“ NOVICE’S ” GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
Cl 
Ol'K 1‘IIOKM. K A 1*IIS, AA'I) A CHAT 
with our ri:ai»i:ks. 
A FTER waiting until the 17th of July 
i for our grape vines to get “presenta- 
ble,” we now respectfully offer a view of 
“our home” to our friends, with the sin- 
cere wish that it may he of value to them, 
as the place wherein our “successes and 
reverses” of the past seven years have 
been made in the science of bee culture. 
In front of the bee house door, Mrs. N. 
appears so intent on having the “blue 
eyed baby” deport herself properly that 
she doesn’t consider bee culture very 
much, and, in fact, in one of the best of 
the negatives, the Lombard plum tree in 
the fore-ground obscures her face entirely, 
which she excuses by saying, aforesaid 
baby had pulled her sun bonnet over her 
eyes and she was assisting her to extricate 
herself, for like all babies, she wanted “to 
see the whole performance." Miss Maud, 
and Master Ernest, (Novice Jr.,) of ages 
nine and eleven, stand at her left, and 
have demanded so much attention in 
time past in the endeavor to have their 
young ideas "shoot” properly, that Mrs. 
N. lias never been, practically, much of 
an apiarist: besides, Novice has never 
yet succeeded in persuading her to get 
stung once every day during the season, 
or oftener, that she may get over the “dire 
effects” that follow from being stung only 
once. 
“P. G.” appears on the left of the pic- 
ture and insists on being passed by with- 
out “note or comment,” trusting that she 
may be able to assist in the cause of bee 
culture notwithstanding. Novice is so 
well known that nothing need be said of 
him , and in fact it is the apiary rather 
than the dramatis persona 1 with which 
we have most to do. 
To digress a little: ’Twas but yesterday 
we visited the apiary of one of our sub- 
scribers who we hope will pardon us 
when he sees this. As he was away we 
took notes as follows: A very serviceable 
bee house had been built, but we did not 
go inside; around its door, some near, 
some more remote, were scattered hives 
of diverse sizes, shapes and colors. We 
believe none stood square east and west, 
or north and south, and we remember 
none that were perpendicular; a few con- 
tained bees, but more, none; those that 
did were so covered with grass and weeds 
that the poor little forlorn looking black 
fellows had to dodge and twist to get out 
or in. Many of the hives were made with 
much care and skill, but we fear our 
friend had become discouraged. Ameri- 
can hives lay around all sides up, and the 
movable side seemed always anywhere 
but in place, whether they contained bees 
or not. A line looking new hive made 
something on the “Adair idea,” revealed 
wheu the cover was raised, nothing but a 
heap of dead bees and some shreds of 
moth-eaten comb. And this was the 24th 
of July. 
How many of our readers have discard- 
ed or empty hives lying around ; and we 
wonder, too, if they have ever resolved to 
waste no money or time on new fixtures 
and experiments ? 
Our friend’s apiary certainly was not a 
pleasant place, and we fear he had avoid- 
ed it for that reason, and because the sea- 
son for honey here is very poor. 
Now this is nothing new — it is almost 
an old story in bee-keeping — and we rec- 
ognized it when we took up bee-culture. 
The plan of our apiary has been changed 
many times since we started it, and the 
hives have been changed, too, when 
’twould have have been better to have "let 
well enough alone.” 
About live years ago we recognized the 
value of shade in the hottest weather, and 
planted sixty Concord grape-vines. They 
were planted according to “Fuller on the 
Grape,” and the trellises were made as 
lie directs. The vines did finely, but the 
arrangement of trellises, which can still 
be seen in the foreground of the picture, 
made rapid work with the hives very in- 
convenient; also eight feet between trel 
lisses was farther than was needed between 
the hives, and so caused useless steps. 
With the present arrangement work i 
much facilitated, and we have as yet 
found no inconvenience from hives being 
too close. Each hive has a precise place 
assigned it, and the simplicity hive can 
be leveled up with a spirit level if desired. 
As but little ground is occupied, but little 
labor is requisite to keep it clean and 
free from weeds, which we think most im- 
portant, for then rubbish is more apparent, 
and you will be more likely to keep it 
gathered up. Wo first used the Lang- 
stroth, bnt soon was led to think the 
frames difficult of removal, and so made 
fifty American hives, besides trying a 
great variety of patent - hives. Every 
frame now goes nicely in every hire in 
our apiary, we are happy to say. On the 
right of the picture may be seen our 
“spring balance,” which suspends a mod- 
erate c l iny. So far we have not had 
more than two weeks that the hand on the 
dial has shown increase this season, and 
now it is going the “wrong way” at a rate 
that admonishes us to see that there he 
no colonies that may need feeding, for 
starvation may happen even in July and 
August. 
In front of the “balance” may lie seen 
one of the open sections of the “dollar 
hive,” and we feel more than ever satis- 
lied that nothing- more cumbrous is ever 
needed in the shape of a bee hive; as to 
whether their appearance is so "very 
homely,” can be judged from the row of 
them on the left. It will lie observed that 
our old style Laugstroth hive shows a back 
ventilator, these we have thought, from 
the experience of late years to be worse 
than useless and so have fastened them 
up permanently. If they are opened in 
