1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



the fall and winter; and by the time the rains 

 are over, the ground is pretty well shaded by 

 the rapid growth. 



About July 1st the beans are nearly in full 

 bloom — that is, with favorable weather ; but 

 the past season was exceptional, consequently 

 unfavorable. The above date is about the 

 right time to have bees in the bean-fields, then 

 I get the full flow of honey. In the majoiity 

 of seasons bees gather honey late in August 

 and the first part of September from this 

 source. Sometimes a week or ten days deten- 

 tion by teams is a season lost. The honey 

 seems to pour in, and in two or three days the 

 tops of the frames resemlile so many snow- 

 flakes, the bees filling ever}- nook and corner 

 with beautiful water-white honey that makes 

 us look with wonder and admiration. As we 

 do not have very hot weather near the coast, 

 the sun does not get hot enough to dry out 

 the nectar. This is a fact, and contrary to 

 Mr. H.'s statement, and years of experience 

 have proven the above; but if we have an east 

 wind, then it checks the flow for the time be- 

 ing, if it is not prolonged. I have had only 

 two failures of crops from this source, and one 

 of these was cmly a partial failure. 

 Ventura, Cal. 



[The above description of teamsters, and 

 teaming over those rough mountain roads, 

 makes my very fingers tingle as I think of the 

 trip that Mrs. Root and I took over to the 

 Ojai hot springs with friend Wilkin and his 

 daughter. We had a high-spirited livery team, 

 and one of them they said was sometimes a 

 "kicker;" and Mrs. Root was greatly con- 

 cerned, for she did not consider iiic an expe- 

 rienced driver. I studied the horses and the 

 roads all the way out — about forty miles, if I 

 recollect. There was so much to see around 

 the springs that we did not get started back 

 until it looked as if we might be overtaken by 

 night in the mountain canyons; so I commenc- 

 ed letting the ponies gradually get up to what 

 might lojk like reckless and dangerous driv- 

 ing to a tenderfoot. I had studied the vehi- 

 cle as well as the horses, and knew about what 

 it would stand. The horses probably under- 

 stood the mountain roads better than I did, 

 but I cautiously let them out. Mrs. Root ad- 

 mitted, after we got home safely, that I had 

 driven over roads that looked at first sight al- 

 most impassible, and at a higher speed than 

 she had hitherto supposed was possible b}- 

 anybody. Since that time, when she questions 

 my skdl in horsemanship I remind her of the 

 Ojai springs trip. 



Our good friend Mendleson has given us a 

 big secret in describing the way they grow 

 their bean crop. The ground is cultivated 

 and fined up a long while before the beans are 

 planted; and, again, they find beans will ger- 

 minate better without having an}' rain to make 

 a crust for them to break through. I know 

 this is important. The best crops I have ever 

 grown were where I had broken the ground 

 repeatedly before the seed was put in. If this 

 last working, just before seeding, is done just 

 after a shower, so the plants may be up before 

 another shower comes, you will make a big 

 start in getting a crop, and will probably se- 



cure a good stand. The Ohio Farmer said, 

 years ago, " Always sow turnip seed just after 

 a rain^never before." Turnips germinate so 

 quickly they will be up before another shower 

 catches them, probably. After they have two 

 leaves unfolded, a shower will not harm them. 

 Along with the article, Mr. Mendleson sent 

 three interesting photos which we reproduce 

 herewith. Of the one shown at the top he 

 says: 



Iv. W, Thoinsoii's beau-rancli, the largest one in the 

 world, at Ventura, Cal. 



Of the middle one he writes: 



Thrashing beans on a side-hill west of Ventura — 

 \'entura in the distance. The great bean-fields be- 

 yond Ventura, in the Santa Clara Valley. The white 

 s])ot on the right is the surf on the Pacific Ocean. 



Of the one at the bottom he writes: 



This patch of beans is in a growing walnut-orchard, 

 the vines completely covering the ground. 



We " tenderfoots " of the East little know 

 on what on extensive sc ile agriculttire and 

 apiculture are carried on in the West. As to 

 the former, the views shown herewith will 

 give a fair conception. — A. I. R.] 



PLAIN SECTIONS AND FENCES. 



Another V\ ho has Used and Likes Them. 



BY O. E. NICHOLS. 



I have been a bee-keeper in a small way for 

 about ten years. At present I have 40 colo- 

 nies ; but what I don't know about the little 

 fellows is of far greater magnitude than what 

 I do know. For some years I have been an 

 interested reader and student of Gi,Eanings ; 

 have taken a lively interest in its descriptions, 

 especially so in Straws. The topics in the last 

 few numbers, in regard to separators or no sep- 

 arators ; bee- ways or no bee-ways; fences, sec- 

 tion-holders, and their necessar}- adjuncts, 

 have been both interesting and amusing. 



On starting with bees I took good advice, 

 and made haste slowly. I have made no radi- 

 cal change in ni}- methods or fixtures, nor do 

 I see any good reason at present for doing so. 

 In reading Gle.\ningS I have felt at times 

 that I was years behind as regards up-to-date 

 methods ; but the wind-up for this year leaves 

 the impression that I have been ahead. I be- 

 gan with the ten-frame Langstroth, and still 

 use that size of brood-chainber, although oft- 

 en narrowing down to six or seven frames dur- 

 ing the honey-flow. I have for some years 

 used, of my own make, what I call a double 

 chaffs hive, having chaff on all sides except 

 front and top, and on top when packed for 

 winter. The hive contains two ten-frame 

 brood-chambers with a 1 '-i-inch division-board 

 between, with room above for three crates tier- 

 ed, and the hinged cover closed, the crates 

 each holding 28 4^x4^x1 34' sections, or 84 in 

 all. 



I use a plain section, inclosed on all four 

 sides by a section-holder of same width ; also 

 a cleated separator. The separator-board is 

 ^s in. thick ; 'iyi. in. wide; end cleats are j-^x 

 1^x5 in. long ; inside cleats are '-gx^^xS in. 

 long, so that the section is protected from pro- 



