1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



359 



ner cover, and it would be difficult to say 

 which is preferable. 



The Acme lid, as we make it, has a rim to 

 telescope the hive, 2§ inches deep, of ^| stuff, 

 roofed with | boards, and a cleat iXlXl4 

 across ends inside. The whole is covered 

 with roofing tin with paper between tin and 

 boards. When a quilt is used this lid tele- 

 scopes the hive or super nearly two inches, 

 and does not blow off. 



Our choice of supers for comb honey is a 

 super 5| inches deep, sides only § thick, mak- 

 ing this super J inch wider inside than usual 

 while the exact outside dimensions are re- 

 tained. On one side is a cleated separator 

 to provide a layer of bees (Pettit), then 

 scalloped section holders tvith top bar (sin- 

 gle-tier wide frame). The bottom-bar is § 

 thick, to do away with the sag which always 

 appears with the J-inch bottom-bar. The 

 top- bar is only J inch thick, and fastened 

 with only one small short roofing-nail in each 

 end, so as to be readily loosened, if neces- 

 sary, to remove the sections. 



These wide frames keep the sections far 

 cleaner than any other arrangement. All 

 the stain is at the edges, where it is easily 

 pared off from the wood. We use the old 

 scalloped separators, and all are pressed 

 firmly together with follower and springs or 

 wedges. I would use more springs if I could 

 have them two or three times as strong as 

 any yet sold. 



We admire the plain section; but as our 

 market demands the other kind, and as the 

 fence separator is a failure in our hands, we 

 have adopted the above super as the best 

 yet before the bee- keeping public. We have 

 been all through the fence fad and are seri- 

 ously the losers thereby. With us the hon- 

 ey produced with the fence is not any A'^here 

 near so uniformly salable. We get no more 

 of it, and it is not so readilj' sold. The rea- 

 son that the honey is not so uniformly nice 

 is that the bees too often build out above or 

 below or between the slats; many fold more 

 combs are attached to the fence than to the 

 old solid separator, and often thecappings are 

 fastened to the upright cleat of the fence. 

 The 4J square plain section, for some reason, 

 gives much better results than the 4X5; but 

 we don't want them until both plain sections 

 and cleated separators are so perfected in 

 their mutual adjustments that they will give 

 good results all the time, under a variety q/ 

 conditions, everywhere, as does the 4JX1J 

 beeway section and scalloped separator. 

 My 4|Xli sections of honey have always 

 averaged heavier than the 4X5. 



Neither the Hoffman nor the plain unspac- 

 ed frame is so bad as represented by enthu- 

 siastic advocates of the other style; but I do 

 think that the Hoffman is the best for our 

 yards and for nearly all purposes. Nor is it 

 a fact that a satisfactory Hoffman frame 

 can not easily be made at home or at any 

 good mill. We prefer a top-bar 19 long, | 

 thick, and 1^\ wide clear to the ends, so that 

 the projections from which the frame hangs 

 will not break off; end-bars | thick, bottom- 

 bar 1% thick. All frames that may ever find 



their way into the extracting- supers should 

 have a bottom- bar at least i% thick. All 

 our frames have a staple in the lower ends 

 of end-bars, for end spacing. When you can 

 supply a cut-off top bar frame, end-spaced 

 by some simple metal device on the frame 

 projection, and so made that they will not 

 drop off the rabbets, even though the hive is 

 a little too long, then we will use them, for 

 they can surely be handled more rapidly; 

 but we need the full length of projection for 

 shaking, etc. 



Whether the hives and appliances used 

 were to be home or factory made would 

 depend entirely on my ability to make a sat- 

 isfactory hive (or have them cut near home) 

 at a substantial saving. If I could earn as 

 much or more at some other work I should 

 much prefer to buy the hives; if not, make 

 them. We have had quite an extensive ex- 

 perience, either in our own yards or yards 

 which we have handled on shares, with per- 

 haps 100 regular Heddon hives, about 100 

 Heddon style, 9 frames wide, and having a 

 six inch comb, a few Draper barns, a hive 

 with 13 frames 12|XI2| inches inside mea- 

 sure, the hive advised by Louis Scholl, of 

 the size used by L. Stachelhausen (two or 

 more cases of ten shallow frames 5| deep) ; 

 and last, and best of all, hundreds of eight 

 and ten frame standard L. hives. In addi- 

 tion I have had a more or less extended op- 

 portunity to see the results in large yards 

 near by, where a ten- frame hive of Danzen- 

 baker depth is used; another yard where the 

 regular Dinzenbaker hive is used; twelve- 

 frame Langstroth hives; thirteen- frame Da- 

 dan c hives, and an eight- frame hive of stand- 

 ard size with frames like the Hoffman, but 

 closed ends all the way down. Briefly, then, 

 for comb honey either the eight or ten frame 

 L. hive, single-tier, wide-frame super, for 

 4ixli beeway sections, old-style floor, Hoff- 

 man frames and Acme lid. For extracting, 

 ten- frame L. hive with Hoffman frames, old- 

 style floor, tin- covered flat lid and one shal- 

 low super to each colony; then enough deep 

 supers to make a total super capacity equal 

 to 20 L. frames would be my preference if 

 starting anew. 

 Meridian, Idaho. 



THE MAN Z AN IT A OF CALIFORNIA. 



Something about the Locality of Placer Co., Cal. 



BY ENOCH PENN. 



I send you some manzanita- blossoms, think- 

 ing you may never have seen any. These 

 flowers, I believe, are peculiar to California. 

 In "Cook's Manual" they are mentioned, 

 but little is said of their honey-producing 

 quality. In this immediate vicinity they 

 seem to be our best honey- yielders. As you 

 see, the blossom is shaped like a tiny vase. 

 The color varies from pure white to a full 

 pink, and there are "millions of them." 

 They never open out wide— in fact, not much 

 more than an ordinary bottle. Last winter, 

 the weather being especially mild, they be- 



