343 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



of the past, Mr. Harbison mxvc. his attciiiion to 

 the improvement of the bee liive. During his 

 visits 10 the East, in ]8.")7, liis altfntion was 

 drawn to the newly invented Langsiroih hive; 

 and, giving it a trial, it did not come up to what 

 he required in a hive; and npon his return to 

 California he invented the well-known Harbi- 

 son hive. That Mr. H. made a mistake in his 

 line of reasoning, and in ilie conclusions arrived 

 at, has been sufhciently demonstrated in the 

 fact that the Harbison hive never made prog- 

 ress outside of Call lornia; and even In're it is 

 now being rapidly superseded by the dis^;irded 

 Langstroth or some of its modilications. 



As long as the one product, comb honey, was 

 the result of the labors of the bee and apiarist, 

 the Harbison hive held its own remarkably 

 well; and for a time one large section of coun- 

 try at least could boast of a standard hive*. 

 The invention of the honey-extractor, and its 

 introduction into California, however, number- 

 ed the days of the Harbison hive, and the 

 Lungstroth was found to be a better all-round 

 hive. 



Along with the invention of the hive, Mr. 

 H. made a great step of progress in introducing 

 the section honey-box. This was first exhibited 

 and excited much interest iit the California 

 State Fair, held in Marysville, in Sept., 1858. 

 Mr. H. made several minor improvements in 

 his hive, but never tried to adapt it to the use 

 of the extractor, for he thoroughly believed in 

 the production of comb honey only. Other par- 

 ties liave made a modification of the hive by 

 sawing it off just above the fixed frames, and 

 adjusting an extracting super with loose frames. 

 In some portions of the State the H. hive is 

 largely used with the 2-lb. section; and the pro- 

 ducer regrets that the smaller size was ever in- 

 troduced: but facts are stubborn things: and as 

 the extractor has revolutionized one end of the 

 H. hive, so the 1-lb. section has revolutionized 

 the other, and both are hastening along to a 

 complete victory. 



was trodden down and plowed under by the ad- 

 vance of grain-tields and orchards: and, failing 

 to secure the large yields that at first rewarded 

 the little toilers. Mr. Harbison, in 186it, formed a 

 partnership with Mr. R. G. Clark for develop- 

 ing the virgin honey-ranges of San Diego Co. 

 Great success attended their efforts, and in 1873 

 the first full carload of comb honey was shipped 

 across the continent, giving California honey a 

 world wide fame. Mr. Clark sold out his por- 



HOW FRUIT- MEN DESTROY AN APIARY 



The next invention of importance, and which 

 works well with the H. hive, was the Harbison 

 stove smoker. Open the rear door of the hive, 

 and set the smoker down in the rear, and a vol- 

 ume of smoke rolled up and against the (exposed 

 combs; t)ut this smoker, used with a U)\) open- 

 ing liive, is of but little use, and the bellows 

 smoker takes its place. The stove smoker holds 

 a large amount of fuel, and its smoking propen- 

 sities are continued for nearly a whole day from 

 once filling. 



The honey flora of the Sacramento Valley 



tiou of the business in 1873. Mr. Harbison at 

 one lime owned 3.500 colonies, and one of his 

 greatest vields was 60,000 lbs. of comb honey 

 from 300 colonies of bees. 



Mr. H. has had some trouble with fruit-rais- 

 ers, and the result was a conflagration of a 

 whole apiary. Usually apiaries are burned by 

 saturating each hive with kerosene, and then 

 applying the torch; but in the above case the 

 liives were placed together and burned. Per- 

 haps it was in view of the inroads of the fruit- 

 raisers that Mr. Harbison said that California 

 bee-keeping has seen its best days, and that the 

 honey-yields would hereafter wane instead of 

 increase. The statement would probably prove 

 true if the present conditions continued. That 

 the conditions will change, and for the better, is 

 evident from the progressive tendency of the 

 bi'e keeping industry. Mr. H. now owns only 

 about .500 colonies, which are 

 eifher rented or cared for by 

 hired bee-keepers. 



In 1861 Mr. Harbison published 

 his book, "The Bee-keeper's Di- 

 rectory." a volume of 440 pages. 

 The illustrations are of a high 

 order, and the subject is treated 

 in an exhaustive manner; and 

 instead of being a book merely to 

 iidvertise the H. hive, it Is a val- 

 uable work for any bee-keeper 

 to have. It is, however, out of 

 print, and hard to find. Many of 

 the problems that are now agi- 

 tating the bee-keeping world 

 were under experiment in Cal- 

 ifornia thirty years ago. The 

 control of swarming was as 

 much of a problem then as now; 

 and Mr. Harbison invented the 

 swarm-catcher, a large net that 

 could be applied to the front of 

 the hive, and in which the is- 

 suing swarm was caught. When 

 not in use it was collapsed in 

 front of the hive. 

 Although Mr. Harbison may be regarded as 

 the father of California bee culture, he has nev- 

 er come in contact with bee-keepers through 

 the bee-periodicals, and the fraternity have a 

 sort of vague idea of the man. The photo I 

 obtained was taken a few years ago. and is nat- 

 ural, with the exception of at present a few 

 more gray hairs. 



Mr. H. was married in 1865. A son and two 

 daughters were the result of the union; and, 

 the son dviiicr in infancy, the two daughters are 

 the oiilv ii'iuaining children. Mr. H. is inter- 



