The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-07-22
,cpss OF A NEW INDUS
TRY.

hih IL DEPARTURE FOR PUGET
= sorsp AGRICULTURE.
About three years ago Mr. +. H.
-. came to Puget Sound from
,,;.naeota for the purpose of testing
.he capsbility of our country and CHM
30 for the keeping of bees. Having
elected location near the water front
= The northern portion of Belltown
.uhurb be commenced The experiment
n August, 1875. For two years the
undertaking. was attended with loss and
failure and not till this year has he be-
uun 70 NEE. with golden harvest OF
1ou.,d for his labor and pains AT
the beginning of this season be conJec-
tured that his ill-succeSs was due TO the
fact that he had orsrstocked hts range
So he reduced the number OF bis hlVes'
from thirty and upwards, down to ten,
and the result has now more than JustI-
6ed his calculations. Instead OF hav-
inp to keep bis swarms alive as during
the past two years by sacrificing to
their consumption barrel after barrel Of
the hest C. refined sugar. he Is this sum-
mer enabled TO remove mis- honey laden
frames three or four times from each
hive. besides leaving the home COM
p.rtments IN the ground floor filled
with IS or 50 pounds each for the win
ter sustenan &C of the hive.
White clover is the main reliance for
honey in this country, and as the perse-
yerng little shamrock 0rJ0Lium repens)
spreads itself over hill and dale. our
honey product will increase common
surately. The honey is white. pure,
clear and OF delicious flavor. The pres
ent market price in Seattle of honey in
the comb is 40 cents per pound. Mr..
Harkirs bees will probably average 40
pounds per hive of surplus honey this
year, and in the river valleys where a
much heavier growth of the flower can
be had and longer in season. probably
much higher yield can be obtained.
The three Indispensable requisites 20
success in Bookkeeping Gre: LIST. Thor
ough knowledge Of the business. I'd.
Experience. Sd. An extensive white
clover range. Bee excepting is an art
and requires a science which perhaps
tyros had better not meddle with.
There is however one great advantage
possessed in this country over the States
east of the mountains; that is. the bees
require no housing or extra care in
Winter, but thrive outdoors in their
hives without any attention as we'll as
if housed up.
Mr.. Haskins' hives consist of double
box placed one above the other; the
lower is the domestic Lares of the bee
community the upper is the storeroom
for the surplus honey. Square frames
of Stats about two feet square are hung
in the boxes--ten in each-in which
the bees elaborate their web of comb,
and each when filled with honey weighs
ten pounds or more. Each hive has
one queen, who lays all the eggs, de-
posting one in each of the brood cells
of the comb in the lower box. strong
queen will lay 1000 eggs in day. In
about three days the egg matches into
sgrub. In this wriggliug state he con-
tinues to vegetate about two weeks
when the cell is capped over by the
bees and the grub gradually undergoes
metempsych0sis into a full-fedged
winged bee which pips his way out of
the dark sealed over cell as does
young chicken out of his shell. About
five days after lie comes out" young
Mr. Bee is started out on the business
of life. His first functions III society
are to tend the babies-thet is, pack
pollen yellow flower DUST and teed it
to the young unnedged grubs in the
cells which have to be fed with a spoon
as it were until the time comes for
them to be sealed over to undergo "a
sort of sea-change" into that some
thing rich and rare" perfect bee.
After few days of this apprentice ser
vice his beeship is commissioned to
range the bossomy fields afar, to
Improve each shining hour
And gather honey all the day
wv
A volume might be written in regard
to the ways and methods of this won
derful little scientific insect-which
may rightly be termed the architect
insect-but our space forbids. The
average duration of life of the working
bee is only SIX weeks. The queen lives
three to five years.
In this country where there is such
lack of honey blossoms, the most i'm.
portsnt care of the spiaran is to re-
strict the undue multiplication of his
hives The way Mr.. Haskins manages
sto 60 through the aplary every ten
Jays ard mash every queen cell. There
can De no swarm without queen. His
method OF bringing off swarm arti-
neatly is to take out the squares from
Tue old hive that contain the best brood
aud set them in an empty hive which
smiled up with empty squares pre-
pared tby being made with a projecting
"ague along the inner face of the up
pei i.ning slat of the frames) for the de-
position of comb. This is set in the
pace OF the old hive, and all the forag
.us gees as they return with their gath
s'u sweets 60 into the new hive and
a0,hicil there instead of the old one,
a.a 80 new colony is formed sponts-
Cusiy and by mere juggle.
que oil the main considerations for an
aaSphisticated bee amateur is to learn
s" e khaek of handling bees with i'm
.1.y without getting on the unpopu-
~. aae of them. If they happen to
70 set against a fellow they are apt
him a,s 1t uncomfortably warm for
vmn,.M Harkins manages that very
" r.! oy lighting a rag. then careful
a"t he loose hoard covering the top