California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



§piiuij. 



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Honey 



Plants of Southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



S\V. SALLEE writes to the Ana- 

 heim Gazeite the following on honey 

 'plants: You see here in this little 

 valley a variety of shrubs or weed 

 i|?§ which we call "wild alfalfa." It 

 is'very full of bloom, a small yellow 

 flower, and produces a great deal of the 

 nicest honey. And this rough grease- 

 wood brush — see what a pretty blossom 

 it has! Bees don't work much on this 

 and these other large flowers you see, 

 the cells being too deep. But this shrub, 

 with a branch of flowers on the end of 

 the twig, of various colors, we call wild 

 buckwheat; it produces a great deal of 

 nice honey. 



You see over this mesa a large field of 

 white sage, jiist coming into bloom. 

 This is our brag honey plant. It will 

 remain in bloom for about seven or 

 eight weeks. All that white bloom you 

 see on the sides of the hills is black 

 sage-bloom. It has been out about four 

 weeks and will remain in bloom two or 

 three weeks longer, and makes a quality 

 of honey nearly as nice as the white 

 sage. But at present the bees prefer 

 the wild alfalfa. 



You see all over the hills, and especi- 

 ally in these small valleys, those clumps 

 of "bushes. That is the sumac and will 

 bloom in July, continuing for six or eight 

 weeks. It secretes a large amount of 

 honey, but of a red color. Bees gather 

 honey probably more rapidly from that 

 than any other flower. Now take a 

 general view of the hills and valleys; you 

 see, probably, more flowers than you 

 ever beheld before at one view. If there 

 were 100 hives of bees on every square 

 mile of land, I scarcely belive all the 

 honey secreted by these flowers would be 

 gathered. And to think of it all going 

 to waste, just for the want of feathering! 

 It is enough to make a man grow 

 eloquent to staad here on t 'p of this hill 

 and look at this beautiful mountain sce- 

 nery — the healthiest on earth — all cov- 

 ered with beautiful flowers, stored with 

 the delicious nectar, and to think that it 

 all, or nearly all, goes to waste for the 

 want of gathering, without any one save 

 a few isolated bee men, to enjoy and ap- 

 preciate it! Why, sirs, we have the 

 prettiest part of the country. You can- 

 not turn your eyes in any direction but 

 you behold a difl'erent scenery — not that 

 monotonous extension of level land of 

 the valleys, but here a beautiful rolling 

 hill, all covered with green grass; there, 

 a rough mountain side, overgrown b'^ 

 rough mountain brush; yonder, a pre- 

 cipitous rough cliff of projecting rocks, 

 each hill alternating with a lovely little 

 valley, with its clear stream of ruuuing 

 water. Now, this mountain country is 

 good for nothing much but bee raising. 

 It is true, much of the land could be put 

 to fruit and do as well as the valley land, 

 probably better; liut, there should be a 

 bee man on every thousand acres at least, 

 with bees enough to gather thousands of 

 tons of honey now going to waste. 

 Many say, "Is the bee business going to 

 bo run into the ground?" I answer, 

 "No!" The honey producing district of 

 California is only a narrow strip on the 

 west side of the mountains of Southern 

 California, extendir g from Santa Barbara 

 to the State line south. And compared 

 with this State alone it is a very small 

 portion, while compared with the whole 

 United States it is but a drop in the 

 bucket. 



Managinc; Bees. — At the late meeting 

 of the Northwestern Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, the following answers were 

 given by three practical bee-keepers to 

 the questions placed in the question 

 drawer during the meeting; 



1. What is the best method of con- 

 trolling the swarming fever? The free 

 use of the extractor, or by making an a- 

 rtificial colony. 



2. Is it an injury to bees to have 

 more forage in the spring than they 

 need for brood rearing? Yes. 



3. Is it necessary to give bees light 

 when is wintered in the cellar or house? 

 No. 



i. Should bees have ventilation in 

 wintering; if so, bow much? Yes, not 

 as much as is generally given. 



5. Side or top boxing, which is pref- 

 erable? Two of the committee were in 

 favor of top boxes, one in favor of both. 



G. Which is the better method of 

 swarming, natural or artificial, where 

 box honey is the object, and you wish 

 to double your stocks? Two of the com- 

 mittee prefer natural swarming; one pre- 

 fers artificial. 



7. Which is advisable to produce, box 

 or extracted honey, when you have a 

 ready market for either? Both. 



