334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



quick-stepping- little horse and a light easy 

 buggy carried us from point to point with a 

 good deal of ease and comfort. 



Our first stop was at the apiary of Rob- 

 ert Hitchings, of Verdugo, where there 

 were 200 colonies in the valley at the foot of 

 one of the hills. Two large honey-tanks 

 were located right beside the extracting- 

 house, behind some sage brush, as shown 

 in No. 3, Fig. 1, and the apiary is shown 

 in No. 1 just above. It is located perhaps 

 two or three miles from any dwelling-house, 

 and the tanks were nearly full, or at least 

 we judged so. Situated as they are out in 

 the open, with honey-gates totally unpro- 

 tected, made, it seemed to me, most invit- 

 ing objects for thieves; and there was no 

 one present at the yard at the time of our 

 visit. "How easy," I said to Mr. Bennett, 

 as we looked over the premises, "for some 

 one to come here and help himself! He 

 might come every night, just after an ex- 

 tracting, and take oflF a ton or two, and the 

 owner would never know it. If he were 

 not too greedy, and took just a little at a 

 time, the bee-keeper would work and plod 



while the thief would manage to get prob- 

 ably half of his crop." 



"Yes," said Mr. Bennett, "this kind of 

 thieving work has been done; but out here 

 in California, if the thief is ever caught he 

 is dealt with most summarily. As a gen- 

 eral thing, open tanks like these are not 

 molested." 



Then he told me how, evidently, some an- 

 imal had brushed up against the honey- 

 gate of a ten-ton tank clear full, in one in- 

 stance, opened the gate and let all the hon- 

 ey run out on the ground ; and, such a mess ! 



Stepping into the buggy again we resum- 

 ed our journey, for Mr. Bennett seemed to 

 know where every bee-keeper was located, 

 and what his name was. 



Our next stop was at the apiary of Rev. 

 C. G. Belknap. This apiary was located 

 in the rear of a rabbitry that had formerly 

 been a brooding-place for Belgian hares; 

 but the industry had not proven to be prof- 

 itable, and, if I remember correctly, there 

 were only about three or four animals in 

 the building. But, oh the bees I They greet- 

 ed us before we got anywhere near their 



FIG. 2. — MR. WOODBURY'S APIARY. 



