1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



133 



abundance of pure air completely banished the 

 cold. 



Under a little more persuasion, and abundant 

 rations of barley, our team began to increase 

 the speed, and early the next forenoon we ar- 

 rived at Cedar Canyon. Wishing to establish 

 an apiary out here. Mr. IL explored and found 

 the honey pasturage excellent and unoccupied. 

 An apiary that had bi^en established a little too 

 far up the canyon had been entirely consumed 

 during a brush fire which sometimes sweeps 

 over these mountains. Later visitors will un- 

 doubtedly find a booming apiary in the canyon, 

 with my friend as manager. 



In this region is one of those large Mexican 

 grants, which, in neai'ly ail cases, are a block 

 under the wheels of progress. This " Jamul "' 

 (pronounced hah-mool) grant comprises several 

 thousand acres, and for many miles there are 

 no signs of settlement or improvements, though 

 the land is fertile, and accessible to 

 water. For many years it has been in 

 litigation. The old adobe residence 

 is in ruins, and about all that remains 

 is an ancient palm-tree drooping over 

 the few sun-baked bricks. After 

 many years, when the lawyers have 

 exhausted the resources of the parties 

 interested, it will again produce fruits 

 and honey. 



We made good progress, and at 

 noon joyfully entered the sub.urbs of 

 Del Zui-a. This little hamlet was 

 environed by big hills, and it ap- 

 peared to us to have all the marks of 

 an excellent bee- pasturage. While 

 our horses were grimling a few quarts 

 of barley we stretched ourselves un- 

 der the "oak-trees and disposed of a 

 few sardines and other luxuries. 

 While thus busily employed we were 

 joined by one of the residents, and 

 our inquiries were in relation to cer- 

 tain bee-ranches further along. After 

 giving us the desired information he 

 said he owned a small apiary near 

 town. Wh<'n he began to talk of his 

 apiary a cloud seemed to hover over 

 his features, and he said he supposed 

 he would have to move his bees: for 

 one of his neighbors, who owned a 

 small fig-orchard, was making the 

 air blue with his threats against all 

 of the apiaries within ten miles of 

 him. It seems that this man had a 

 little money to lend, and was getting 

 an interest of from 12 to 1.5 per cent. 

 He became very much of a big man, 

 and began to imagine that he owned 

 the whole country. He was, further- 

 more, encouraged to make his threats 

 from the fact that a Major Chase, 

 another fruit-man living in an ad- 

 joining town, had brought suit 

 against a bee-keeper, and obtained a judgment 

 against him, and he was ordered to move his 

 bees; but before a new location could be found 

 and the bees moved, some persons, presumably 

 a few hirelings from the major, stole out under 

 the cover of night and burned the entire apiary, 

 and that ended that case. It was also gener- 

 ally believed that the verdict of the jury was 

 obtained through bribery. 



Now in relation to figs: Bees never injure 

 good sound fruit. Certain varieties of figs are, 

 however, subject to fermentation upon the 

 large end. A small portion will swell up and 

 burst, and the fig is ruined; but as soon as it 

 bursts, the bees step in and clean up the re- 

 mainder. 



At a recent meeting of the Southern Califor- 

 nia Pomological Society a paper was read upon 



this subject, and the cause of fermentation 

 was traced to a small insect that deposits a 

 small amount of sour !yeast-like substance in 

 the end of the fig; and this society, in their 

 treatment of the subject, said not a word in 

 condemnation of the bee. So this man's troti- 

 ble about his figs is all through ignorance and 

 prejudice. Now, Mr. Small, the bee-keeper 

 giving us his grievances, and all of the bee- 

 keepers we met on this trip, had never so much 

 as heard of the Bee-keepers' Union; and when 

 we depicted the beauties of the Union, and 

 what it had done for bee-keepers, the cloud vis- 

 ibly lifted from his face, and we have no doubt 

 that ere this he is a member. 



Another case that harrowed our feelings to a 

 great extent, was in relation to a Mr. Steele, in 

 another town not many miles away. Mr. Steele 

 and his wife were well along in years, and be- 

 tween them managed 1.50 colonies of bees. 



FKUIT BRIGAND. 



Their income from the bees was not only 

 enough to support them, but also to enable 

 them to lay aside a little money every year. 

 Some fruit-men moved in, and then there com- 

 menced a nagging of the old people. The nag- 

 ging, and threats of a lawsuit, caused them to 

 keep the bees in the hives during a portion of 

 the day; but the confinement resulted in the 

 death of several colonies, and from this they 

 came to the conclusion that they might as well 

 kill all of them, and. with burdened hearts, the 

 whole 1.50 were consigned to the sulphur-pit. 

 After the deed had been accomplished, and the 

 contents rendered into wax, the hives were 

 replaced upon their stands; and it is supposable 

 that the fruit-men continued to fire their 

 threats against the desolate apiary. It was our 

 intention to see this bee-keeper upon our return, 



