California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



§]nitvn. 



Bee-Keeping In California. 



fOUTHEBN California is attracting the 

 attention of all the apiarists in the 

 United States. It is evidently the bee- 

 keeper's paradise. We think that we 

 can do no better for this department, this 

 month, than to extract from some letters on 

 bee-keeping in Southern California which we 

 find in the Ania-ican Bee Journal. 



A gentleman who signs himself "Amateur" 

 writes: 



Time has wrought a good many changes 

 Biuce I last wrote you. My attention has been 

 tui'ned a good deal to other things for the last 

 two or three years, so that I have not taken 

 the interest iu my bees that I should have 

 done. But now I am thoroughly settled in 

 my pet business on the far oti' Pacific Coast, 

 and from this "laud of houey," as well as 

 "land of gold," I propose shaking hands 

 again with my brethren, through the columns 

 of our beloved American Bee Journal. 



The glowing descriptions of this coast as a 

 honey-produciug country, induced me to leave 

 home and friends iu the beautiful Mississippi 

 Valley and seek a home in the mountains of 

 Southern California. 



There is so much in this country of interest 

 to bee-keepers that I hardly know where to 

 begin. I will, however, begin at the begin- 

 ning and tell something of the history of bees 

 in this State. 



The first bees brought to California was iu 

 March, 1853, by Mr. Shelton, who bought 

 twelve hives at Aspinwall. These dwindled 

 down to one before swarming season. This 

 one threw off three swarms, two of these were 

 sold in the fall, one at $105, the other at 

 $110. The next lot were imported in 1855. 

 But not until 1857 and 1858 were there many 

 bees brought here. So that by 1860 there 

 were several thousand colonies of bees in this 

 State. In the year 1860 Mr. A. J. Biglow 

 brought from the apiary of Mr. S. B. Parsons, 

 of Flushiag, L. I., 113 Italian queens, and 

 arrived safely iu Sacramento with 111 of them. 

 So you see that the Italians had nearly an 

 even start with the blacks here. Although it 

 has been but a short time since the first intro- 

 duction of this noble insect along this coast, 

 yet for several years past the woods and caves 

 have been full of bees, and thousands of them 

 have been taken by hunters every year. The 

 Italian stock is mixed many wild bees. Not- 

 withstanding this country is so well adapted 

 to the culture of the honey bee, and this in- 

 sect has done so well here, it has only been a 

 few years since the real resource of the coun- 

 try, in this particular, has been kuowu. 



At first bees were kept on the valley lands, 

 where they do well, but make an inferior arti- 

 cle of honey. But the honey district is on 

 the western slope of the mouutains, and is 

 comparatively a small district. There are, it 

 is true, many places not yet occupied by api- 

 arians and many others that never will be, 

 owing to the want of water. My present lo- 

 cation is in the Santiago Canyon, 30 miles S. 

 E. of Anaheim — my P. O. The surroundings 

 are beautiful, and we have 150 colonies of 

 bees, from which we have taken up to the 

 present date 3, COO lbs. of houey. Wo expect 

 to take 30,000 lbs. and increase to 300 colonies 

 this season. 



The honey-producing plants here are almost 

 innumerable, as every plaut and shrub on the 

 mouiftaius has a bloom from which the bee 

 gathers honey, some are in bloom the year 

 round. 



A swarm put into an empty hive in Novem- 

 ber will live through wiuter and probably 

 swarm in May next. 



The earliest plant is the manrmatii, wliich 

 blooms about Christmas and produces a great 

 deal of honey. Then comes iu the many va- 



rieties of willow — some for pollen and others 

 for honey. From February 1st there are a 

 succession of plants in bloom, giving the bees 

 every opportunity for swarming by the mid- 

 dle of March. Through April they have am- 

 ple time to become sti-ong for gathering honey 

 from sage and other varieties of bloom in 

 May, June and July. The principal plant is 

 white sage, which blooms about the middle of 

 May, and continues in bloom about seven or 

 eight weeks, and from which the best quality 

 of honey on earth is produced. The white 

 sage grows on the hottest and dryest portions 

 of the mountains, and produces abundance of 

 honey every year, whether it rains or not ; the 

 hotter and dryer the better. There has never 

 been a failure known hero iu the boo business 

 owing to the season. 



About California. — W. J. Whitney, of San 

 Bernardino, California, sends the same jour- 

 nal the following general directions about 

 emigrating to this State, iu answer to the fol- 

 lowing questions: 



Don't think of shipping bees here from east 

 of the Rocky Mouutains, as it will be money 

 and bees wasted. If you can get half what 

 the hives cost there, you had better sell them 

 than to ship them. 



Now for your questions in regular order. 



1. What can good stands of bees be bought 

 for in your viciuitv? A. From $1 to $1"2, 

 according to condition, style of hive, etc. In 

 Los Angeles, for $2 50 in Harbison hives, the 

 honey they make there not being saleable, 

 since San Diego houey came into market. 



2. There are two mills dressing, cutting up, 

 and ptitting together (if wanted), at the fol- 

 lowing prices: 



Harbison's, ready for putting together, 

 $1 80. 



Langstroth's, ready for putting together, 

 $1 70. 



Watson's improved Langstroth for five sec- 

 tion boxes, $1 90. 



Louth's improved hive for section boxes, the 

 best yet out for this country, $1 95. 



Section boxes for surplus honey, 13 cents 

 each. 



Cases, 22 each to hold 4 section boxes, can 

 be had in any quantity. 