8. Why do bees seal up cracks and 

 openings in the hive? To retain the an- 

 imal heat. 



9. Should an excess of honey be re- 

 moved from the hive in the fall or in the 

 spring? In the fall. 



10. How far apart should apiaries be 

 located? From four to seven miles, de- 

 pending upon the size of the apiary. 



11. Is it important with the Italian 

 bees that the guide combs in the surjjlus 

 boxes extend from bottom to top of 

 honey boxes? The more comb the bet- 

 ter. 



12. Why do bees leave their hive 

 about the 1st of May? Discouragement 

 from confinement, mouldy combs, or 

 small cluster of bees. 



113. What is the best method of pre- 

 venting after-swarms? Introduce a 

 youug, fertile queen. 



11. How should a queenless stock be 

 managed, when the keeper has no queen 

 in the spring? Unite with another 

 stock 'iiaviug a queen, 



15. What should be done when in 

 the case of an after-swarm whose queen 

 had been destroyed, and which had been 

 returned to the parent stock, but which 

 persisted in coming out day after day? 

 Destroy queens until all save one is 

 gone. 



16. Upon what condition does success 

 in wintering depend? Good stocks in 

 the fall; proper temperature and ventila- 

 tion; perfect quiet. 



17. Is there any sure cure for foul 

 brood save the destruction of bees and 

 comb? Yes, by preventing the brood 

 rearing, by the free use of the extractor, 

 and by smoking the comb with brim- 

 stone. 



trifle in excess of the above estimate, 

 while those of twenty-five pounds capa- 

 city, frequently contain two or three 

 pounds inexcess. — Ex. 



%lt §0V$e. 



HOW HORSES ARE DRIVEN. 



Califoenia Honey.— We received a 

 call from Mr. Chas.gJ. Fox, of San 

 Diego, California, who visits Chicago on 

 business for the San Diego Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. The honey interest in San 

 Diego county is a large and rapidly grow- 

 ing one; the estimated crop this year 

 being 500,000 pounds of comb, and about 

 an equal amount of extracted and strained 

 honey. Mr. Fox has samples of both, 

 which we consider very fine. The Asso- 

 ciation, which was incorporated aboiit 

 three months ago under the laws of CaU- 

 fornia, is a co-operative one, in the in- 

 terest of the producers. They propose 

 to repack and grade all the honey 

 shipped, affixing certificates of quality 

 to each case, in the same manner as 

 Ciovernment revenue stamps. They have 

 a store-house in San Diego where this is 

 done under personal supervision of the 

 officers of the Association. Arrange- 

 ments have been made for careful hand- 

 ling on steamers and cars, and for 

 through shipment from San Diego to 

 Chicago or other Eastern cities, in car- 

 loads, where the honey will be placed m 

 the hands of commission merchants and 

 agents for sale; the object being to sell 

 direct from producer to consumer. The 

 officers of the Association intend to es- 

 tablish a national reputation for San 

 Diego honev, which they believe excels 

 in color, body and flavor any other in 

 the world. There is a very large area of 

 honey-producing territory in Southern 

 California, embracing Santa Barbara, 

 Los Angeles and San Diego counties, 

 and as it can be produced there for less 

 than the materials for making artificial 

 honey can be bought for, the public may 

 be sure that any honey shipped from 

 that region is perfectly pure, and the ban 

 Diego Bee-Keepers' Association propose 

 to guarantee all extracted or comb honey 

 shipped by them. Mr. Fox intends to 

 canvass our market and go to other 

 Eastern cities for the same purpose 

 Such societies as he represents are of 

 great benefit both to producers and con- 

 sumers, and we heartily wish them suc- 

 cess.— ^mcj-icuu Bee Journal for October. 



Mr. Haebison has attended the Cen- 

 tennial with a very handsome case of 

 honey. The case alone cost $250. He 

 has 3,000 stands of bees, and they an- 

 nually produce about one hundred tons 

 of honey. 



Fifty Tons (100,000 Lbs.) op Honey. 

 — H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co., of 

 this city have received the above enor- 

 mous consignment of honey from one 

 association of California bee-keepers. 

 Verily California does "beat the world" 

 for honey.— &e- Keepers' Magazine for 

 October. 



BY J. A. c. 



