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Gleanings in Bee CuUure 



)®Qa{^|]i]©[PDi] (BsiDDll(n)[P[iDDai 



Mrs. H. C. Ackmn. (ilendora, Cal. 



I ne\er realized before wliat a job it is to 

 l)aiiit bee-hives, esj)ecially when the hard- 

 ware man furnishes inside i)aint for that 

 l)urpose. 



It was ahnost a disaster to bee-keei)ers in 

 tlie orange districts that the cool and cloudy 

 weather during the middle and latter jiart 

 of April lasted so long. Trees were in full 

 bloom, but the bees were able to work (^nly 

 l)art of the time. 



According to the editorial, April 15, p. ilG, 

 Congress has given an extra $5000 to the bee- 

 keeping industry of our country, making a 

 total of .?15,000 for this year. Now. if our 

 State legislatures could only see our interests 

 through those same sjjectacles. what a load 

 woukl be lifted from the minds of bee-keej)- 

 ers! 



J see by an editorial in the A])ril 15th is- 

 sue, p. 288, that the next annual meeting of 

 tlie National will be held at Minneajtolis. 

 Miim. That city is a twin to my old home, 

 St. Paul, and I can assure a rousing gootl 

 time to all who go. Besides, it will give an 

 oi)])ortunity to visit the [Minnesota State 

 Fair, which is one of the greatest institu- 

 tions in the United States. I hope many 

 bee-keepers will i)lan to be present. 



A statement was made at one of our club 

 meetings that bee-keepers are often deceiv- 

 ed by local commission men and honey- 

 brokers sending ovit rejiresentatives to our 

 apiaries to offer big prices for honey early 

 in the season. When the genuine buyer 

 <ioes come, bee-keejiers hold their honey at 

 the price they have been offered, which the 

 buyer will not give, and the honey is left on 

 their hands. Later these same brokers get 

 the honey at a greatly reduced price. I give 

 this for what it is worth, hoi)ing it may jnit 

 bee-keei)ers on their guard against such 

 swindlers. 



4y 



Mr. Albert Dodge, formerly of New Hamp- 

 shire, has located in Pasatlena, and has 

 started keei)ing bees. The energy and en- 

 tliusiasm he i)uts into it incUcate success, 

 l)rovided the seasons are favorable. Some 

 weeks ago we visited liim at Pasadena, and 

 he took us all around in his touring-car. 

 We went first to the ui)i)er end of the Ar- 

 royo Seco, where ^Nlr. Blake has an apiary. 

 Further down this same arroyo are the faiii- 

 ous Busch Oardens, a sjxit beautified to the 

 highest degree. Mr. lilake's ai)iary of 120 

 colonies is jjrotected on all sides from the 

 wind, and it was summer time down there, 

 while on the bluff the air was cold and raw. 

 He commenced stimulative feeding the first 

 of .January, and consefpiently his bees were 

 sending out a large force of workers, and he 

 had had many swarms. I wondered, though, 

 whether thev would not get chilled when 



they reached the higher ground. This api- 

 ary is run for comb honey. 



From there we went over to Mr. Dodge's 

 Lavina Ranch apiary, west of Altadena, 

 where he has 52 colonies. This is a l)eauti- 

 ful si)Ot. affording such a fine view of Mt. 

 Jxnve that it seems very near. This apiary 

 is run for extracted honey, and has a new 

 lioney-house screened in. The whole i)lace 

 looked so tidy that I felt sure it would be a 

 l)leasure to work there. We circled around 

 in many directions before we covered the 

 five miles intervening between this and 

 the Kinneloa apiary, east of Altadena. 

 Altadena is between Pasadena and the 

 mountains. We actually rode along Mil- 

 lionaire Drive, but my sensations were no 

 different than when oii any other road, as I 

 was interested in the corners which we turn- 

 ed sharj)ly at right angles. We went over 

 some of the good roads which our county is 

 l)uilding, and u]) hills where I thouglit the 

 auto might balk, but it didn't. 



We finally reached the apiary intact. 

 Here we found 177 colonies run for extract- 

 ed honey, and an abundance of sujiers and 

 every thing to work with. This, too, is a 

 fine Sjjot, but the outlook is more toward 

 vineyards and orchards than mountains, 

 although the mountains are not distant. 

 The bees are in a cosy little canyon, while 

 the honey-liouse and other buildings are 

 near the entrance. Mr. Dodge had been do-- 

 ing stimulati\e feeding, but did not com- 

 mence until March, so his bees were not 

 swarming. There is considerable black sage 

 and other mountain flora near his ai)iaries, 

 as well as fruit-orcliards and vineyards. 



Mr. Dodge uses a feeder which he makes 

 himself, which is similar to the Doolittle 

 feeder, and wherever he places it in a hive 

 he has a snudl hole in the cover through 

 which he jxHirs the syruj) through a funnel. 

 When not in use, the opening is closed with 

 a cork, liy this method the colony need 

 not l)e disturbed nor robbing started. 



Mr. Dodge has w(Mked out a very plausi- 

 ble theory l:)y which queen-rearing can be 

 carried on without the usual amount of 

 work: but as his ])a]ier exi)laining the whole 

 scheme will ai)])ear later in the Cultivator I 

 will not enlarge ui)on it at this time. He 

 uses only one wire with full sheets of foun- 

 dation in extract ing-frames, and runs hot 

 wax along that after it is iml)edded. He al- 

 so uses narrow top-V)ars. as he likes finger 

 space when nuinipulating combs. 



Bottom Ventilation Prevented Swarming. 



Thi.s season I tried, with good success, liottom 

 ventilation to stoj) swarniing. As soon as the Ijees 

 beeran to haneout I \n\X lilocks, about K inchthiclv, 

 under the hives. Hy the next day all of the bees 

 had gone liack into the hive: then, just as soon as 

 they liegan to tly again, I put on a .super in order to 

 give them plenty of room. The plan is .so simi'Ie 

 that more bee-keepers ouglit to try it. 



.Sacramento. Cal. Fred .Jacinto. 