3. Plenty of work to be had during haj'ing 

 and harvest threshing, etc., at from $2 to $3 

 per day and board. We can raise any amount 

 of broom corn or any other corn you wish to 

 plant. I should think broom making could 

 be made to pay here as they are worth from 

 40 cents to $1 each, according to quality. 

 There has been no broom corn raised here for 

 market yet, that I know of. 



4. We think fruit raising and bee culture 

 our "best hold" here. We raise apples, plums, 

 peaches, apricots, quinces, figs, almonds, wal- 

 nuts, oranges, lemons, blackberries and straw- 

 berries. Of grapes, we can beat the world. I 

 have the White Muscat, Flaming, Tokay, Rose 

 of Peru, Hamburg and Mission, or native 

 California grapes. We also raise pumpkins, 

 squashes, melons of all kinds, beets, beans, 

 potatoes, sweet potatoes, and in fact, any- 

 thing which will grow any where from the 

 Equator to the Arctic Circle. 



5. This country is good for men with much 

 or little means. 



6. Country new and inhabitants scattering, 

 but coming in pretty fast. I am twelve miles 

 from the coast; from the postotfico five miles; 

 have no school now, but expect to have this 

 summer in the new Grangers' hall, which I 

 am now building near the postoftloo. 



7. Don't know of any improviMl land with 

 buildings for sale; unimproved IhikI from $2 

 to $10 per acre. Government land for the 

 taking up. 



8. The same land needs irrigating for sum- 

 mer crops, not for grain or grass. The bees 

 make houey nearly all, or all, the year 

 round. 



9. Cost of clothing about 25 percent, above 

 eastern prices Flour $5 50 to $6 50 per 

 barrel. Beef 5 to G cents. Will not pay to 



ship anything but bedding and clothes. 



10. Society good. 



11. Climate healthiest in the world. No 

 cholera that I ever heard of. Very few pois- 

 onous reptiles. Once in a while a rattle snake 

 may appear. I have killed four or five in the 

 yard since I have lived here. 



12. Rough lumber, red wood and pine, at 

 $26 per thousand feet. Common red wood 

 planed on one side, $28 to $30. Rustic, $45. 

 Matched pine flooring and ceiliug, $35. Sur- 

 faced red wood, $40. Bee hive lumber, $30. 

 Nails, $5 50 per keg 8ds. Doors, $2 50 to 

 $4. Windows, $2 25 to $6. 



13. Hauling can be done for $10 per thous- 

 and feet. Climate so mild that a very cheap 

 house will answer. Never any snow and but 

 little frost. Never cold enough to need a coat 

 on, except at night and when it rains. 



Best Bek Location, etc. — R. J. Colbum, 

 Chicago, Ills., writes as follows: 



Seeing inquiries in the June number by Mr. 

 II. B. Rolfe, about California as a location 

 for an apiary, I would say, that being desir- 

 ous of locating an apiary I have, myself, been 

 on the look out for a place for some time past, 

 and I investigated California among the rest, 

 and I have come to the conclusion that South- 

 ern California is probably the greatest honey 

 producing couutij', of equal area, in the 

 world. I am further satisfied that its distance 

 from good markets and liabilities to the dis- 

 ease known as "foul brood," as well as from 

 ravages from the moth, may reduce the high 

 estimate some people have of it. Again, there 

 is just now a rush among the Eastern bee- 

 keepers to Southern California; so much so 

 that Mr. Harbison told me — on his recent 

 visit to the East, when he marketed his gi- 

 gantic crop — that where a few years ago he 

 had no competitors near him, the)' are now so 

 plentiful that he can hardly find a place to 

 locate any new apiaries. His custom being 

 to keep say from one to two hundred colonies 

 in a place, and as fast as they increase, locate 

 new ones. 



In regard to the quality of California honey 

 it seems to be the opinion of every person who 

 has tasted it, with whom I have talked, that 

 it cannot compare with our white clover, ex- 

 cept in looks, "Novice" to the cbntrary not- 

 withstanding. But its looks sell it. Again, 

 I am of the opinion that the present season 

 will see a drop in the honey market, as there 

 probably will be shipped from California 

 three quarters of a million pounds, and this 

 with glucose so cheap, will materially reduce 

 the profits of bee-keeping for Eastern api- 

 aries. Look out for it, brother bee-keepers. 



Pay as You Co. 



The credit system is always attended 

 with serious consequences, but it never 

 resulted in such wide-spread disaster as 

 at the present threaten. The credit sys- 

 tem must at all times provide in some way 

 for inevitable lo.sses, and it does it by 

 compelling the consumer to pay extrava- 

 gant prices for everything be purchases 

 and lovying the debts of the unfortunate 

 and dishonest upon the thrifty and hon- 

 est. An unfortunate result, also, of being 

 able to buy on credit is a tendency to 

 purchase much that we do not need, and 

 more than we need of what is actually 

 necessary. When a man pays for what 

 he gets at the time he gets it, tliei-o is lit- 

 tle danger of his getting more than is ab- 

 solutely necessary, and there is stUl less 

 danger of his getting anything for which 

 he is in no need. 



The idea of turning a portion of the waters 

 of the Colorado river from their present bed 

 and cause them to run upon the lands of the 

 t'ok>rado Desert so as to reclaim it from its 

 j)reseiit waste and worthless condition, is a 

 part of the jilau of survey upon which Lieut. 

 Wheeler is at present engaged. 



