THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



171 



this later honey depends upon the late rains 

 which are very liable not to put in an appear- 

 ance. The apiary being several miles away 

 is neglected and many colonies starve even 

 before the late rains are expected. Many of 

 the losses are laid upon the shoulders of the 

 helper who has gone beyond his instructions 

 and extracted too close and too late. Heavy 

 feeding is resorted to in many instances and 

 the bees saved, but even feeding at a late 

 date does not leave the bees in as good shape 

 as a good supply of natural stores. The best 

 method of feeding ever devised for Califor- 

 nia, or any other country, is to have good 

 sealed combs of honey, I think the losses 

 would be much less were the apiaries located 

 near the home of the bee-keeper, for wher- 

 ever we find them so we find the most suc- 

 cessful results. Another source of loss is the 

 bee moth ; the ravages of this pest of the bee 

 hive are not so great as one would, expect in 

 this warm climate, but a little neglect of 

 keeping good queens in every hive results in 

 many ruined colonies. The past two years 

 that have come under my observation may 

 be exceptional years, but from the careless 

 methods generally pursued by many of the 

 California bee-keepers, there is more or less 

 useless loss every year, and closer attention 

 to business would result in the saving of a 

 great waste and give a better reputation to 

 the bee-keeping industry. 



On the Bee Ranohe, Calf., April 28, '93. 



A Combined House Apiary and Self-Hiver, 

 and a Combined Hive and Self-Hiver. 



O. W. DAYTON. 



^OME eight or 

 VQ ten years ago> 

 ill .June, I experi- 

 mented with house 

 apiaries. One dif- 

 ticulty that I could 

 not overcome was 

 the loss of young 

 bees when brush- 

 ing them off the 

 comb inside ; but 

 the bee escape has 

 almost entirely 

 done away with 

 Another thing, the 



the brushing of combs. 



wind and chilly air on the sides of the house 

 away from the sun, on cloudy days, or late 

 in the afternoon, caused many bees to re- 

 main out over night and perhaps never get 

 into the hives again. All these, and more, 

 prevented my using a larger structure than 

 for four or six colonies. These were very 

 satisfactory. 



Here in California there is little wind, so, 

 if the bee house is located in a warm place, 

 or not on the north side of a hill or moun- 

 tain, the bees have no trouble in getting into 

 the hives. 



Summer nights in California are much 

 colder than they are in any Eastern States. 

 They are really very chilly ; so much so as to 

 drive all the bees down out of the sections 

 into the brood nest. Then the middle of 

 the days are very hot, and it is seldom an 

 unshaded hive gets through the summer 

 without its combs melting down. 



These diffijulties, and others, have turned 

 my attention toward bee houses in Califor- 

 nia as being as beneficial as in any country, 

 and I have read and re-read the articles pub- 

 lished in regard to them. We need them to 

 keep the hives warm nights, and cool days. 



Another very useful feature of the house 

 plan is in locating an apiary. Good loca- 

 tions where the bee hives may be spread 

 ovc a space of 100 feet square are scarce 

 here. There are thousands of acres of un- 

 occupied land but it is nearly always moun- 

 tainous and rocky. If it is level some one 

 has fruit or grain on it or it will be where 

 the sun does not shine favorably, and bees 

 want all the sun there is during January, 

 February, March, April and May, because 

 these months here are all alike, and are 

 about like May in Iowa or Wisconsin on the 

 43 parallel. I always dislike to have hives 

 on unlevel ground, as it makes the work 

 much harder — if you use a stool in examin- 

 ing hives it is slanting ; the smoker will tip 

 over ; if a hive gets off its foundation it may 

 roll over, etc. Now, in using a bee house a 

 level place 10x20 feet may be made with pick 

 and shovel against the side of a hill or 

 mountain out of the way of everybody and 

 in a warm sunny position, and I have, accor- 

 dingly, constructed two after the plans of 

 Messrs. Taylor and Langdon. 



Here there is no need of packing of any 

 kind, BO I have left that part out ; nor is there 

 any need of Mr, Taylor's wide eaves to 

 keep off snow and sleet, but just common 

 eaves. 



