672 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



well. Mrs. R. H. Holmes is at her left, with 

 Mrs. E. J. Smith sitting in front. At Mrs. 

 Holmes' left stands Allen Plue, who is assisting 

 Pres. Larrabee, who sits in the foreground just 

 in front of Mr. V. N. Forbes, of West Haven, 

 present member of the Vermont Legislature 

 from his town. At his left stands Mr. P. B. 

 Wolcott and mother, and in front sit Mr. E. J. 

 Smith and Mrs. H. H. Burge. In the rear are 

 the bee-hives and the honey-house and shop 

 combined. The entire apiary is not shown; 

 but in this glimpse of a Vermont apiary and 

 members of the Vermont B. K. A., much more 

 can be learned from the picture than from a 

 long article. H. W. Scott. 



Barre, Vt., July 17. 



CALIFORNIA. 



W. A. PRYAL'S impressions of the WORIjD'S 

 FAIR, HONEY EXHIBITS, ETC. 



Editor Oleanings :— I have just finished read- 

 ing several interesting articles in your journal. 

 Those that took my fancy the most were the 

 account of the World's Fair by Dr. Miller and 

 Mr. Martin's California ramble. I was inter- 

 ested in the former, because I had "done" the 

 big fair myself, and knew what the doctor was 

 talking about. I had even seen it up to a later 

 period than the genial correspondent of Glean- 

 ings had covered. The "sage" part of Mr. 

 Martin's was interesting to me. because I had 

 made a study of the famed California honey 

 sage, and had, in fact, had the drawings of the 

 plant and flower that figures in the A H C of 

 Bee Culture made from a plant that grew in 

 front of my apiary here. That was just ten 

 years ago. The plants grow more robust here 

 than tliHV do in thnir native wilds in the south- 

 ern counties, which may account foi' the slight 

 difference in the shape of the flower. I am 

 glad thnt so good a critic as the Rambler finds 

 no fault with the flower and plant as engraved. 



As Dr. Miller has stated a good deal about 

 the fair, at least about the honey exhibit, I 

 shall not go into any description of it. I visited 

 the honey department in the Agricultural 

 Building several times. There was an interval 

 of ov'ir two weeks between my first and last 

 visits. The first time I went there was in com- 

 pany with the able and gentlemanly editor of 

 the American Bee Journal. Mr. G. W. York. 



It was on the occasion of my first trip to the 

 sweetest corner of the Agricultural Building 

 that I met a couple of the prominent apiarists 

 of America. It is true, there were not many of 

 them present: but those of whom I had the 

 pleasure of making an acquaintance were men 

 who are the peers of any men in the calling in 

 this land. As Dr. Miller has referred to the 

 exhibits they have in charge, it will be unnec- 

 essary for me to repeat any thing more about 

 them than to give their names. These gentle- 

 men were Mr. E. Whitcomb, of Nebraska, and 

 Mr. Allen Pringle. There was one other per- 

 sonage who, I believe, is an apiarist of no mean 

 degree, and that was Miss Pringle. This young 

 lady was assisting her father with the Ontario 

 exhibit. It is needless to say that much of the 

 attractiveness of that province's display is due 

 to the exquisite taste and thn deft fingers of 

 Apiarist Pringle's charming daughter. 



Aside from one or two of the honey exhibits, I 

 was not greatly impressed with the way in 

 which they were cooped up in those long show- 

 cases. It seemed to me that something better 

 for the purpose might have been devised. I 

 was also surprised that so few States were mak- 

 ing exhibits. I should have been surprised at 

 seeing my own State unrepresented, but for the 



fact that I knew, some months before I went to 

 the fair, that we were not going to make any 

 showing, for the good reason that our World's 

 Fair Commissioners refused to allow the Cali- 

 fornia bee-keepers any money or other aid in 

 getting up an exhibit. They were given $300,000 

 by the State legislature, and this they used for 

 purposes that were not altogether for the best 

 interests of the State. Still, in some other 

 lines they have made a good showing for the 

 Golaen State. They did not have even an ex- 

 hibit of our wool. We excel in bees and wool, 

 though both don't go well together in this 

 State. 



A visitor to the fair would think that we 

 were the biggest part of the fair, from the 

 many natural products we are showing; but if 

 he were to see some of the good things that we 

 are not showing he could not help believe that 

 we are the greatest portion of the earth. You 

 know a Californian does not think of asking for 

 the earth, as some people elsewhere do, for the 

 reason that we already have the best part of 

 the globe. We are satisfied; why should we 

 want more? Even with me, a Californian who 

 had never been out of the State before, there is 

 no inducement that would make me give a 

 small slice of California for a whole division of 

 the eastern country with a fence around it. I 

 went east to see the East, and I saw the greater 

 part of it as far as New York " town," and as 

 far south as old Virginia. There was one place 

 I wanted to call at. and that was the Home of 

 the Honey-bees. As I had only one day remain- 

 ing in which to go from Washington to Chicago, 

 I could not remain over without losing my 

 ticket. If I ever pass through Ohio, as I did on 

 the 9th of this month, I shall surely try to 

 make it convenient to drop around to see the 

 establishment of the Messrs. Root. 



W. A. Pryal. 



North Temescal, Cal., June 30. 



BALDENSPERGER'S LETTER. 



something about the writer s family. 



The citadel of wSolomon, referred to in my 

 previous letter, is an oblong inclosure for cav- 

 alry, having one heavy iron door. Rooms and 

 stables were built all around inside, against the 

 walls. My father lived, near there 4.") years ago, 

 when he was sent out as a missionary; but he 

 soon gave up, continuing to work among the 

 people in another way than by the prescrip- 

 tions given. He was about a year or so follow- 

 ing agriculture and apiculture in what was 

 then the primitive way. I send you a picture, 

 but it will be too dim for you to reproduce.* It 

 represents one of father's apiaries as it existed 

 and still exists. There is a large arch built in 

 the court of the citadel. It is made of heavy 

 masonry, to protect the bees from sunshine 

 and rain. The jars containing the bees are 

 piled one on the other, and an entrance behind 

 permits the apiarist to operate with his bees 

 without disturbing them in their flight. My 

 father has been out there among the Bf^douins 

 in a time when civil war cut up Palestine into 

 a vast military camp. He went about his busi- 

 ness, and was never touched by any of the rob- 

 bing and murdering bands of the vicinity. 

 When the picture was taken he was sitting on a 

 large stone near the top of the arch, while the 

 bees were flying below. 



*As suggested above, the photographs are alto- 

 gether too dim to admit of a reproduction here. We 

 regret this very much, as they greatly help the 

 description, some of which we have been obliged to 

 omit on that account.— Ed. 



