1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



579 



The Pacific Bee Journal has enjoyed the long- 

 est life, but even that has now succumbed to 

 the inevitable that has befallen those before 

 it. Mr. L. has aided nearly all of the papers, 

 in hopes that there would come a time when 

 the bee-keepers would support a paper devot- 

 ed to tlieir interests. But the lime is not ripe 

 for such a paper on the Pacific coast. 



Mr. L. has owned bees for several years, 

 and has had the usual ups and downs of a 

 California bee-keeper. He boasts of some 

 good seasons when he obtained large yields of 

 honey. He also laments an extraordinary sea- 

 son when he lost about 120 colonies in a 

 mountain fire. When he saw the destruction, 

 the entire surface of the canyon blackened 

 and charred, and the honey in pools beside 

 the charred remains of the apiary, wih but 

 two hives left, and these l)urned in sp 'ts, he 

 says he never had such an undefined, discour- 

 aged, and desolate feeling in his life. The 

 apiary is located 12 miles west of the city, and 

 in sight of the Pacific Ocean. Here he has a 

 ranch of 140 acres, which has been paid for 

 largely from the proceeds of the apiary. As 

 will be seen from the half-tone, the apiary 

 has a unique location. All of the work is cal- 

 culated for a rapid transit down hill. 



From the apiary to the extractiug-house 

 the grade is a little sharper than it appears in 

 the half-tone. With a cart well loaded with 

 frames of honey it would be necessary to have 

 a brake on the cart; for, if it should once get 

 the start of the operator, woe betide the sweet- 

 ness that would go rattling down through the 

 brush. From the extrac ing-house the pipe 

 leads to the tank in the little house below. 

 The honey gets right down there in haste. 

 When the honey is drawn into cans the grade 

 is still down into the wagon, and still down 

 through the canyon to the county road. Lift- 

 ing is reduced to a minimum, which is an ex- 

 cellent feature for any b^e- keeper to imitate. 

 The sun wax-extractor is attached to the side 

 of the extracting-house, thereby making it a 

 combina'ion affair. 1 believe I suggested to 

 Mr. L. the advisability of providing a chute 

 for the wax, but he thought he was chute 

 enough himself for that precious material. 



Mr. L has lost quite a number of colonies 

 from time to time from starvation. His mot- 

 to is that, if tht y have not honey enough to 

 tide them through a poor season, then let 

 them starve. He has fed bees until he is sat- 

 isfied that it does not pay; but I am inclined 

 to think that the most of the fraternity will 

 not agree with him in that respect. 



Mr. L. has something of a hobby in respect 

 to hives. He uses a square hive with a fi ame 

 12x12 inches. He believes it is for the colo- 

 ny's greatest good to dwell in a hive in which 

 they can cluster in the form of a ball, accord- 

 ing to nature. A few of us, however, believe 

 that a hive of a more elongated nature will 

 answer just as well, especially in this climate. 

 Mr. L.'s apiary neatly surrounds a gum-tree 

 which sort o' anchors it to the hill.side. 



The apiary was moved to this elevated posi- 

 tion from the fact that the canyon is narrow 

 at this point, and the location they did occu- 

 py to the right of the house was too near the 



highway, and Ihey were liable to annoy the 

 traveling public. To keep right with his 

 neighbors, even if it is an inconvenience to 

 himself, is a rule of the gentleman's life. 



\\\ 1880 Mr. Levering made a shipment of 

 two colonies of Italian bees to Auckland, New 

 Zealand, a sea-voyage of 7000 miles. Several 

 parties had tried to accomplish this feat, but 

 had failed, and this was the first successful, 

 long-distance shipment made to those distant 

 islands. His hive was so constructed that it 

 gave ample ventilation. Old and strong combs, 

 with natural stores were used, and a sponge 

 was arranged where the bees could get at it, 

 and directions were attached, requesting that 

 water be given them at stated times. 



Mr. Cray ton, of the San Francisco Post, was 

 interested in the success of the shipment; and 

 the two colonies, when put aboard the vessel at 

 that city, were placed in the captain's cabin, 

 and he personally saw that the directions on 

 the hive were fulfilled. The first shipment 

 arrived with but few dead bees. Other orders 

 quickly followed; and Mr. L., in 1880 and '81, 

 made many shipments, all through the same 

 steamer and captain, and not a colony was 

 lost. The bees were ordered by an associa- 

 tion that was organized in New Zealand for 

 the purpose of introducing valuable plants, 

 insects, and animals from other countries. 

 Owing to their failures heretofore to import 

 successfully the Italian bee they had made 

 arrangements to send a man to Italy for that 

 purpose, and had set apart $2500 for expenses. 

 The Australian papers, at that time, claimed 

 that Mr. Levering was entitled to that money. 

 It seems that others thought differently, for 

 he never received it. 



The successful shipment was quite an event 

 for the New Zealand bee-keepers, and attract- 

 ed much attention. Extended notices were 

 published, not only in the New Zealand pa- 

 pers, but the Los Angeles papers also; and 

 while this was quite an important affair there 

 has never an account of it appeared in any of 

 our eastern bee-papers, which matter will be 

 set right, I trust, when this article appears. 



During the past year Mr. Levering has come 

 into possession of 260 colonies of bees 

 through the death of a brother, in the ex- 

 treme northern portion of the State. He is 

 now in that locality, accompanied by the 

 writer, who will, later on, give some experi- 

 ences in the management of bees in Siskiyou 

 County. 



SMALL ENTRANCES DEFENDED. 



Clustering Out Caused by Drones. 



BY M. H. DUNN. 



Editor Gleanings : — Permit me to say a 

 few words in defense of small entrances vs. 

 large ones. I have noticed in GIvEanings of 

 late considerable controversy on this line, the 

 majority being for large entrances; and the 

 only reason that I have discovered is to afford 

 more air and to keep the bees from clustering 

 outside of the hive. But to my mind, the 

 large entrance, with the experience that I 



