600 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jui.Y 15 



down-east Yankee, as I had last seen him, 

 he was then a typical Californian in his 62d 

 year, well preserved, and very much of a 

 Rambler still. As soon as we exchanged 

 g-lances, for it was a little difficult for ei- 

 ther of us to make sure we were making- no 

 mistake, I walked up to our old friend and 

 asked him if he could direct me to John H. 

 Martin, and a smile of recognition greeted 

 me as he peered through several shades of 

 tan. The cut at the bottom of the previous 

 page shows how he appeared. 



A good many have asked if it were real- 

 ly a fact that the Rambler was a real flesh- 

 and-blood chap from down East — if it were 

 true that he had striped pants and went 

 around on a bicyle carrying an umbrella 

 and camera. My kodak shows him just as 

 he was, standing before his bicycle, dress- 

 ed up to meet "distinguished (?) company." 

 Ordinarily he would be accompanied with 

 that everlasting umbrella, I suppose. I 

 kept my camera ever loaded to snap it at 

 him; but, no, sir; he didn't propose to be 

 "shot at" promiscuously; but I hit him 

 just the same. 



I will explain that Mr. Martin owns a 

 bee-yard near Los Angeles; but poor sea- 

 sous for several years had induced him, 

 through the earnest solicitation of Mr. J. 

 C. McCubbin, of Reedley, to go up into 



Northern California where there is a honey- 

 flow every j'ear, and manage Mr. McCub- 

 bin's bees. A bargain was struck, the re- 

 sult of which was that the Rambler had 

 been working his own bees on shares, and 

 managing- the bees of another man. 



Mr. McCubbin is a bee-keeper a good deal 

 after the style of Mr. Coggshall, in that 

 any kind of old hive, so long as it will hold 

 bees, will answer his purpose almost as 

 well as something better. In spite of the 

 fact that the McCubbin hives would pull 

 apart, Mr. Martin has managed the bees 

 successfully, occasionally making a ramble 

 among the bee-keepers of that section of the 

 country; and Mr. McCubbin, too, when he 

 had time to devote, made 220 colonies in 

 those old hives give him 2^,000 lbs. of comb 

 /loncy in 07ic season. 



Our friend had the misfortune to lose 

 his wife a few years ago. At the time of 

 my visit he was keeping bachelor's hall, 

 having the occasional company of Mr. Mar- 

 tin. Two little children were left to Mr. 

 McCubbin, and these had become greatly 

 attached to "Uncle John." It was Uncle 

 John this and Uncle John that. In the 

 next picture will be seen Uncle John, his 

 little nephew, his little niece, and the ever 

 present bicycle. It was with much diffi- 

 culty that I could get my friend to stand for 



RAMBLER AND THE M'CUBBIN CHILDREN. 



