The honey season, the past year, was above the average, and bees have
paid well. The last, two or three seasons I have not kept so many bees
as I formerly did. I took up a piece of land here in the upper Sierras,
and have been improving it. I have started in the nursery business, and
I find that this goes splendidly with the bee-business. From now on, I
shall increase my bees up, and go into the business extensively again.
I shall place all my hives in a straight row, and build a car track
behind them, and I can easily run all my honey into the extracting
house. This will facilitate things greatly. The past summer I had my
hives set on stumps, and I tell you it was a job to carry the combs to
the house where I extracted.
Some will ask, why I kept my bees on stumps. Well, I had no other place
to put them. This country is heavily timbered with yellow pine, sugar
pine, incense cedar, cypress, spruce, fir, madrona, oaks, etc.; and it
is extremely hard to clean, but after the land is once cleaned, it is
very valuable.
Land that was one year ago covered with pine stumps, is now covered
with strawberry plants, fruit trees, and ornamental plants, and they
look splendidly, too. It took an immense amount of work, but it pays
well.
The bee-hive that I use, and the one that I expect to use for a long
time, takes frames about 7x14 inches; the hive is about 14 inches wide;
two stories comprise a hive, which is about 16 inches high. I tier up
several stories high in the honey season. I find that I can handle bees
very rapidly; can shake the bees from the combs without even breaking
the comb loose from the frame; with the Langstroth hive, or frame,
rather, the combs will give way occasionally in hot weather, if not
wired.
I think that I shall always run for extracted honey at this apiary.
In Placerville, Calif., where I used to rear bees for sale, I had
a decided preference for Carniolan bees. I think that I shall rear
them largely. The so-called Golden Italian bees—if I can prove to
my satisfaction that they will equal the Carniolans, I will insert a
number of queens.
When I was extensively engaged in rearing queen-bees, the call was for
the leather-colored Italians—and very few of the light-colored queens
were called for; now it seems to be the reverse, all queen-breeders are
advertising the Golden Italian bees and queens.
The Holy Land and Cyprian bees seem to have gone out of fashion; so
also the Albino. I see that the Carniolan race is not much advertised
in the bee-papers any more. Well, I shall pin my faith to them for
awhile yet, until I find something better.
A cross between the Carniolan and Italian race of honey-bees, makes
wonderfully energetic bees; they protect their hives well, and are
marvelous honey-gatherers.
There has been a greater interest manifested in bees this season than
for a long time, and I contemplate, from now on, that a great many will
engage in this industry in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
I am pleased to see that the AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL is improving so
steadily. Later on I shall give you some bee-notes for its columns.
Grizzly Flats, Calif.
Danger in Climbing for Swarms, Etc.
_Written for the American Bee Journal_