158 



THF BEE-REEPEtiS' REVIEW. 



try. The Prof, comes to ns aud stands be- 

 tween the two great industries, fruit growing 

 and bee-keeping, as a veritable peacemaker. 



"Blessed are the peacemakers for they 

 shall be called the Sons of God." 



In my school boy daye we used to sing a 

 lively song, the inspiring chorus of which 

 ran thus ; " Swinging, swinging, 'neath the 

 old apple tree." Alas ! we have none of 

 those old apple trees with dense shade, and 

 brawny arms in this valley ; and a sorry 

 swing we could have among the sage and the 

 greasewood bushes. But, say friends, I have 

 a hammock on the verandah of my habita- 

 tion, and allowing the coastwise breeze to 

 swing me in that, revives memories of old, 

 in a location 3,000 miles away. Now, I would 

 tell how this hammock of mine is made, for 

 it is a hom - emade affair, but as the readers 

 of the Review insist upon a fellow talking 

 bees, and nothing but bees, I shall say noth- 

 ing about the burlap sacks sewed together, 

 with sticks across the end, and swung up 

 with baling wire ; but I tell you friends, this 

 obscure hammock is just the thing to dump 

 one's self into and to think about the honey 

 bees. 



While thus comfortably fixed and thinking 

 of the half a mile walk that I have to per- 

 form every time I visit the apiary, it occur- 

 red to me that if bee-keepers in this State, 

 could each and every one, have their apiaries 

 located near their residences, and under their 

 own vine and fig tree, where they could, all 

 the year round, hear the busy hum of their 

 workers and be upon more intimate terms 

 with them, I really believe the bee-keeping 

 indu=itry would take upon itself a phase 

 for the better. 



In all of the East there is scarcely an api- 

 ary that is located away from the residence 

 of the owner thereof ; or, if he has several 

 apiaries they are located near the residences 

 of other persons. It is needless to say that 

 the practice is reversed here, for the apiaries 

 are nearly all located out in some lonely 

 nook in the plains, or in the foot hills. A 

 greater number of these apiaries are in such 

 a forlorn condition with old unpainted hives, 

 with brush growing at will amongst them ; 

 and yes, now and then a rattlesnake raises 

 its warning rattle, or if he does not raise it, 

 his slimy folds are seen wriggling through the 

 brush. A club or a stone soon puts a quietus 

 to his career, and his rattlers always pay the 

 forfeit as a trophy. With such forlornness, 

 and with bees with an intensified irascible 



disposition, who can blame the bee-keepei* 

 for keeping away from it as much as possi- 

 ble. It is no wonder that bee paralysis and 

 foul brood get possession of the hives, and 

 that the Eastern bee-keeper coming imme- 

 diately from a pretty apiary in which are 

 flowers and trailing vines and a place in 

 which it is a pleasure to sit down and behold- 

 ing the condition of things here exclaims 

 against the general apathy of the fraternity. 



The above conditions are, however, all 

 changed even here in California, when the 

 apiary is situated near the residence of the 

 proprietor. The hives are painted, arranged 

 in better order, vines, fruit trees, and rose 

 bushes with a wealth of flowers and tints, 

 such as no other country can produce, all 

 surround the apiary, making it a pleasure to 

 the eye and in fact to all the senses. 



Such a revolution in California bee-keep- 

 ing would result in more enthusiastic bee- 

 keepers, fill our conventions, make better 

 exhibits at our fairs, and place our products 

 upon the markets at a more profitable figure. 

 " The mills of the gods grind slow but very 

 fine." It may be that such a reform may in 

 time be ground out. That it may is the wish 

 of the " Rambles." 



Bee Escapes and How to Use Them. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



Our gentle bees that never sting — 

 Thus angels float on downy wing. 



T ;)EFERRING to 

 i\ Mr. Woodley's 

 remarks on using 

 escapes or, (" su- 

 per clearers,") on 

 page 99, I would 

 say that my arti- 

 cle was written 

 mainly from last 

 season's (1893) ex- 

 perience which 

 was confined, al- 

 most entirely, to 

 the removal o f 

 combs for extraction. The season of 1892 I 

 worked an out-apiary of 144 colonies for 

 Chas. Adams, of Colorado, where we aimed 

 to get all comb honey, but as that season 

 was not a good one we were obliged to run 

 most of the weaker colonies for extracted. 

 Not only did I watch the workings of es- 



