GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the bee from both practical and scientific 

 standpoints; reads enormously of bee-liter- 

 atui'e; keeps few colonies, but sets such a 

 good example that his bees must work; 

 makes his own equii^ment ; belongs to the 

 Missouri Apicultural Society; elected secre- 

 tary in December, 1914. 



His alertness, accuracy, training, educa- 

 tion, and practical common sense make him 

 a most valuable man for the place. His 

 letters and records are models of concise- 

 ness, short-sentenced, and his jjoinls always 

 easily understood. 



Perhaps we ought to admire the man who 

 tries but fails, but we don't. The man who 

 tries and succeeds gets the ai)plause, and 

 such a man is Mr. Wolfe. When you meet 

 him you recognize at once that you have 

 met a real man — unassuming, modest, ca- 

 pable, and up to date. Our circuit judge, in 

 deciding a case, said that a text-book twen- 

 tv-five vears old isn't of much value. The 



same will apply to a man even more, be- 

 cause a man can be up to date if he will, 

 but the poor old text-book can't. 



Having served as secretary of the old 

 State Association for three years, and hav- 

 ing known Dr. Wolfe for the same length of 

 time, I feel Cjualified to introduce him to the 

 beekeepers of Missouri, and beg that each 

 will give him all the assistance possible. 



By the time this is read we shall be 

 incorporated under the laws of Missouri — a 

 point Ave have been trying to reach for three 

 years; and the credit for its accomplishment 

 rests with tlie good members of the society; 

 and every member is a good one or he 

 would not belong. 



Now let every citizen, whetlier a meml)er 

 or not, jump in and help get our good foul- 

 brood law through the legislature at this 

 term, and we shall make old Missouri one 

 of the great bee states of the Union. 



Libertv. Mo. J. F. Diemer. 



THE GENESIS OF BEEKEEPING ON THE PACIFIC COAST 



BY EZRA MEEKER 



One morning early in March, 1856. while 

 at breakfast in our blockhouse at Steila- 

 coom. Wash., a notice was handed me that 

 four swarms of bees had been landed from 

 the steamer just in from San Francisco, 

 subject to my order. " Four swarms of 

 bees f I said in surprise. "I 

 haven't ordered any bees." 

 But I accompanied the 

 young man who had given 

 the notice; and, sure 

 enough, there they were on 

 the wharf singing their 

 song I had with delight so 

 often heard in the "States" 

 in my boyhood days. The 

 purser handed me a letter 

 which, of course, I eagerly 

 opened and read. 



Dear Doc: — I send you foui- 

 swarms of bees. Sell tvvn swarms 

 for $125 a swarm, and keep two 

 for yourself. Bi'f'K. 



William Buck and I had 

 crosst^d the Plains together 

 in 1852 to Bear River, 

 where he took the road that 

 led to California, while I 

 bore off to the Northwest, 

 and finally landed in Steilacoom on Puget 

 Sound. He always would persist in calling 

 rae " Doc," because at one time I had read 

 a little in medical books and thought of 

 entering the profession of medicine. 



The honeybee is widely distributed over 



Ezra Meeker. 

 of the 



the world; but there were none on the Pacif- 

 ic Coast when Buck arrived in California 

 and I in Oregon. Buck had made two trips 

 back to the " States," and brought out two 

 shipments by steamer from New York and 

 across tlie Isthmus, and had been very suc- 

 cessful. So far as I know 

 his shipment was the first 

 honeybee west of the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



I sold the two swarms 

 for $125 each; sent the 

 I'emainder to my claim, and 

 by the third year had twen- 

 ty colonies. This was a 

 time before white clover 

 had spread over the timber 

 land. There came a season 

 of failure of honey from 

 the wild floAvers folloAved 

 by an open Avinter, and 1 

 lost all but tAvo colonies. 

 The raising of bees and 

 s^^ ,1 the production of honey, 



. ^Sn^,^ ' 1 however, since Avhite clover 



^S^ \ lias spread evei'ywhere, has 



not been so pronounced a 

 success in the Puget Sound 

 country as in the eastern 

 section of the state where the alfalfa fur- 

 nishes rich pasture and the colder winters 

 kcej) the bees indoors until the honey sup- 

 ply is near at hand. 



I have long since discontinued beekeeping, 

 though I never lost my interest in the mys- 



pioiieer leekecper 

 Northwest. 



