918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



ed. Of all extractors of this kind which I have 

 seen, I like best one with a curving bottom, like 

 the Doolittle, illustrated in your catalogue, as 

 in it it is convenient to get at the slumgum 

 with a paddle, and press the wax therefrom. 

 Newhall. Cal., Nov. 27. W. G. Hewes. 



[When Mr. Hewes' model first came to hand 

 we made fun of it, not knowing from whom it 

 came: but after discovering its source, and 

 having confidence in our correspondent, we 

 thought differently of it. It would be difficult 

 to show the real principle of it by an engraving, 

 and we would therefore explain that a strip of 

 tin is mounted in an ordinary honey- board. 

 Through the tin are punched holes just large 

 enough to let the bees through one way. As 

 they are punched with a large awl a ragged 

 burr edge is left tapering to an opening large 

 enough to admit a bee from the side in which 

 the awl pierced, but not from the reverse side. 

 The only difficulty that occurs to us is, it would 

 be impracticable to get the same excluding 

 burr edge every time.] 



KAMBLE NO. 74. 



KAMBLEK AT WHEELER & IIUNT'S. 



" Founded in 1887. Headquarters of the Bear 

 Valley Irrigation Co.. having water for the ir- 

 rigation of half a million acres. The largest 

 Irrigation enterprise in America. Products- 

 Oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, raisins, and 

 honev." 



Thus runs the legend in relation lo the young 

 and thriving town of Rodlands. located in the 

 upper end of the San Bernardino Valley, with 

 the lofty San liernardino Mountains for a back- 

 ground. It is no wonder that people look upon 

 the location as another Switzi'rland. From 

 some of the heights in the suburbs of the town, 

 grand views of thn valley and its orchards can 

 be obtained. Headlands, as I have before stated. 

 is the headquarters of the honey producing 

 firm of Wheeler A Hunt. Back a little from 

 the city, and in the foothills, are located the 

 Mound City. Brookside, San Mateo, and the 

 Yucaipe apiaries; fourteen miles to the we>t. 

 near Riverside, is the Jurupa apiary; and sixty 

 miles away, in San Diego Co.. is the Fall Brook 

 apiary, which was purchased, I believe, from 

 Mr. Harbison. The rest are in Langstroth and 

 a modified form of the Langstroth and Simplic- 

 ity hive. Mr. Wheeler, the senior member of 

 the firm, has attended somewhat to the supply 

 business, and has never been an active worker 

 in the apiary. His son Frank, however, has 

 every year taken charge of an apiary, and is an 

 expert manager of bees. During the past year 

 Mr. Wheeler has been interested in the devel- 

 opment of the Rose gold-mine, in the San 

 Bernardino Mountains, and in which he is one 

 of the largest stock-holders. The mine has 

 recently struck a great amount of ore well load- 

 ed with gold, and Mr. W. finds that this source 

 for raising the golden shekels is more rapid 

 than getting them through a bee-hive. 



In relation to bees and honey, Mr. Hunt has 

 been the active field-iuanager of the firm. Mr. 

 Hunt formerly lived in Iowa, and, besides own- 

 ing bees, he was an extensive dealer in honey, 

 selling it in all large towns in Iowa. Illinois. 

 Kansas, and Missouri. The older readers of 

 the American Bee Journal may remember a 

 little controversy between Mr. Hunt and Mr. 

 Van Dorn, of Missouri. The latter accused 

 Mr. Hunt of selling glucosed honey. Mr. H. 

 callet for an analysis of his honey, and the 

 result was a complete exoneration from the 



charge. Mr. H., however, says that dealers did 

 adulterate honey, and invariably used the 

 darker grades for that purpose. 



About six years ago Mr. Hunt threw up his 

 honey-trade, and came to California to engage 

 exclusively in its production. His first venture 

 with bees was very successful; 13.5 colonies 

 were rented; increased to 200, and yielded 307 

 lbs. to the colony. The next year he purchased 

 bees ; and from about 400 stocks, which he 

 valued at $8(X), he realized 63500 from the sale 

 of honey. With this grand result there came a 

 desire to own all the bees in California. No, 

 perhaps not quite so much as that. We will 

 say a large number. Enlisting the interest of 

 Mr. Wheeler, a large number of colonies were 

 purchased, and the business entered into on a 

 larger scale. Heretofore Mr. H. had worked his 

 apiaries for extracted honey; but now a change 

 was made, and a portion of the apiaries were 

 worked for comb honey. The past three sea- 

 sons have not. however, been remarkable for 

 heavy yields, and especially for comb honey, 

 and Mr. H. expresses many sighs of regret that 

 he ever changed at all from the extracted plan. 

 The out-apiaries have been worked during the 

 honey-season with hired help, and the helpers, 

 many times, have been more of a damage than 

 a blessing. An inexperienced man is liable to 

 extract too close, and then feeding must be re- 

 sorted to in the winter, which, even in this 

 climate, is not a pleasant job. The prices paid, 

 and the kind of help wanted, have been ex- 

 plained in the previous Ramble. In two of the 

 apiaries, Brookside and San Mateo, there is 

 something of a mixture of Cyprian blood, and 



ClMPLlC ITV 

 OF 



it is of that kind that Mr. Mendelson told us of 

 that will sting a stovepipe until it is expected 

 to squeal. A helper in one of these apiaries 

 employed his spare hours in picking bee-stings 

 from his clothing and various portions of his 

 body, and thus obtained a box full. These 

 apiaries will be worked another year by Messrs. 

 Powell and Zanft. and we wish them a comfort- 

 able time. Mr. Hunt is a rapid worker with 

 bees, and his methods were admirably touched 

 up in the American Bee Journal about a year 

 ago by Mr. H. Hill, of Pennsylvania, a former 

 employe. 



Mr. Hunt, like all progressive bee-keeper.s is 

 continually studying up short cuts and im- 

 provements in management. In order to stimu- 

 late in the spring by feeding, each L. hive is 

 permanently fitted with a Simplicity feeder, 

 as shown in the sketch. A hole in the end of 

 the hive allows the bees to gain access to the 



