on both 

 sides of the river ai'e subject to oveiflow in the 

 rainy season, and it is held in its course by 

 levees. 



Arriving in Clarksburg about 2 p. m.. we soon 

 found Mr. Warners residence, and found him 

 and his ten-year-old daughter gathering musk- 

 melons, or cantaloupes, as they call them here. 

 and they grow with wondeiful vigor and pro- 

 ductiveness. We could easily see that Mr. W. 

 was in some anxiety about getting the canta- 

 loupes picked before dark, so the Rambler got 

 on his lot row evei'y time, and helped tinish the 

 job. 



Mr. Warnei' is a sturdy German, and has been 

 upon his present I'anch for 20 years. He has 

 substantial farm - buildings, and his barn is 

 large and much like an Eastern one. which is 

 not often seen in this country. His honey- 

 house was the largest and best we have seen in 

 California. It is mounted on posts, the lower 

 ends resting in a pan of tar to exclude ants, and 

 it is effectual in operation. Mr. W. uses the 

 old-style Harbison hive exclusively, and raises 

 comb honey. There was no apiary in sight of 

 the house, and we were informed they were out 

 in the tules (pronounced tH-lesi. Tules are very 

 large rushes that have a luxuriant growth upon 

 these low lands. We found the home apiary 

 out about 80 rods fiom the house, and it was 

 the most novel apiary we ever saw. The hives 

 were mounted upon platforms over eight feet in 

 height, wide enough for two rows of hives, 

 and an alley between them, with stairs at the 

 end. Some 2.5 or 3.5 hives were mounted on 

 these platforms, and Mr. W. had several apia- 

 ries all mounted in the same way. The reason 

 for this high elevation is because of the annual 



peared to me as little better than an old-time 

 box hive. Mr. W. was pleased with the hive, 

 however, because he could so easily move it 

 from place to place and carry it up those steep 

 stall's. His hives were all made to take the 

 old-style two-pound Harbison section: but the 

 markets calling for the one-pound section it 

 was with regret he had substituted them. This 

 using a shallow crate left two inches of space 

 above, which the bees made haste to fill also. 

 To prevent this, Mr. W. had two-inch plank 

 sawed just the size to slip in on the top of the 

 crates. When asked why he did not knock off 

 the cover and put on a rim. and put on two 

 crates of sections, he said it would cost too 

 much. We could see but little difference be- 

 tween the cost of the necessary shallow rim 

 and the plank while there was a certainty of 

 getting good I'eturns from the space occupied by 

 the plank. 



Mr. W. emi)loys no one to attend to his out- 

 apiaries: and to prevent swarming he practices 

 division, paying no attention to which part has 

 the queen. But in spite of the division many 

 swarms absconded, and a church was pointed 

 out that had four swarms in as many spires. A 

 schoolhouse had several, and many dwellings 

 were also pestered with bees in many places. 

 During the past season Mr. W. obtained only a 

 light crop of honey: but taking a series of years 

 he has found honey-production profitable, even 

 here in these low lands, and has found n ready 

 market in Sacramento. There is much fruit 

 near his apiaries — alfalfa, clover, and hundreds 

 of kinds of wild flowers. We enjoyed true 

 German hospitality for the night, and returned 

 to Sacramento by four-horse stage the next 

 morning, through a country devoted to fruit 

 and wheat raising. Rambi.ek. 



PUNIC BEES; TKEIK TEMPER. 



BY IIAI-LAMSHIKE BKF-KEErKK. 



In y 

 Punic 



A CAI-IFOnXIA ATIAIiY l.X A IJEGION SUB-JIXT TO INUN 

 DATION. 



give 

 ive- 



overfiow of this tule land. The photo wc 

 is a portion of the home apiary near some 

 oak trees. 



This was our first view of the Harbison hive, 

 and it was with much curiosity we examined it. 

 The rear-opening door, tlie nearly square 

 frames resting in mortises at three corners, and 

 room above for only one crate of .sections, ap- 



our Nov. 1st issue you say. respecting the 

 _bees, that they will sting like othei' bees, 

 though it has been claimed that they 

 won"t. If you will please look up my 

 descriptions of these bees I don't tliink 

 you will find any words of 7Jii?u' that 

 can be construed to mean or imply that 

 they are stiiKjIess. or can not sting: 

 in fact, when they have the swarming 

 fever on tiiey are eavily provoked into 

 stinging, but not more so than any oth- 

 er race under the same influence: and, 

 nior(M)ver. they are more easily kept 

 under control at this time by means 

 of smoke or carbolic acid. As soon as 

 I saw that the idea was being spread 

 about, that they coiihl not sfiiiij, I pub- 

 lished an article on the subject in the 

 JdiiiiKil of HortioiltKrc for .\ug. 20th 

 last, and I am surprised you have not 

 copied what 1 say on the matter. 



TEMPER OF PUMC'S. 



While not for a moment goiiisr so far 

 as to say they can not sting. I do say 

 they are the tamest and gentlest bees 

 I have ever seen, and this includes 

 every race that has ever reached 

 America: putting their stings out is no evi- 

 dence that they are ready to use them: more- 

 over, when they do sting it is the least painful 

 of any. while Syrians are the most painful: 

 and. hiriher than this. I have not seen nor 

 heard of a cross-tempered stock of Injhiid 

 Punic bees. When going to the heather last 

 August I nailed labels on .50 hives of Punics. 



