1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



89 



pounds. Large sliiijmoiits of this honey are 

 sent to foreign lands, and he has made many 

 journeys to the old country in the interests of 

 his honey t)usiness. 



Mr. L. has a wide acquaintance with the 

 bee-lceepers of this country, and is doing good 

 work in introducing a good line of supijiies to 

 his customers. I not iced that he sold only new 

 ■tiO-lb. tin cans and cases. The latter are 

 made extra strong by the insertion of an extra 

 board partition in the center of the case. The 

 cans and cases were thus adapted to rougli 

 handling and long shipments; and, above all, 

 the honey is never tainted with the suspicious 

 odor of kerosene. In the long run, I think bee- 

 keepers would be benelited by using such excel- 

 lent packages: for, as a prominent bee-keeper 

 remarked, it goes from bad to worse in the 

 following ratio: If gasoline-cans will do, then 

 kerosene-cans can be used: if good kerosene- 

 cans are used, then poor ones will be used; and 



HANSEN'S PETS. 



in the latter, the contents of the can become as 

 degraded as the can itself. It reciuires much 

 patience and cai'e to clean a kerosene-can; and 

 even after a thorough cleansing there is more or 

 less trace of a kerosene odor. 



In Mr. Lovett's bee-keeping days, the results 

 tsecured in good seasons were truly marvelous. 

 Twenty colonies could be easily increased to 

 one hundred, and some surplus honey secured. 

 His colonies had often brought in 1.5 lbs. per 

 day, whilesingle colonies had gathered as much 

 as 785 lbs. in a season. 



There are always more or less bee-keepers at 

 this headquarters, and loads of honey arriving 

 in those large wagons, \\ ith four or six horses 

 attached, and which had come fi-om the moun- 

 tains, sixty miles away, and perhaps even fur- 

 ther. 



Among other bee-men at Mr. Lovetfsl found 

 Mr. I. A. King, of Viuf.yard. vSan Diego Co. 

 Mr. King is a relative of A. J. King, of Arizona. 

 and. like his Uinsman. is interested in bees, and 

 is the owner of several hundred colonies. 



When two such bee-keepers as Mr. I lansen and 

 the Rambler get together it may be surmised 

 that some magnificent scheme is brewing. To 

 further the scheme, it became necessary for me 

 to go to National City, five miles from San Di- 

 ego. Mr. Hansen here happily keeps bachelor's 

 hall, without a hitch in his household affairs. 

 From his cottage we have a view of San Diego 

 harbor and its surroundings; and at night the 

 electric lights of the two cities enliven the 

 darkness; while from the light-house, away 

 out at Point Loma, the red and white lights 

 give alternate flashes, warning the mariner of 

 the danger- points. 



I found that, like all great bee-keepers, Mr. 

 Hansen possessed a hobby in the shape of some 

 fine, pure- bred water-spaniel dogs. When 

 properly trained, the pups were sold for a good 

 price: and one was under special training that 

 would be sold for WOO. This feature of the 

 hobby appeared very profitable; and that our 

 friend is an adept at dog- 

 training I will demon- 

 strate further along. 



I made the intimate 

 acquaintance once of an- 

 other class of pe(s)ts, very 

 plentiful in all coast 

 towns, and especially 

 plentiful and very neigh- 

 borly in National City— 

 the festive flea. I can 

 not describe him; for 

 when I wanted to get a 

 good look at him he had 

 just stepped out. Like 

 the voracious Chicago 

 bedbug, their fine work 

 is performed in the 

 night: and in the morn- 

 ing, judging from the 

 tliousand crimson spots 

 on the under- garments, 

 they had been very in- 

 dustrious. In relation to 

 the muscular develop- 

 ment of the flea, good 

 authorities say that, if a 

 man had the same de- 

 velopment and power, he 

 could jump 35 miles and 

 eat several tons of pro- 

 visions. As to the eating 

 capacity of fleas, 1 can 

 corroborate all that has 

 been said about them, 

 with the additional fact 

 that, when a person be- 

 comes a pasture for fleas, 

 dreams of the most horrid nature are induced. 

 The most terrible dream I experienced on that 

 first night with a flea was the sudden and sta^rt- 

 ling appearance of that old Stray Strawing 

 Matrimonial Bureau of Dr. Miller, with seven 

 old maids and eleven widows. Dr. M. appeared 

 in the dress of a Mexican desperado, on a grand 

 hunt for California bachelors. The vision was 

 so realistic, and the idea of being lassoed and 

 brought face to face with such an array of 

 curls and shaip noses gave me such a despair- 

 ing sensation, and a desire to escape, that I 

 suddenly awok'': and while I mopped the per- 

 spiration and llcas from my brow I rejoiced tha,t 

 it was all a dream. Thinking, in my half- 

 awakend condition, that Bro. Wilder was in 

 bed with me. 1 thrust my hand over to see if he 

 was safe, and punched Mr. Hansen in the ribs. 

 It seemed that he was also in the last stages of 

 a flea dream, for he sprang bolt upright in bed, 

 and shouted. -'Well, who's a kicking?'" This 

 dispelled the last stages of our dreams, and we 

 compai'ed not(!S. rejoiced, and happily arose 



