California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



Thou Cheerful Bee. 



.TH3U cheerful bee I come, freely come, 

 And travel runnel my woorlbiue bower ; 

 Delight me with tliy wand'rinR hum. 



And rouse me from my mtieiDf^ hour. 

 Oh 1 try no more thone tedious fields. 

 My honied treasures all are thine ; 

 Come taste the sweets my Kardeu yields, 

 The bud, the blossom, all are thine. 



—(Smyth. 



Bee Keeping in Southern California. 



From the Anierican Bee Journal we extract 

 two letters upon bee keeping in Galifomin by 

 persons who evidently view the business and 

 country from different temprements. The 

 first letter is by J. W. Sallie, Anaheim. 



Dear 7?t'C Jouninl : — lu my last I promised 

 to tell the "bee men" something o£ South- 

 ern California. First, then, as to 



CLIMATE 



I do not suppose that there is a better cli- 

 mate on earth than that of Southern Califor- 

 nia, especially that portion west of the moun- 

 tains. Such is a large portion of Lon Angelos 

 county, it being a beautiful valley, about 

 twentv miles wide and seventy-five long, with 

 a slope of about twelve feet to the mile, from 

 the mountains to the beach. This valley, be- 

 ing west of the mountains, is free from the 

 bleak winds of the desert, and the cold winds 

 from the north, with a regular sea breeze 

 every day, rendering the climate more even 

 than that of S|)ain, France or Italy ; the 

 mercury seldom going above eighty degrees, 

 and rarely below forty degrees. Near the 

 coast it is cooler ; but as j'ou approach the 

 mountains, the climate grows warmer, at the 

 rate of about one degree per mile. Near the 

 coast it is too damp and cool for consimip- 

 tives — but on the west side of the mountain, 

 at an altitude of 1,500 or 2,000 feet, you are 

 above the fogs and dampness — and the cli- 

 mate is juxt splmiVid. There is never any 

 frost at this altitude, on the west side of the 

 mountains — and here is where the bees do so 

 well. In point of 



SOIL, 



this valley is equal to any portion of the 



United States. The soil is made by deposits 

 from the mountains, and is inexhaustible. 

 There is, however, only a small portion of it 

 that is susceptible of cultivation without ir- 

 rigation ; this is supplied by water from the 

 mountains, and by artesian wells. These 

 can be had at a cost ranging from $125 to 

 $500. This seems almost incredible to an 

 eastern man, but such is the fact. Many 

 poor farmers, just starting, have their artesian 

 wells, giWng an abundant flow, for irrigating 

 their nuurter section of land. As to 

 FiiniT, 



there is no end to it hero. Almost every va- 

 riety of semi-tropical fruits grows to perfec- 

 tion here ; and the flavor of all kinds of fruits 

 is especially excellent, on the high " masa " 

 lands. Peaches are never a failure ; apricots, 

 nectarines, plums, pears, etc., etc., in endless 

 varieties, strawberries the year round, while 

 tomato vines bear continuously, for five or 

 six years. Vegetables without end, and the 

 grape to perfection. Raisins made by the 

 ton, simply by pulling the grapes from the 

 vine and spreading them on the ground to 

 dry. 



This valley land is especially adapted to the 

 cultivation and growth of the Alfalfa, or 

 Chili clover, which will feed from four to six 

 cows per acre, the year round, producing a 

 largo yield of good milk and butter. 



DEKS 



are also kept in the valley ; but the quality of 

 honey is very indifferent, and consequently 

 it is not considered very profitable. Yet bees 

 will increase equally as fast in the valley as 



on the mountains. The most desirable local- 

 ity for bees is directly up the side of the 

 mouutitins, about one mile from the valley, 

 and at an altitude of 1,500 feet, with plenty 

 of sage, sumach, etc., about you, on the 

 mountains. The bees go to the valley first 

 in the spring, and as the season advances, 

 they ascend the mountains, thereby securing 

 a perpetual pasturage. 



ISees, they say, have not done well this 

 spring, and summer, owing to a frost that fell 

 in April. I took charge of 



MI APIABI 



on the 5th of May. The bees were all in box 

 hives. I proceeded at once to transfer, which 

 I accomplished in about four weeks ; took 

 about 5,000 lbs., in transfering ; have all of 

 my hives full of comb, and have taken with 

 the extractor, u]) to the present date, (July 

 1st) about 4,S0OO lbs. Tlie season is now in 

 full blast, and will continue so for six or eight 

 weeks longer. I have no fears but I will 

 reach 30,000 lbs., from the 150 hives I started 

 with, beside an increase — after "honey for 

 market " is out — of about 300 per cent. 



And now, Mr. Editor and brethren, let me 

 say to you all that I have at last found the 

 " place for bees," and I shall not neglect to 

 improve my opportunity. So you had better 

 " look well to your laurels." 



There are other places here, not j'et occu- 

 pied, which would make good bee ranches. 

 But the better plan is tobuyouta" squatter," 

 and bring with you about 100 stiinds of bees 

 to start with. The bees would cost about 

 $1,000, and the ICO acres— with twenty to 

 forty acres tillable land, and a small shanty 

 — about $500. If any " Bee man" wants 

 such a location, etc., I think I could secure it 

 for him for that auiouut. 



There are many points which I would like 

 to talk upon, but must wait till next time. 



