1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



81 



and deadly attack upon every bee I put into 

 the cage. 



If you are interested in census matters, will 

 you observe this about Los Angeles ? In 1890 

 the city had a p'«^3ulation of 50,000. In the 

 last census (1900), 102,000. A little more than 

 doubled its growth in ten years. Prospects 

 for the future, great. Transcontinental rail- 

 roads are heading this way ; new harbor at 

 San Pedro ; a great oil industry ; a wonder- 

 land. 



Here is another argument for tin cans in- 

 stead of barrels for honey. Freight rates on 

 honey in tin cans cased, from California to 

 the East, $1.10 per 100 lbs. On honey in bar- 

 rels, $1.30 per 100 lbs. On honey in glass, 

 $1.30 per 100 lbs. Observe honey in barrels 

 and glass is in the same clnss. The railroad 

 companies evidently know where the greatest 

 risks are. 



Long-tongued bees are now the order of the 

 day, and a desirable improvement where red 

 clover is grown or where there are other long- 

 tubed flowers ; but here in California, where 

 the flower-tubes are all comparatively shallow, 

 I think the long tongue is not so much called 

 for; but if extra length of tongue insures ex- 

 tra working ability we will take the long 

 tongues. It is a healthy feature of the honey 

 business when the value of the queen is look- 

 ed after. 



The bee-keepers in California, from Oregon 

 to Mexico, have taken their harps from the 

 willows, where they have hung for the past 

 three years, and now they are harping a mer- 

 ry chorus, and all because the rains have fall- 

 en at the proper intervals. The hills and val- 

 leys are being clothed in green, and ere an- 

 other month passes millions of flowers will be 

 in bloom. Bee-men begin to talk about order- 

 ing cans for their prospective crop. Dealers 

 are ordering carloads of supplies. If you 

 wish to study the magic power of a raindrop, 

 come to California. 



Returning to Los Angeles I find the Bel- 

 gian-hare business, which was booming nine 

 months ago, dead as a door nail. A number 

 of breeders have gone out of business ; others 

 are going out, or wishing they were out. As 

 many predicted, as soon as the demand for 

 fancy stock at fancy prices ceased it became a 

 non-paying business. Those who believed 

 Belgian-hare meat would compete successful- 

 ly with beef, mutton, and pork have run up 

 against a disappointment. It will not com- 

 pete; and if there was ever a chance for such 

 competition it would have been known long 

 ago in England and on the continent, where 

 the Belgian hare has been bred for years. 

 Glad I did not go into the business. 



Remarks are in order in what Mr. Shiber 

 says about his experience with California sage 

 honey, page 959. All hands in the transaction, 

 from the producer to Mr. Skiber, may have 

 been honest in their statements about there 

 being sage honey. The trouble lay in the 

 fact that it was not all sage honey. Pure sage 

 honey will continue in a liquid state two and 

 even three years, and perhaps longer. I speak 

 of honey under my own observation. There 



are, however, many localities where honey 

 from other flowers is gathered at the same 

 time, and it all goes under the title of sage 

 honey. In fact, dealers are so -reckless in the 

 use of titles that nmch honey is sold under 

 the name of sage that never was produced from 

 a sage blossom. A grocer near me has a fine 

 lot of comb honey piled up in attractive form 

 on his shelves. The caption across the top 

 reads, "New White-sage Honey." New in 

 January, and it was produced in the northern 

 portion of the State in an alfalfa district ! It 

 is the same with honey from the orange. Tons 

 of orange honey is sold as such when it came 

 from an entirely different source. An amus- 

 ing label was found a few years ago upon some 

 honey in the hands of an enterprising grocer. 

 It was, "Pure California White-clover Hon- 

 ey." The amusing part comes in when you 

 consider that there is scarcely an acre of white 

 clover in Southern California. The fact in 

 this matter of fictitious titles to honey on sale 

 in groceries is that the grocer will put on any 

 name that sounds well, suits the popular taste, 

 and will sell his honey. The bee-keeper is in- 

 nocent of any such chicanery. 





\1//10M0U^ NEIGHBORS FIELDS. 2^ 



The ruler of one-fourth our race, 



Whose drum-beat sounded round the globe. 

 At last lays earthly honors down. 



Old England's flag her robe. 

 For four and sixty years she's ruled 



With woman's gentle sway ; 

 The nations mourn the loss of her — 



Hail Edward VII. to-day. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 For a New Year's present Mr York received 

 the destruction of his office by its being flood- 

 ed by twenty fire-engines. The floor above 

 was burned out. Fortunately the forms for the 

 issue for Jan. 3 were in the hands of the print- 

 er, and these were not injured nor that issue. 

 The loss is, of course, considerable, and the 

 inconvenience great. The issue for Jan. 10 

 shows no signs of the calamity. Ten firms 

 were in the building, and all suffered loss, the 

 total amount of which will be toward $100,- 

 000. Now is the time to help Mr. York by 

 sending in arrearages, etc. 



In speaking of the experimental apiary in 

 the Garden of Luxembourg, Paris, Mr. Da- 

 dant says : 



It was a disappointment. The spot is unique, for an 

 apiary in the heart of one of the largest cities in the 

 world. It is a very quiet corner, among the trees, the 

 shrubs, and the flowers, in the aristocratic garden of 

 the palace of the French senate, and the bees fly back 

 and forth unmolested and busy. But there are only a 

 few hives, in a rather dilapidated condition, and it is 

 evident that no pains are taken with them. The keep- 

 er very kindly permitted us to look at every thing. 

 We found half a dozen different practical hives, rot- 

 ting without occupants, while half a dozen straw 

 skeps and two or three odd patents seemed the only 



