1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



113 



A CAIilFORNIA BEE RANCHE. 



F ROB ABLY a great many of you, have 

 a curiosity to see the bee ranches of 

 — C/iilifornia. we have all heard so much 

 about ; and as our friend Archer has sent us 

 a verj' fair stereoscopic ^iew, I have been at 

 the expense of having it engraved. You 

 I'an see, at a glance, that he uses something 

 like the Simplicity hive, for he has them 

 piled up two, three'and even six stories high. 

 What cool shady places the abundant 

 i^hrubbery affords, and what fim it must be, 

 during sw^arming time, to have the bees 

 hanging all roimd on the bushes. In the 

 distance, we see those wonderful hills, that 



get it, the next best thing seems to !>e a let- 

 ter on introducing queens, which we give. 



I send you an article on introducing queens, and 

 also a view of one of my bee ranches about one mile 

 out of the city. The p«st year has been a bad one in 

 S. California, for bee keepers sts well as others, but 

 the new setison is entering very promisingly. • 



IKTRODUCING Ql'EENS. 



As I see so many inquiries in Gleanings about in- 

 troducing- queens, I will give you my experience. 

 The first thing is to have the light kind of a hive, 

 next, to have the right cage, and last but not leaet. 

 to know how to do it. My hive is on the principle of 

 the Langstroth, has frames 17x10 inches, and a loose 

 top and bottom so that a dozen or more may be put 

 together, if needed. Two or more swarms may be 

 put together, so there is no need of haing a queen- 

 less stock of bees. 



:^ 



ONE OF THE APIARIES OF J. ARCHER, SANTA BARBARA, CALIIORNIA. 



SO much is said about, and the fraginents of 

 i-ocks strewn abont, seem to indicate the 

 t'Jiai'a.cteristics of the wonderful volcanic 

 country. Friend Archer, we would detirly 

 love to" pay you a visit in your cosy retreat, 

 and even if "you have no "^ very large houses 

 in view, we "think we could "stand it. if. as 

 Ave have heard, it never rains in the summer 

 time. Mi\\ nnich wholesome prosperit\% 

 and happiness attend you and youi-s. in j-our i 

 shady bee ranche. " i 



I would have preferred something desci'ip- 1 

 tive in regard to the spot, but a.s we did }iot 



The cage is made of wire cloth, 13 meshes to the 

 inch, and is one by '4 inch, and 3 inches long. The 

 ends arc stopped 'with movable wooden plugs. On 

 one end is soldered a little strip of tin bent in the 

 shape of a hook, allowing the cage to be hung close 

 to the brood in the hive. Always catch the old 

 queeit before putting in the new one. Pnt the 

 new one in at the same time the old one is taken out, 

 and leave it two or three days: th^n pull the lower 

 plug out of the c;ij?e and sulislitute a piece of comb. 

 The bees will eat her out. If there ai-e any queen 

 cells, cut them out. It is not best to examine the 

 bees too often when a new queen is in. 1 don't lose 

 one queen of a hundred inti-cdueing in this manner 



Jefferson Akcher. 

 gSanta Barbara, Crl.. V,ec. iTSlh. U:7. 



