94 



TBE BEtJ-KEEPERS' HE VIEW. 



are out, and I will go out in the country in 

 the morning with escapes, put them under 

 extracting chambers before noon, and load 

 the same chambers on the wagon and bring 

 them home in the evening with but few bees 

 — perhaps some of the tender ones — in them. 

 Now who will give us such an escape for 

 this year's use ? IHiCJ will show many im- 

 provements in appliances. Shall not the es- 

 cape be one of them ? 



LOVELAND, Colo. 



March 7, 1«>3. 



Some Phases of California Bee-Keeping. — 

 Rise and Fall of a Bee - Hive. — The 

 Present Opportunity for Califor- 

 nia Bee - Keepers. 

 "bambleb." 



^H£ ques- 

 i/ tion of a 

 standard hive 

 and a standard 

 frame has in 

 the past had 

 no end of agi- 

 tation in the 

 East and has 

 at length been 

 dropped; if 

 not as a dead 

 issue at least as a hopeless attainment. How- 

 ever, on this side of the continent, I find the 

 old subject coming up occasionally ; and 

 perhaps California is in better shape to-day 

 to secure this desideratum than any other 

 portion of the country. Although, at pres- 

 ent, this State is getting a diversity of sizes, 

 there has been a time when bee-keepers had 

 the pleasure of handling bees in a standard 

 hive, for, from Oregon to Mexico, the Har- 

 Ijison hive knew no rival. When Mr. Harbi- 

 son came to California in 1857 with bees, he 

 had previously had a brief acquaintance 

 with the newly invented Langstroth hive. 

 The acquaintance seems to have been too 

 l)rief, for it led him to seek an improvement 

 and the result was the hive that bears his 

 name and which has been little known out- 

 side of California. The California section 

 box was also invented about the same time 

 and comb honey was the exclusive product. 

 The invention and introduction of the 

 honey extractor, however, marked a new era 



in honey i)roduction, and the new commer- 

 cial product found favor, and (jreat favor, 

 among producers in this State. It was then 

 discovered that the rejected, loose-frame 

 Langstroth had merits for this purpose far 

 ahead of tiie Harbison, and its introduction 

 was quite rapid. Mr. Harbison never gave 

 the extractor much toleration, believing that 

 comb honey should be the only product ; 

 but in spite of some little opposition the 

 loose frame hive became the leading one, 

 and now the Harbison is found only in iso- 

 lated localities and among those who raise 

 comb honey. 



The Harbison hive has been used, in a 

 measure, for extracting, by being modified. 

 The ordinary hive is sawed ofiF just above the 

 frames and an extracting super attached. 

 The frames, however, being fixed into mor- 

 tices, were often torn apart, causing both 

 delay and vexation. Owing to this quality, 

 many apiaries are found where, amongst 

 the sage brush and the rocks, the Harbison 

 and the Langstroth seek a rivalry — one runs 

 for comb honey and the other for extracted. 



Wherever I have been in California and 

 have been through a Harbison hive apiary, 

 a serious objection appeared at the first 

 glance. A new hive would probably look 

 well and work finely, but age and a neglect 

 of paint causes the long rear door to warp, 

 and I have seen whole apiaries where the 

 bees were flying out and in at various cracks. 

 When the cracks become too large, a rag is 

 stuffed in; and when crowded for room, a 

 clumsy, ill-fitting super is mounted on top, 

 making the hive still more elevated and 

 clumsy. 



The original Harbison hive had a perma- 

 nent cover which precluded tiering up, but 

 to make use of this plan the hive was made 

 much larger, which gave it the appearance of 

 an attenuated wardrobe. 



At present, as far as my observation goes, 

 the variety of frames in use here is not large, 

 the regular L. is used and a modification 

 measuring about 10x14. Many use the latter 

 because they like the size for extracting. 

 Probably the L. frame predominates : and 

 the idea is expressed in many quarters that, 

 being so near a standard frame why not 

 adopt one ? But a loose frame and a box to 

 put it in admit of the manufacture of so 

 many different sizes, that I am not looking 

 for any great change until we have another 

 radical improvement. 



