580 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



have had, has been a failure. The way I pre- 

 vent my bees from hanging outside the hive 

 is this : I have seen the time when they did 

 hang out in great bunches. I blocked up the 

 hive, but they would still hang out, and my 

 neighbors' bees did the same. I talked to my 

 neighbors, and the consolation I got was that 

 * ' they always do that in warm weather. ' ' Now, 

 dear friends, that is not the trouble. I began 

 to investigate. The first thought that came 

 to me was that I had always noticed few if 

 any drones hanging out, and that I had never 

 seen bees hanging out around the entrance of 

 trees in the woods, no matter how large the 

 swarm or how small the entrance., 



About 18 years ago, when I first commenced 

 in the bee business, I used a brood-chamber 

 with 1()00 cubic inches, and entrance clear 

 across the front of hive, )4 inch deep, and a 

 flat board for a cover, with no shade what- 

 ever ; and the result was that a half or more 

 of my bees were idle all through the honey 

 season. To get the best results these bees 

 had to be set to work. So I set to work to 

 master the situation. 



The reason for their hanging out was, in 

 my opinion, the intense heat within ; and in 

 order to save the brood from suffocation they 

 hustled out, and, consequentl}', became in- 

 dolent. In the course of time this state of 

 things changed with me, at least, and this is 

 the way I did it : 



I made my own hives, 2U00 cubic inches for 

 brood-chamber, with entrance in center of one 

 end, 4 inches by }i deep, using double or two 

 story high, and, when putting on the second 

 story in the spring, I remove all drone comb, 

 if any, out of the brood-chamber and never 

 permit any drones to hatch unless from some 

 choice stock. This is the first step toward 

 disposing of the heat. I make my covers with 

 2>^-inch cleats on top, and when the warm 

 weather begins I have a shade or roof, as it 

 were, made of four shakes, and face my hives 

 to the east or southeast, lay the four shakes on 

 top, and four more set up on the south side, 

 about six or eight inches from the hive, 

 and you have a complete shade and a free 

 circulation of air all around the hive. Eight 

 hundred shakes and four hundred lath will 

 make shades for a hundred colonies. Lay 

 down two lath two feet apart, then place 

 eight shakes on top of those, and lay on two 

 more lath, and nail all together; then saw the 

 lath in two in the middle, and they are ready 

 for use. I never allow the hot sun to strike 

 my hive after 10 o'clock in the morning ; and 

 by a free use of the extractor, or for comb- 

 honey tier-up, you will not only get the best 

 results but will infuse new life into your bees, 

 and they will just tumble over one another to 

 get in and out. Since I came to California I 

 have seen the thermometer register 130 for 

 three or four days, and not a bee hanging on 

 the outside of the hive, but all were hustling. 



Now, brother bee-keepers, try it. The rem- 

 edy is cheap. By keeping your drones dovpn 

 you save large quantities of honey, and avoid 

 swarming to a certain extent. 



Now begging your pardon, Mr. Editor, for • 

 a few more remarks, I will close. The bee- 



keepers in California this season will have to 

 feed or lose the most of their bees, as there 

 has been onh- about three or four inches of 

 rain in Southern California this winter, and 

 the sage has not bloomed, and is making no 

 growth, and the outlook is rather discourag- 

 ing. Those who can get through with their 

 bees will undoubtedly reap a rich reward next 

 season. I have my bees here in the valley, 

 and they are in fine condition. I have 101 

 colonies. 



Fullerton, Cal., June 22. 



[There is no question at all that, when hives 

 are too small, the bees are more likely to 

 cluster out. In our practice, a single brood- 

 chamber of eight -frame capacity, L. size 

 (nearly 2000 cubic inches), is not large 

 enough. I can hardly believe that drones 

 have very much to do with the matter, because 

 I can not see any reason why they should. 

 Ample shade is important — very important ; 

 and where there is no shade from trees or 

 bushes, then some kind of shade-boards must 

 of necessity be used. The fact that you run 

 your hives of the capacitj- of 2000 cubic inches 

 in double stories would in most cases — perhaps 

 in all — prevent clustering out. Here is the 

 secret of the non-clustering. I found this to 

 be true last summer at our out-yard ; but a 

 double-story hive, with deep entrance, is, in 

 my judgment, better. — Ed.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN "MERRIE ENGLAND.' 

 Apiary of C. Atkinson. 



We present a view of Mr. C. Atkinson's 

 apiary at Tockwith, near York, with the own- 

 er seen in the background. Mr. Atkinson 

 being a well-known Yorkshire bee-keeper and 

 honey-producer on a comparatively large 

 scale, we were desirous that readers should 

 know a little as to himself and his apiaries, 

 and consequently made bold to express this 

 much in asking for a few particulars. In re- 

 sponse, Mr. Atkinson kindly wrote as follows: 



" Yes, I have served a decently long appren- 

 ticeship. It must be twenty years since I first 

 became part owner of a stock of bees in a 

 skep. At present I have between fifty and 

 sixty colonies in frame hives, and for a few 

 years the number has varied little. I first 

 caught the ' bee-fever ' after hearing the ex- 

 pert lecture in the bee-tent at the ' Royal ' 

 Show held at York, and for some years my 

 bee enthusiasm gave a quietus to nearly all 

 my other summer hobbies. One needs to be 

 in real earnest, though, to become a good bee- 

 keeper; and withotit close attention, and a 

 fair knowledge of the subject, success is sel- 

 dom attained. In our neighborhood little 

 else than clover honey is gathered; but few 

 districts are better for this particular bee-for- 

 age. Years ago I used to go twenty-five miles 

 to the moors for heather honey, but that was 

 when the ' fever ' ran high, but I still retain 

 pleasant recollections of the former outings. 



' ' My average take per stock for the last 

 four or five years is between 50 lbs. and 60 lbs. 

 Do I favor the Wells system? Yes; but the 



