1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



925 



In the earlier days of his bee-keeping Mr. 

 L,. secured the honey in the old-fas-hioned 12 

 or 1 4 pound box, and sold it in the mines for 

 30 cents per pound. For several years he 

 obtained more than 20 cents per pound for his 



A BEAR PROOF APIARY IN CAI^IFORNIA 



honey; but times changed, and it gradually 

 lowered in price until he sold for 8 and 10 

 cents. Much of the honey was put up in 

 round tin cans with a loose cover. Comb 

 honey was fitted into these, and liquid honey 

 poured in. The people around 

 Oro Fino, without exception, give 

 Mr. L. a very generous name, and 

 he kept open house and an open 

 hand to all in need. 



As will be observed, the home 

 apiary was comfortably located 

 beneath the shade of apple and 

 peach trees. The tall hives were 

 placed close together. This was 

 sometimes a vexatious feature in 

 my management; for, should any 

 of our various tools he dropped 

 in front, a walk clear around the 

 end of the row was necessary in 

 order to recover it. These hives 

 had been in use quite a number 

 of years, and, like all Harbison 

 hives I ever saw, the back por- 

 tion was warped all out of shape, 

 and much stuffing of rags and 

 paper was necessary to keep rob- 

 ber bees from prying around the 

 cracks. As to how these hives 

 were moved to and from the 

 platforms twice a year, without 

 an enormous leakage of bees, is 

 too much for me to imagine. 



In the second photo I give a 

 near view of three of the hives, 

 front and rear view, open and 

 closed, and with the regulation 

 stuffing in the door joint that never comes to- 

 gether. The center hive exhibits the method 

 of inserting the frames. In a new hive the 



rear of the frames is covered with a glass 

 back. After removal a few times the glass 

 arrangement becomes broken, as shown, just 

 below where it belongs ; and finally it is re- 

 placed by a plain board. The tools necessary 

 to work a Harbison hive are ex- 

 hibited above the hive. The 

 four tools at the right are levers 

 used to loosen the frames. I gen- 

 erally used the light one with a 

 straight handle ; but there were 

 emergencies when those with 

 corkscrew handles had to be 

 used. 



The effect upon the frames 

 will be noted by a glance at the 

 brood-frame under the little win- 

 dow. The window is square, 

 and the frame lacks two inches 

 of being square. You can scarce- 

 ly imagine how agreeable the 

 handling of such frames becomes! 

 The old style of boxes, made of 

 unplaned lumber, is shown in 

 the lower foreground. These 

 were made without end or bot- 

 tom; and the long knives shown 

 were used to slip under the box 

 and cut the comb loose. These 

 boxes are still used by bee-keep- 

 ers in Scott Valley. To deter- 

 mine when they are filled, rap on the top 

 and the sound will give you the desired in- 

 formation. When the box is cut loose it is 

 removed for a moment, and all loose honey 

 scra]:)ed from the honey-board. This scraping 



TOOLS FOR MANIPULATING HARBISON HIVES AND FRAMES. 



is best done with an ordinary culinary chop- 

 ping-knife. After due scraping, the box is 

 returned for a few hours, when the bees clean 



