1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



765 



eating insects, herbivorous birds and mam- 

 mals, would often be put to it to get a suffi- 

 cient food supply. The plant, then, that 

 would be saved from such animals must be 

 wondrously protected. Many of these plants 

 have a way of hiding from such foes, for we 

 find them growing only amid cacti or thick 

 brush, often thorn-clad, which prevents the 

 approach of hungry bird or mammal. Many 

 other plants are bitter, and so not tooth- 

 some to hungry herbivore. Again, we find 

 many plants sticky with a viscid secretion 

 which is, without doubt, repugnant to all 

 vegetable feeders. Many plants, like the 

 various cacti, are a veritable pin-cushion, ex- 

 cept that the needles in this case are all with 

 their points out. Woe be to bird, beast, or 

 man that comes against these spinous cacti. 

 They are cruel in their thrust, and we do 

 not forget too great intimacy with them for 

 hours after we first feel their prick. 



Another peculiarity that specially marks 

 arid vegetation, and which is of much im- 

 portance to the bee-keeper, is the very long 

 period of bloom and the varying period of 

 germination of seeds of the same plant. 

 White sage will be in bloom for weeks, and 

 the wild buckwheat from early June until 

 frost. This is obvious provision to meet the 

 fitful seasons of rainfall. With the first 

 rainfall some seeds germinate. If early 

 rains are frequent and abundant these ma- 

 ture, and all is well. If, on the other hand, 

 only late rains come sufficient to carry the 

 plants along, then the later-germinating seeds 

 will sprout and grow while those that first 

 germinated with the scant early rains will 

 come to naught; yet the plants will be mul- 

 tiplied by the later plants. A long bloom- 

 ing period is likewise helpful, as, with scant 

 rain, the early bloom may be all that will 

 have vigor to mature the seeds; while in the 

 same seasons of drouth, when all plants will 

 have a sorry struggle, late fogs and damp 

 may favor the later-blooming flowers, and 

 they alone have vigor to develop the seeds. 

 In case of very late bloom, like that of the 

 wild buckwheat, the later flowers may be 

 helped by the early fall rains of the next 

 season. Indeed, we may well believe that 

 the two peculiarities last mentioned are the 

 direct result of our arid seasons, and they 

 are, beyond question, the reason that we are 

 so remarkable as a honey region. 



EARLY HONEY WHITEST. 



We have all observed that the early honey 

 is whitest, and likewise of pleasantest or 

 mildest flavor. Clover and linden in the 

 East are finer than the goldenrod and bone- 

 set. Here the sage is matchless, while the 

 buckwheat, like the honey from the culti- 

 vated buckwheat, is dark. Our buckwheat 

 is not very dark nor yet very strong, yet it 

 is amber, and never can compete in the 

 market with the delicious and beautful sage 

 honey. In arid regions the soil gets very 

 dry as the season advances, and only the 

 plant with very long tap roots will do much 

 late in the season. Thus in arid regions the 

 honey and all other plants, with very slight 



exceptions, will be early, and so we are sure 

 of beautifully white and exquisitely flavored 

 honey. Thus such arid regions as Southern 

 California will not only make, occasionally, 

 records of astonishing crops, but the prod- 

 uct will ever top the markets for price, as 

 the color and flavor must be of the best, 

 from the very conditions of growth. If we 

 could only eliminate our seasons of very 

 scant rainfall, then we should have the ban- 

 ner honey region of our country, as we have 

 the most beautiful climate and scenery. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES. 

 Wood Screws as Frame-spacers. 



BY W. H. LEWIS. 



Nearly all the writers on the frame ques- 

 tion, directly or indirectly admit that self- 

 spacing or fixed-distance frames of some 

 kind are an advantage. I suspect that 

 those who advocate the Hoffman frame 

 get all their supplies from one good firm, 

 and are careful to put them together right; 

 and if all supply manufacturers made the 

 Hoffman frame the same size and pattern, 

 and the users nailed them up square, and 

 turned the V edge the way you direct, there 

 would not be much complaint about them. I 

 will give you my experience. 



I started about twelve years ago with 

 Hoffman frames in Simplicity hives, with 

 the top-bars flush with the top of the hive. 

 I quickly changed the hives so as to give a 

 bee-space at the top, and would not tolerate 

 the other style. During this time I have 

 bought and sold quite a number of bees and 

 hives, with the exception of one hive which 

 had loose hanging frames. They were all 

 Hoffman, some locally made, but the most 

 from regular supply dealers, with the V 

 edge turned every way except the right one 

 —some without the V edge, which, if I ever 

 return to Hoffman frames again, will be the 

 only kind I will use, as I believe it is the 

 best. I have spent a lot of time naihng on 

 the ends of the frames that split off, and 

 turned the V edge to follow your directions 

 until I got thoroughly tired of it and began 

 to look around for some way out of the 

 trouble. Last winter I planed off the Hoff- 

 man part of the frames of about 25 hives, 

 and put a § screw on the end-bar on the 

 same end that you turn the V edge. I made 

 a gauge IJ inches wide, to set the screws the 

 proper width; then I sharpened the end of 

 the top-bars to about J inch square so as to 

 reduce the propolizing surface to a min- 

 imum. I used these frames the past season, 

 and am well pleased with them. The sharp- 

 ening of the end-bars is a distinct advan- 

 tage, as so little propolis is put on the J-inch 

 square at the end of the frame that they 

 were easily moved. I like the screws better 

 than the staples or Hoffman end-bars. They 

 are easily put the exact distance, are rigid, 

 have a bigger point of contact than staples, 

 and can not be jammed further into the 

 frames either way. These screws may be 



