GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



that convey it to the valley below, where the 

 beautiful sugar-pine is converted, to a large 

 extent, into dwellings, and in a small way into 

 bee-hives. At this elevation it is very comfort- 

 able working. The days are most agreeable, 

 and the nights cool, almost to a frost. The 

 Little Bear Valley is, consequently, a great 

 resort for campers from the lower and infernal- 

 ly hot and dusty regions of the plains. 



Upon our arrival we found Mr. Ferguson had 

 arrived just ahead of us. His family had been 

 occupying a cottage here for several weeks, and 

 he migrated often from ranch to mountain. 

 By the side of his cabin was a neat striped 

 tent, occupied by Mr. Raynor and family. 

 Messrs. Ferguson and Raynor were neighbors 

 in the valley below, and thought it fitting to 

 keep up the intimacy here upon the mountain, 

 as all good bee-keepers should do. The camp 

 bore the odd cognomen of O. de Swine. 



The authorities who run the mills had an 

 abundance of well-watered grasslands, and hun- 

 dreds of cattle and horses were grazing therein. 



sober, decorous men. it wouldn't do to say that 

 Deacon Raynor would do such a thing as to 

 stuff a pair of old overalls into the stovepipe 

 that projected from Deacon Whitcomb's cabin. 

 Nevertheless, when Deacon V/. started a fire 

 one morning the smoke persisted in filling every 

 corner of the cabin, and driving the occupants 

 ill outdoors with more or less tearful eyes. A 

 glance at the top of the stovepipe revealed the 

 uate of affairs; and it is said that the worthy 

 deacon, while removing it, made several strong 

 remarks in which milldams and Ed Raynor 

 were more or less mixed. A mild revenge, how- 

 ever, was gleaming in the deacon's eye. and 

 something was expected to happen. That was 

 the state of affairs when we two wandering 

 bee-keepers arrived upon the ground; and 

 when we spread our bed under the big oak-tree 

 in the rear of Mr. Ferguson's cabin we were 

 told to take our guns to bed with us, for we 

 might need them for defense before morning. 

 The advice was taken; but we were not very 

 anxious over other people's jokes, and were 



1 IstTte 6E*.RVAt-L£y 



The sloughs from the various springs made fine 

 wallowing-places for swine; and, from the 

 number of pigs of all ages that were roaming 

 at will, it was a healthy place wherein to rear 

 them. O. de Swine, therefore, meant that 

 swine were plentiful all around the campers' 

 tents, and an intolerable nuisance. The fem- 

 inine portion of the camp had just a few good 

 words for the pigs, for they were great scaven- 

 gers, and, above all, they were death to snakes, 

 including the dread rattlers. The half-grown 

 swine were also useful for the boys to amuse 

 themselves with. The chief amusement in this 

 line was the throwing of the lasso; and, when 

 the pig was caught by the leg, there was music 

 in camp. We found that California people, 

 while out camping, act much as they do under 

 such circumstances in the far East. Some of 

 the restraints of decorous neighbors are thrown 

 aside, and the practical joker comes to the 

 front. Owing to this there was a smouldering 

 commotion in camp upon our arrival. Our good 

 friends Ferguson, Raynor, and Whitcomb, were 

 deacons in the San Bernardino Unitarian 

 church. Now, as deacons are known to be 



soon sound asleep. It must have been after 

 eleven o'clock when we were both suddenly 

 awakened by the report of a gun and the rat- 

 tling of a score of pans and cowbells. We sat 

 upright, guns in hand, on our blankets, and 

 found ourselves almost in the midst of a genu- 

 ine charivari. The attacking party of men 

 and women had set out to cut down Deacon 

 Raynor's tent; but our presence upon the 

 picket-line, as it were, and the rapid firing of 

 our guns, with several others from the cabin, 

 caused the attacking party to abandon their 

 designs. Of course, the guns were pointed up- 

 ward, and no harm done; but the pandemoni- 

 um was such as to stir up the whole camp. 

 Things quieted down again after a time, and 

 nothing occurred to mar our slumbers until 

 near morning, when a pig tried to get away 

 with the Rambler's shoe. 



Sunday dawned light and beautiful; and if 

 our minds were in a frame for worship we 

 should have to do so according to the dictates 

 of our own consciences, and under the big pine- 

 trees, for there was no preacher on the ground 

 to edify us. The three deacons before mention- 



