80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



Mr. Stewart is a frtsn-air advocate; he sleeps beneath an apricot-tree, opposite 

 his office and study. 



every hee-keeper to see that the honey he offeis 

 for sale shall be of the very highest quality. All 

 the legislation in the world will not help our 

 hasiness if we are thoughtless and careless about 

 the quality of our product. We must make it 

 "food fit for the gods." See to the quality first, 

 then dress it neatly and attractively. It is the 

 quality of an article that increases the sales, and 

 not attractiveness or neatness. Attractiveness 

 without quality is a deception and fraud. So let 

 iis see that we allow our honey to remain on the 

 hives unt 1 it is fully sealed over and ripened be- 

 fore offering it for sale. 

 Nisbet, Penn. 



CONTRA COSTA COUN- 

 TY, CALIFORNIA. 



1 he Conditions Favorable to 



Bee-keeping and Fruit- 



groNving. 



BY W. A. PRYAL. 



Contra Costa Co. lies east and 

 north of Alameda Co. , and it has 

 the distinction of having a large 

 part of its boundary washed by 

 three bays — San Francisco, San 

 Pablo, and Suisun. It is a moun- 

 tainous county; and yet, withal, it 

 has some of the best and most fer- 

 tile valleys that we can boast of, 

 though none of them are to be 

 compared in size to the big valleys 

 of the State. For climate these 

 valleys are the equal of any in Cal- 

 ifornia. Being sheltered by high 

 hills and mountains, they are sel- 

 dom visited by fogs; winds are 

 rare, and frosts are seldom known. 

 For this reason all kinds of fruit 

 flourish to a wonderful degree. 

 In some places one kind of fruit 

 will do better than another, owing, 

 mainly, to the nature of the soil. 

 About Lafayette, Harriett pears 

 and apples reach perfection; in San 

 Ramon Valley the finest English 

 walnuts one could wish to see may 

 be found. (Walnut Creek, the most important 

 town in the valley, takes its name from the fact 

 that the native California walnut was found 

 growing there.) In the same valley cherries do 

 so well that they bear the palm along with those 

 of Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Then 

 Alhambra, Amador, and other valleys have their 

 peculiarities. Some grow grapes, some prunes, 

 others grains and vegetables. Even grizzly old 

 Mt. Diablo sports some fine orchards, vineyards, 

 farms, and apiaries upon its sun-kissed slopes. 



1 promised to visit a bee-keeper by the name 

 of William E. Stewart, nearly one year ago, 

 but circumstances prevented my doing so until 



A portion of Mt. Stewart's apiary in Contra Costa County. Cal. A hay-field in front and an orchard on the opposite side of the 

 creek. The extractine-house is behind the white honey-tank. 



