1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



433 



material is small ; the walls, 10 inches thick, 

 of my storehouse, had ouly 8 barrels of lime ; 

 the rest of the material I had for the picking 

 up. In many places, especially in California, 

 a cellar could be dug and the walls made of 

 the material dug out. Common inexpensive 

 labor does the work. Some lumber is needed 

 to hold the boxing for mortar, and to support 

 the roof. My house cost me about §550 for 

 material and $50 for work, at $1.50 per day. 

 I have a good two- story eight-room dwelling- 

 house of the same material. I do not know 

 why our California bee-keepers are not using 

 their unoccupied time in making themselves 

 good fire-proof houses. My own, J. F. Mcln- 

 tyre's, and L. E. Mercer's are all 1 know of in 

 this region. Fowler & Wells, of New York, 

 forty-five years ago published a 50-cent book 

 called "Home for All," that gives details of 

 such buildings, besides giving many valuable 

 hints on economy in building. 

 Newhall, Cal., May 12. 



[Friend Wilkin, I humbly beg pardon, and 

 own up. Ernest brought me the article and 

 the picture, and in reading it hurriedly I got 

 it into my head that friend Martin meant in 

 his closing paragraph to say that eucalyptus 

 and the pepper-tree are one and the same 

 thing ; and as I remembered both trees quite 

 well, I concluded they must be only different 

 names for the same thing, like basswood and 

 linden; and I remembered, also, that eucalyp- 

 tus has two distinct kinds of leaves. I am 

 sure you will not say I am wrong in this 

 respect. I supposed the beautiful picture 

 showed only one form of the leaves and flow- 

 ers. I think I shall have to visit California a 

 little ofteuer, and then I shall not get quite 

 so far off when I am trying to ' ' teach ' ' people. 



In regard to the reservoir business, Ernest 

 will have to shoulder that part of it. I have 

 always admired such buildings as you have 

 described, and I suppose the principal reason 

 why they are not used more here in the East 

 is because lumber is cheap, and a wooden 

 building can be so quickly put up and made 

 ready for occupancy. I remember the little 

 book you mention; and if it is still in print I 

 should be glad to see a copy. Thanks for 

 calling our attention to the matter. — A. I. R.] 



»««»«■• • »^ 



RAISING HIVES OFF FROM THE BOTTOM- 

 BOARD. 



Robbing; Business Lies; Hauling Bees, and What 

 to Do when the Bees Escape from the Hives; 

 the Philosophy of the Hot-water 

 Treatment. 



BY E. S. ARWINE. 



Editor Gleanings: — I must beg leave to 

 differ with you and Dr. Miller as to raising a 

 hive after a sudden stoppage of the honey- 

 flow, etc. From my experience (and I have 

 handled bees for more than a third of a cen- 

 tury ) you have overlooked the cause impelling 

 bees to rob. I should not hesitate (if the cir- 

 cumstances demanded it) to raise a hive an 

 inch or two, even when there was not a mite 



of honey coming in, provided it was done as 

 follows : 



lyift the hive gently, slowly, and straight 

 upward, so as not to excite the bees nor cause 

 any unsealed honey to leak from the cells. 

 If the hive be sealed down tightly it should be 

 broken loose from the bottom-board 24 hours 

 before being raised ( that is, when no honey is 

 coming in). It is the odor of broken honey, 

 pollen, or propolis, or the odor of excited bees, 

 especially if filling themselves with honey, 

 that attracts the wily robber. Neither should 

 I fear to move a hive provided I did not move 

 it far enough to bewilder the returning bees, 

 and thereby cause them to try to enter the 

 wrong hive and so excite fighting, which in 

 turn might lead to robbing by creating an 

 unusual odor, which would start the bees to 

 searching for the source of the fragrance; and 

 if a colony were much disturbed, and a robber 

 or two once gained admittance, and escaped 

 with his load, then indeed would you have 

 fun, but not the kind to provoke laughter. 



If honey is not coming in freely when you 

 read this, please go out to the apiary and 

 prove my statement to be either right or wrong, 

 and henceforth do not take a "think-so" 

 when you can so easily obtain a " know-so." 



It is not often I find cause to differ with 

 friend Doolitlle ; but I must do so in regard 

 to the facing problem. God bless Bro. Doo- 

 little. He is laboring under a mistaken char- 

 ity. But we should "shun the very appear- 

 ance of evil," or acts which others can so 

 easily construe as evil intentions. 



From the tone of Gleanings I am confident 

 The A. I. Root Co. and many of jour corres- 

 pondents do not realize the readiness with 

 which a large proportion of business men will 

 tell uncalled-for lies. If you desire to obtain 

 a definite knowledge of this, you just go into 

 stores where you are unknown, and price 

 various articles ; and when you come to an 

 article which is sold for a large profit, just 

 remark, "That is pretty high; can't you sell 

 it a little cheaper ? " and note just how many 

 will lie about the cost of the article. Of course, 

 you must price an article of which you know 

 the wholesale price. You may even find some 

 professing Christians who will tell falsehoods, 

 and, if caught, will justify themselves by say- 

 ing everybody else does it, or it is business, or 

 a trick of the trade. Try this, and let us 

 know through Gleanings what your experi- 

 ence is. Yerily, " evil men and seducers shall 

 wax worse and worse." 



In regard to hauling bees, unless you upset 

 a hive or jostle slowly over a rough road, 

 there is very little danger of stinging unless 

 the bees have a large place of exit — that is, 

 where several can get out at once. After you 

 have hauled them two or three miles they 

 cease to be angry ; and if then they should 

 find a place where only one bee can get out at 

 a time, and you have no cover on your wagon, 

 the bee will circle around the hive, and may 

 remain some little time with the wagon ; but 

 eventually it flies away and is lost ; but if 

 your wagon is covered so the hives are in a 

 darkish place the escaping bees will nearly all 

 cluster on the hive, and remain for quite a 