The following letter is from San Diego, 

 name not given : 



I came here from Kansas in May, to go to 

 bee-keeping, but found I was four mouths too 

 late to do anything this yi!ar, as bees swarm 

 here in March and April, ami from that time 

 to September 1st, are making box honey, and 

 but few are for sale, except from October to 

 January. 



They had a hard frost here in April, which 

 stopped swarming, and cut the honey crojj 

 very short. 



Italian queen-raising might pay, but I 

 think it doubtful, as one-fourth are now Ital- 

 ians. You could not find a location, in my 

 judgment, out of reach of blacks or hybrids, 

 as the mountains have many wild bees in 

 them and the bee-men are already located all 

 over the honey region. 



Bee-men complain of losing one-third of 

 their queens in fertilizing this year. Do not 

 think that queens wiU be sold very profitably. 

 This country wants to be seen to b» appre- 

 ciated — it is not all that fancy paints it. 

 I am very much disappointed and do not 

 think I shall stay, as I left my family East ; 

 and if I bring them, they will have to stay 

 h»re in San Diego, while I go alone up 

 among the mountains, twenty-five to forty 

 miles to the boe-iange. 



There are no thrioinij villages within a hun- 

 dred miles from here. This is the only vil- 

 lage for one hundred miles in any direction, 

 and this is as dead as can be — always like 

 Sunday in the streets. 



Outside of this town there are no churches, 

 and no society you or your daughter woulil 

 want. Little houses, 15x20 or less, three to 

 six miles apart, with one or two men in each, 

 constitute the population, and thus the 

 country is dreary and uninviting. There 

 will he plenty of bees and ranohes for sale 

 this fall. Bees in Harbison or Langstroth 

 hives sell at about $10 ; in box-hives, $3 to 

 $5, Harbison's average, for five years past, 

 is 83 lbs., comb honey — more than most get. 

 Thia year they will not get half that. Thoy 

 do not know what extracted honey is hero, l 



brought two extractors with me, but as 

 strained honey is only five to six cents per 

 pound, they will not give me any work ex- 

 tracting. 



If you are determined to come, my advice 

 is, stop at Los Angelos, and go ninety miles 

 south of the railroad toward San Bernardino. 



Laud there, good for fruit, etc., is high; 

 but there you can raise something that way. 

 by irrigating, while in this country you can't 

 raise anything but cactuses one year in five. 



Harbison gives his men $20 a month, the 

 first year ; $40 per month, the second year, 

 and an interest the third year. Do not know 

 the interest. 



Y'ou might buy 100 hives, bees and ranch, 

 with a shanty, worth $50, for $2,000. 1 

 think no one ought to come with less than 

 $3,000, gold, for the first year's work. Y'ou 

 might obtain employment — I can't, and doz- 

 ens of others of us are here doing nothing ; 

 can't get work for our board at anything^ 

 though I profess to understand the bee busi- 

 ness. 



I think this whole business overdrawn. 

 Because last year was a splendid success, 

 they thought to make their fortunes ; but 

 this year most are losing money. 



n 



Preparation of Wax. 



Having employed the bees to extract every 

 particle of honey from the combs, put the 

 latter in a clean boiler with some soft water; 

 simmer over a clear tire until they are melted; 

 pour a quart or so into a canvas bag, wide at 

 the top and tapering downwards like a jelly- 

 bag; hold this over a tub of cold water; the 

 boiling liquor will immediately pass away, 

 'leaving the liquefied wax and the dross in 

 the bag; have ready a piece of smooth board, 

 of such a length that one end may rest at the 

 bottom of the tub and the other end at its 

 top; upon this inclined plane lay your reek- 

 ing bag, but not so as to touch the cold water; 

 then, by compressing the bag with any con- 

 venient roller, the wax will ooze through and 

 run down the board into the cold water, on 

 the surface of which it will set in thin flakes; 

 empty the dross out of the bag and replenish 

 it with the boiling wax, and proceed as before 

 until all has been pressed. When finished, 

 coOect the wax from the surface of the cold 

 water, put it into a clean saucepan with very 

 little water, melt it carefully over a slow fire, 

 skim off the dross as it rises, then pour it into 

 moulds or shapes, and place them where they 

 will cool slowly. The wax may be rendered 

 still more pure by a second melting and 

 moulding, and may bo bleached by running 

 it into thin ribands and exposing these to the 

 bleaching action of a grass plat for several 

 days and nights, taking care the sun is noi 

 allowed to melt them. — Manual of Jiee-Kcep- 

 inij by John Hunter. 



Bees, Wasps and Crapes. 



Some persons imagine that bees injure 

 fruits, and especially grapes. They are great- 

 ly in error. It is useful to compare the part 

 taken by bees and hornets in the injury done 

 to our vineyards. First let tis consult the 

 books. I do not find a single book on agri- 

 culture, fruit or grape culture that does not 

 cite the wasp among noxious insects thai, 

 should be fought incessantly anil mercilessly ; 

 while not a single book mentions as such the 

 industrious honey-bee, whose Wndioator I 

 now am. 



The wasp pierces the fruits ; to the grapeu 

 it leaves nothing but the skin and seeds. 

 The bee only profits by those spoils ; for she 

 usually goes from blossom to blossom, gath- 

 ering honey in gardens and fields. If at times 

 she is seen in orchards or vineyards, where 

 she only goes after the wasps, it is only to 

 gather the remains of the feast. 



Curious experiments have been tried, it 

 api>ears ; Some sound fruits were placed sim- 

 ultaneously within the reach of both wasps 

 and bees ; the former have soon achievod 



