189S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



51 



er term, wasps. To grow Smyrna figs to the 

 greatest perfection needs also the Smyrna 

 wasp. Pollen from the wild (or Capri) fig 

 must be carried to the cultivated fig, and blas- 

 tophoga is the insect to do the work, even if it 

 costs the government several thousand dollars 

 to import it. There is this diflFerence, how- 

 ever, in the opinion of bee-men and the fruit- 

 grower. The latter are unanimous in the ne- 

 cessit}- for the importation of the wasp, while 

 bee-men are divided in their opinions in rela- 

 tion to the usefulness of ^-ipis dorsata, even if 

 imported. 



In our conversation with bee-keepers we 

 constantly find the idea advanced that a square 

 frame or a cubical hive is the best for the best 

 welfare of the colony. We have the old ar- 

 gument over again that 1>ees must cluster into 

 a spherical ball. It is on the same plan in 

 which a cat or a dog or a rattlesnake, or even 

 a man, sort o' curls up into a ball more or less 

 in cold weather. It is all according to nature 

 — a very good argument, perhaps, for a cold 

 climate. Father Langstroth, whose judgment 

 is not to be questioned, after due study and 

 experiment adopted an oblong brood-chamber. 

 He even went further, and advocated a very 

 shallow hive in later days. Langstroth's good 

 judgment is verified by the fact that bees winter 

 well, even in cold climates, in wonderfullv 

 cramped places; but what earthly use is there 

 for applying that ball theory, and adapting 

 hives to it in this favored land where bees fly 

 every day in the year, and where bees in the 

 wild state winter successfully in some of the 

 most cramped and crooked places that can be 

 imagired ? Let's give the ball theory a rest, 

 especially in semi-tropic countries. 



It is really amusing to see how those fellows 

 flounder around the statement made by J. F. 

 Mclntyre, at the national convention. He 

 said, "Bets store less honey for a few days 

 after extracting " (cleaning and repairing that 

 great amount of comb, you know). Now, not 

 one of the writers seems to know, or else will- 

 fully ignores the fact that there is a hive that 

 overcomes that objection. Just step out to my 

 shallow-frame Heddon-hive apiary. Three 

 supers are on. We go over ihe apiary and ex- 

 tract one full super; a super with empty combs 

 takes its place; and the bees, having two other 

 supers partly full, do not miss the 25 pounds 

 we have taken, and keep right along at work 

 just as though nothing had happened. Then 

 some — yes, nearly all of them — write and 

 write about hives great or small — eight, ten, 

 twelve, or more frames, and all the pros and 

 cons. Now, we have in the above hive the 

 happy combination of both great and small — 

 one, two, five, ten cubic feet of space, or even 

 more. What more does anybody want, we 

 should like to know ? 



Our eastern brethren who have complained 

 just a little in the past about California hone}- 

 flooding the eastern market have us poor Cal- 

 ifornians under their thumb this year; and es- 

 pecially is this the situation respecting comb 

 honey. A good honey yield in the East means 

 a large amount of comb honey. Extracted 

 honey is not so generally produced in the East 



as it is in California ; consequently California 

 comb honey must go begging for a market or 

 be sold very low in competition with the east- 

 ern product. Owing to our excessive freight 

 rates we are hardly in position to compete in a 

 location where low rates already prevail. A 

 large amount of comb honey is still in the 

 hands of the producers in this vState, wi:h not 

 much prospect of a movement unless the bee- 

 keeper will sacrifice his hone}' at the ruling 

 price of six cents per pound. Extracted hon- 

 ey has moved more freely, but we can not 

 boast of a very lively demand for that. The 

 great tide of prosperity has so far left the hon- 

 ey industry out in the cold. 



Ants are something of a nuisance in this hot 

 climate, and there are not a few instances 

 where they have driven bees from their hives. 

 Several plans have been devised to protect the 

 hive from their depredations, but thes2 devices 

 are generally too expensive for general intro- 

 duction. A genius residing in Newhall, Cal. 

 (Mr. Tilton), observing that ants will not 

 crawl over a chalk-mark, went a little farther, 

 and has invented something entirely new. A 

 cast-iron standard about two inches in height 

 is surmounted by a neatly turned disk of chalk. 

 Place four of these under a hive, and the bees 

 can work happily, and the black and rapacious 

 neighbors of the ant-hill can not molest them. 

 Bee-keepers who use the bee-escape find that, 

 just as soon as the bees get out, the ants get 

 in. Every apiary in our wild lands is sur- 

 rounded with nmnerous ant-hills, and a force 

 of bees nmst be kept constantly busy repel- 

 ling the intruders. The chalk device gives 

 this force liberty to hie away to the fields. 

 Perhaps it will pay to use the chalk ant-ex- 

 cluder. 



Apropos of a plethora of honey in trade cen- 

 ters, shouldn't measures be taken for a more 

 general distribution of it ^ Proper distribu- 

 tion and the prevention of adulteration are 

 both necessary for the welfare of our industry. 

 The new U. S. Union proposes many things 

 in this line ; but after a year of existence its 

 doings have caused scarcely a ripple in bee- 

 dom. There are parties who wish to marry 

 the new Union to the old National Union. 

 That may be right and proper; but wouldn't 

 the new Union be a rather weak bride ? We 

 would suggest that the new Union make a rec- 

 ord as glorious as that of the old Union ; then 

 the marriage ceremony might meet with the 

 approval of the relatives on both sides. Let 

 us have a little prevention of adulteration of 

 honey right off. Aggressive work will give 

 heart to the organization, which it evidently 

 lacks at present. Come to think the matter 

 over, perhaps a few dollars would give the or- 

 ganization as much life as any thing ; so, here 

 goes a dollar. We hope bee-men will follow 

 our example. [The new Union is not much 

 behind the old in strength; and if it keeps up 

 its present record it will soon be ahead. It is 

 too early for it to get in work yet. — Ed.] 



There are traces of blueness beginning to 

 appear upon the faces of bee-keepers on this 

 coast. This marked characteristic begins to 

 appear at the corners of the mouth. It there 



