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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



that no bee-keeper could afford to put up with 

 these little boxes in the production of honey 

 in the liquid form. Friend M. assumes that, 

 with such a hive, one could produce either 

 comb or extracted; but I doubt whether the 

 average bee-keeper could produce extracted 

 honey with such a hive, that could compete 

 in the market. 



If our readers do not thoroughly under- 

 stand this form of hive, perhaps it may be 

 well to have an illustration prepared. I can 

 see it clearl)' in my own mind, and I doubt 

 not that many of you see it as well. — Ed.] 



RAMBLE 152. 



Rambler has some Fun " in a Horn." 



BY RAMBLER. 



From my attitude at the close of the last 

 Ramble I hope no one thought I found Mr. 

 Dayton in the tank. Oh, no! Dayton was not 

 there to be captured ; he is too sharp to be 

 captured in such a trap as that. But we did 

 not give up the pursuit. Learning from Mrs, 

 Dayton the location of the apiary, which was 

 near a grove of gum-trees about a mile away, 

 we immediately made a strategic movement 

 against it. We advanced our skirmish-lines 

 in various directions; and, owing to the ig- 

 norance of various foreign women, v/e were 

 misdirected, and Vjecame hopelessly entangled 

 in gum-groves, back yards, dog-kennels, and 

 chicken-coops. A retreat was sounded, and 

 we fell back on to the railroad station in good 

 order. Here an honest Hibernian gave us 

 the necessary directions, and we were soon 

 charging down upon the apiary. Mr. Cowan 

 commenced the bombardment of the works 

 with his artillery (camera), but no Dayton 

 appeared to defend it, and we took partial 

 possession. 



Mr. Dayton practices migratory bee-keeping. 

 Like Mr. Brodbeck he goes out some thirty 

 miles in a northerly direction, and camps with 

 the bees in the hills where sage abounds. 

 When the hill district is gleaned of all the 

 honey it can produce, the bees -are moved to 

 the home location near the city, and here we 

 found them. The hives were sheltered by a 

 blue-gum grove to the south of it, and as a 

 further protection there was a good growth of 

 weeds around the hives. The bees seemed to 

 be in a remarkably healthy condition. In the 

 absence of their commander they put on their 

 war-paint and gave us no rest. 



Mr. Dayton has peculiar notions about hives 

 as well as the rest of us, and has settled down 

 upon a frame about 12 inches square, or per- 

 haps a little less. I have to guess at the size. 

 One peculiar feature of this hive is that there 

 is no bottom entrance. There are two 3^; -inch 

 auger-holes a little more than half way up the 

 front of the hive. Over these holes is affixed 

 a half-round oblong perforated metal drone 

 includer and excluder. 



When Mr. Cowan and I looked upon the 

 apiary it appeared as though it had recently 

 been subjected to a removal, for the covers 

 were nailed on securely. 



Mr. Dayton well knows that he can get as 

 much honey from a hive made from an old 

 kerosene-case as he could from a hive made 

 from mahogany. The hives are, therefore, 

 made of cheap lumber, and the covers never 

 shrink or warp; for if the hive is made from a 

 kerosene case the can is taken for a cover. 

 When the bees are to be removed, all the 

 operator has to do is to stick corks into the 

 auger- hole entrances and they are ready. 



A great many bee-keepers execrate a small 

 frame for extracting. Well, here we have the 

 smallest super yet. Trusting to my eye again 

 for a measure I should say that it is about 12 

 inches in length and five in depth. Mr. D. 

 believes that bees will commence storing honey 

 sooner in a shallow than in a deep super; then 

 if he has enough of them they can be rapidly 

 storified. Though Mr. D. prefers these very 

 small frames, Mrs. Dayton, Sr. , uttered some 

 strong objections. She also uttered the same 

 for Mrs. Dayton, Jr. The complaint seemed 

 to be that the bees filled the supers so quickly 

 that it kept them extracting all the time. I 

 had an idea that point was a very good one 

 for the honey-getting qualities of the frame ; 

 but Mrs. Dayton thinks that a larger frame, 

 though filled more leisurely, would produce 

 quite as much honey with less labor to the 

 apiarist. 



There are also but few bee-keepers who 

 would prefer an auger-hole entrance toward 

 the top of the hive. While the most of us 

 can find objections to this feature, the most 

 unique was presented by a bee man I met on 

 the streets of Los Angeles. He evidently was 

 using the Daj'ton hive, for he .said, "I pur- 

 chased three colonies of bees from a fellow 

 who believes in putting the entrance near the 

 top of the hive. The bees can not do as well 

 in such a hive, for I have tried it to ni)' satis- 

 faction, and know. You see, the bees have 

 to bring all dead bees, miller-worms, and all 

 waste from the bottom of the hive to that 

 hole; and just as they get up there with the 

 load another bee coming in hits it a bump 

 and away it goes again to the bottom of the 

 hive, to be lifted to that hole again, and again 

 knocked back. Those three swarms of mine 

 actually spent the most of their time all sum- 

 mer trying to clean house, and finall}' gave it 

 up in despair and swarmed out." 



In spite of this adverse report, Mr. Dayton 

 has good success with the hive. Mrs. Dayton, 

 Sr., and Mr. and Mrs. Dayton, Jr., all have a 

 hand in the business, not onl}' in the produc- 

 tion out in the hills, but also in the selling. 

 The home market is thoroughly worked, and, 

 having a large city in which to retail it, the 

 honey is all worked off in that waj'. 



Mrs. Dayton informed us that her son had 

 built up his apiary from a small beginning, 

 without capital, and had so far progressed 

 that the house he was building owed its exist- 

 ence to the profits from the bees. Mr. Cowan 

 and I (and especially I) disliked very much 

 to be deprived the privilege of capturing Mr. 

 Dayton, and discussing with him his methods 

 of management; but fate and his legs ordered 

 it otherwise, and we retired in good order to 

 the city. 



