726 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



for extracted honey. I usually prefer to have a 

 queen-excluder between the two sets of frames. 

 That leaves the upper one for honey exclusive- 

 ly. These colonies will soon be booming with 

 bees; and unless the honey is extracted so as 

 to leave plenty of room to store honey, they 

 will swarm themselves — they will anyhow, 

 sometimes. If you use a hive with a loose 

 bottom-board you can simply carry the brood- 

 chamber and set it on top of the other one — 

 Indeed, I sometimes do this without removing 

 the dummies and filling up the lower story at 

 all. 



I am generally raising queens from some of 

 my choice stock, and these combs come into 

 good play for forming nuclei. Before the 

 swarming season is over, some of these nuclei, 

 with newly hatched and laying queens, are 

 available for the reception of other sets of 

 frames. 



There are numerous details and variations in 

 the system, that I have not mentioned, which 

 any one seeking a method to prevent increase 

 can work out for himself, if he is as bright as I 

 am. I can go through any ordinary swarming 

 season with a maximum increase, under this 

 system, of 20 per cent — counting each weak 

 colony one, and I generally have occasion to 

 greatly reduce during the succeeding fall and 

 spring. 



I might add here, if you do not want to pro- 

 duce extracted honey you can put section supers 

 on these double-story hives and stand a chance 

 to get some honey. Or you can do as Dr. Tin- 

 ker does— put the extra story on top of the 

 section super, with a broad board — or honey - 

 board— with a single slot near one side for a 

 bee-passage, below the super and the upper 

 story. 



If you have Gleanings for May 1st, 1891, 

 read in this connection my paper on "Swarm- 

 ing and the Honey Harvest," page 356. 



Geo. F. Robbins. 



Mechanicsburg. 111., Aug. 15. 



RAMBLE NO. 68. 



A bee-keepek's outing in the mountains 



IN CALIFORNIA. 



Although the climate of California enables 

 the people to work all the year round, there 

 comes a time in all of the interior valley towns 

 when the mercury frisks around between 100 

 and 115°; and all who can get away do so for a 

 week or mo'-e. It is the boast of California 

 that any kind of climate can be found in a few 

 hours' ride, and it is only a matter of taste 

 where the person goes. Some go to the coast 

 and enjoy the waters and the breezes of the 

 Pacific: others prefer to seek the cool and in- 

 vigorating air of the mountains. The bee- 

 keeper is not an exception to the crowd; but in 

 the heated term he is found in some comfortable 

 retreat enjoying himself. 



Two of my prosperous bee-keeping neighboi-s, 

 Mr. H. E. Wilder and Samuel Ferguson, pro- 

 posed that we go to the mountains for a week's 

 outing. The proposal was agreeable to all of 

 us; and Mr. Ferguson, being the happy possess- 

 or of a team, a sucking colt, and a wagon, 

 there was nothing to prevent the accomplish- 

 ment of our plans. When ready for the journey 

 the rest of our outfit consisted of two saddles, 

 several blankets, a box of provisions, two Win- 

 che.ster rifles, a double-barreled shotgun, 100 

 rounds of ammunition, and a camera. We had a 

 commodious wagon, and in every vacant cor- 

 ner Mr. Wilder had tucked a watermelon. Mr. 

 Ferguson and I mutually agreed that Wilder 



loved the melon, and we were convinced of it a 

 few hours later when we struck a Spaniard with 

 a load of a hundred melons, and he offered the 

 lot for $5.00. Our friend was bound to buy the 

 load. We had some long horse-ropes, and he 

 wanted to string the melons and festoon the 

 wagon. We finally compromised, and made 

 things harmonious by adding a few more mel- 

 ons to our load. Coming events cast their 

 shadows before them. Mr. Wilder will yet sit 

 in the shadow of his own vine and fig-tree, but 

 the vine will be the happy watermelon. 



The portion of country we were trying to 

 reach is known as the "White Water Basin," 

 close under the highest point on the San Ber- 

 nardino Mountains, the highest elevation in 

 Southern California, 11,000 feet above sea-level, 

 and locally known as old "Grayback." Another 

 lesser mountain is known as "Baldy." Near 

 Redlands we entered the San Mateo Canyon, 

 and night soon settled down upon us, and 

 obliged us to camp. We ate watermelons for 

 supper, and fed the rinds to the horses. The 

 bosom of Mother Earth was not a soft bed. and 

 a good share of the night was spent in a study 

 of the constellations, and a speculation upon 

 the condition of apiculture on the planet Mars. 

 It also being near the 10th of August, a large 

 number of meteors were blazing across the 

 heavens. On the whole we had a very enter- 

 taining night. 



The eastern sky had hardly a forerunner of 

 day when we were np and away, having break- 

 fasted heartily on watermelon, and again fed 

 the rind to the horses. 



At Banning we halted to give the colt a rest, 

 and the team a good square meal of barley. 

 We ate another watermelon, and gave this 

 rind also to the horses. From Banning we 

 .entered Cold Water Canyon, which follows a 

 serpentine course for 13 miles directly into those 

 big mountains. Banning is served with a copi- 

 ous water-supply from this canyon, and is for- 

 tunate in having it served ice cold direct from 

 the heart of nature. For ten miles the water 

 runs down an artificial stone and cement chan- 

 nel with as much of a fuss and a splashing as 

 the waters of Lodore. 



At a little past noon we arrived at the head 

 of navigation— for wagons. We had got beyond 

 the realms of dust, 45 miles from Riverside, and 

 we camped in a shady nook, ate another water- 

 melon and gave liu^, rind to the horses, and en- 

 joyed a delightful nap under the trees. 





WHITE WATEK BASIN— OUK PACK-TKAIX. 



Near us was the cabin of a lone mountaineer. 

 He was a bee-keeper in a small way, and gave 

 a very good report as to the honey resources of 

 the mountains. The blossoms open much later 

 here than in the valleys: and if Califurnians 



