1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



141 



covering- sidewalks and pedestrians with a 

 sticky varnish. 



The first bees broug-ht into the Boise Val- 

 ley arrived early in the fifties, and came, 

 it is believed, from California. These bees 

 were brought in at an immense cost, and 

 several thousand dollars' worth of increase 

 was sold from them; but in a few years 

 foul brood destroj'ed them to the last colony. 

 Ten years later, in 1862 or "3, Mr. McClel- 

 lan and Mr. Morse, another veteran bee- 

 keeper, sent to E. Kretchmer, then of Co- 

 burg, Iowa, for 16 colonies. These bees 

 came part of the way bj' stage, and reach- 

 ed Boise without loss, at a cost of $30.00 per 

 colony. Swarms sold at extravag-ent prices 

 for j-ears, bringing from ten to thirty dol- 

 lars each. In Mr. McClellan's apiary were 

 several of those old hives, the identical ones 

 that came in 1862. Some of them had ap- 

 parently^ never been painted since that time, 

 and yet were almost as good as new, though 

 fortj' j'ears old. Thej' were square hives, 

 probably the old American frame, and 

 stenciled " The New System of Bee-keep- 

 ing"." For several years honey sold at 50 

 cents per lb. 



In his apiary one sees at once that here 

 is a bee-keeper of an inventive turn of 

 mind. The first of his inventions that I 

 will describe is the McClellan dead-air- 

 space or chafl- hives. Around the top of any 

 single-walled hive a rabbeted strip is nail- 

 ed, and around the bottom a plain strip 's 

 inch thick. The air-space, or space for 

 packing, maj' be of any thickness, from ;V 

 inch to 4 inches, according to the climate 

 and preferences of the apiarist, by using 

 strips of the proper width. On these strips, 

 shingles, cut to the proper length, are nail- 

 ed. When the first course is on, another 



course is nailed over them, breaking" joints, 

 so as to exclude air and moisture. The 

 sides and ends may slant a trifle outward, 

 as shown in the cut, or be vertical, b\' reg- 

 ulating the width of the cleats to which the 

 shingles are nailed. The upper ends of the 

 shingles are nailed in the rabbet, so that 

 the water can not soak into their upper 

 ends. If chaff or other packing" is desired, 

 it should be put in place while the first 

 course of shingles is being nailed. Such a 

 hive as this, well painted, would surely 

 outlast its owner. 



Over in one corner of the McClellan api- 

 ary are several hives of such novelty that 

 they may be of some interest to the readers 

 of Gleanings. The brood-chambers are 



Tivo Layers or^HiNCLEi 



LAIO with break JOlNTi. 



enclosed in brick. Some might think that 

 the bees would not prosper in such hives, 

 but such is not the case. These brick hives 

 are not very suitable for migratory bee- 

 keeping". 



Over the super shown on the brick hive is 

 the McClellan combined cover and shade- 

 board. The old-style fiat cover has a cleat 

 nailed across the middle, and two layers of 

 shingles are nailed over all, as shown in 

 the cut. 



i < AH of the bees now in the Boise Valley 

 (360,0 acresof irrig"able land), with but few 

 exceptions, are descended from those thir- 

 teen colonies of pure Italians that were sent 

 in in 1862 or 63; yet in spite of the fact that 

 almost no new blood has been introduced, 

 these bees seem in no way inferior to any 

 that I have been able to buy. They are 

 large, hardy, reasonably gentle, excellent 

 workers, and, with proper management, 

 not excessive swarmers. 



Boise, Idaho. 



CARPET GRASS. 



A Good Honey^plant and a Good Feed for Stock. 



BV W. K. MORRISON. 



Your beautiful illustration and bright 

 description of that valuable hone}'^- plant, 

 carpet-grass, make me think we neglect 

 our honej'-bearing flora too much. Carpet- 

 grass is a very appropriate name for this 

 plant, seeing it forms a veritable carpet of 

 verdure on what would otherwise be bare 

 ground, the word '"grass" being justified 

 by the fact stock will eat it. To avoid con- 

 fusion, however, it would probably be bet- 

 ter to term it by its scientific name, /.ippia, 

 which is excellent and easil}' remembered. 

 The species noticed by 3'ou in California is 

 evidently Lippia nodiflora. If this is the 

 case, then it is a plant of very wide distri- 

 bution, for it is at home in nearly all parts 

 of the West Indies. It is common around 

 Cape Haytien, in Haiti; in Jamaica; in 