III'' 



is 



m go- 



REL.ATIVE Contents of Dipfeeent 

 Sized Honey Boxes.— After weighing a 

 great many boxes of different sizes, and 

 figuring it all out, I have found, as a 

 rule, that a box when filled with newly 

 made comb, and the honey well sealed 

 over, will contain three pounds of honey 

 to every one hundred cubic inches of 

 space contained in the box. Thus a box 

 ten inches long, six inches wide, five 

 inches deep, inside measure, will con- 

 tain three hundred cubic inches of space, 

 and will consequently hold nine pounds, 

 when filled as above stated. This rule 

 holds good with any size of a box, from 

 about twelve pounds down to five 

 pounds. Boxes of the capacity of fif- 

 teen to twenty pounds usually contain a 



Tree-Planting. — A correspondent in 

 Livingston, Illinois, reports that the 

 planting of trees in groves and shelter- 

 belts, and for oruimental purposes, has 

 become very general in that country. 

 Ten years ago !t5 per cent, of the acrea 

 of the county was treeless; but now a 

 farm without a grove is an exception to 

 the general rule. Black-walnut has the 

 pteferenee for profit and ease of cultiva- 

 tion; but elm, soft maple willow, cotton- 

 wood, European larch ash and common 

 white evergree are popular for ornamen- 

 tal purposes, and occasionally are plant- 

 ed in groves and shelter-belts. — Agricul- 

 tural Report for September. 



begin, there's your boy, any- 

 „ here along from ten years upward, 

 that believes in " making a horse 

 gW go." Send him on foot and he is 

 %(J^ in no hurry, but give him a horse 

 and he must leave the road behind him 

 as fast as possible. The whip, if ever 

 applied to himself, he thinks something 

 terrible ; but he never thinks the horse 

 has feelings. It is so easy to use the 

 lash that he does not consider the pain 

 it inflicts. A little judicious admonition 

 on the part of parents or others might 

 make many a dumb animal's journey 

 through the world less unpleasant. 



Then there's the young man that will 

 needlessly put a severe bit in a docile 

 horse's mouth that he may suddenly 

 check him in his speed a la Spanish va- 

 quero. Many Spanish horsemen are 

 exceedingly iuditlerent to the feelings of 

 the animal they use, and many thought- 

 less young men will imitate them with 

 as much zest as wUl children a clown 

 after a circus. The horse is one of the 

 noblest animals, and he will reciprocate 

 kind treatment, coming to have gi'cat 

 confidence even in danger when he hears 

 his master's voice. In most cases a bad 

 horse has at some time had a bad master, 

 or has one now. 



It IS alwavs well to have a whip when 

 a horse is driven, not that he may be 

 whipped, but because he can be better 

 controlled with it when it is necessary. 

 The habit which many have of urging a 

 horse by jerking the bits against his 

 gums is not good. The gums are sensi- 

 tive, and the pain inflicted by a hard 

 jerk is needless. Every day I see horses 

 pass that are driven by severe jerks on 

 the bits, causing the horse to thrust his 

 nose forward in a very ill position. If a 

 man has any pride about the appearance 

 of the horse he drives he certainly cannot 

 drive by jerks on the horse's gums. I 

 have never seen a trained coachman 

 jerking the mouths of horses, nor do I 

 remember ever to have seen a fine span 

 of horses setting their noses away ahead 

 of them to lessen the force of a jerk from 

 the bits. The owners of such teams are 

 too considerate of the appearance of their 

 horses, and have too much pride in them 

 to see them in so ungainly a position. 

 The moderate tightening of the reins as 

 an intimation of better time may be 

 allowable, but it should not degenerate 

 into a jerk. , , , , 



Some check their horses by the check- 

 rein till the auimid's head is lifted away 

 out of its natural position into an ex- 

 ceedingly uncomfortable one. At this 

 moment one such is passing me with 

 head drawn up as if it was about to crow, 

 but crowing is for the most part a pre- 

 rogative of roosters. 



A little consideration would save a 

 deal of unnecessary sufl'ering and pain; 

 and who really wishes, when he reflects 

 about it, to diminish the happiness of a 

 single being? 



There is a grove of over 20,000 ash 

 and maple trees growing near Los An- 

 geles for carriage and manufacturing 

 timber. The trees are said to be in a 

 very thrifty condition. 



A teick of the trade. 

 There is not found one gold dollar in 

 all the world for every thousand dollars 

 of bank promises to pay the demand for 

 real gold. 



