THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



not until 1857 and 18r)8 were there many 

 bees brought here. So that by 18(30 there 

 were several thousand colonies of bees 

 in this State. In the year 18G0 Mr. A. J. 

 Biglow brought from liie apiary of ]\Ir. 

 S. B. Parsons, of Flushing, L. T., 113 

 Italian queens, and arrived safely in 

 Sacramento with 111 of them. So you 

 see that the Italians had nearly an even 

 start with the blacks here. Although it 

 lias been but a short time since the first 

 introduction 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 with mau}^ wild bees. Not- 

 withstanding this country is so well 

 adapted to the culture of the lionej* bee, 

 and this insect has done so well here, 

 it has onlj' been a few years since the 

 real resource of the country, in this 

 particular, has been known. At first 

 bees were kept on the valley lauds, where 

 they do well, but make an inferior article 

 of honey. But the honey district is on 

 the western slope of the mountains, and 

 is comparatively a small district. There 

 are, it is true, many places not yet occu- 

 pied by apiarians and many others that 

 never will be occupied, owing to the want 

 of water. ]My present location is in the 

 Santiago Canyon. 30 miles S. E. of 

 Anaheim^my P. O. The surroundings 

 are beautiful and we have 150 

 colonics of bees, from which we have 

 taken up to the present date, 3600 lbs. of 

 honey. We expect to take 30,000 lbs. 

 and increase to 300 colonies, this season. 



The honey-producing plants here are 

 almost innumerable, as every plant and 

 shrub on the mountains has a bloom 

 from which the bee gathers honey, some 

 are in bloom the year round. 



A swarm put into an empty hive in 

 November will live through winter and 

 probably swarm in 2tlay next. 



The earliest plant is the manrinata, 

 which blooms about Christmas and pro- 

 duces a great deal of honey. Then 

 comes in the many varieties of willow — 

 some for polli^n and others for honey. 

 From February 1st tliei"e are a succession 

 of plants in bloom, giving the bees every 

 opportunity for swarming by the middle of 

 jNIarch. Tlirough April they have ample 

 time to become strong for gathering 

 honc)'^ from sage and other varieties of 

 bloom in jMay, June and July. The 

 principal ])lant is "vshite sage, which 

 blooms about the middle of ^lay and 

 continues in l)loom alout seven or eight 

 weeks, and from which the best quality 

 of honey on earth is produced. [I am 

 going to send you some, Mr. Editor]. 



The white sage grows on the hottest and 

 dryest portions of tiie mountains, and 

 jM'oduces abundance of honey every year, 

 wiiether it rains or not ; the hotter and 

 dryer the better. There has never been 

 a failure known here iu the bee business 

 owing to the season. 



In my next 1 will tell yon something 

 about the country, iidiabitants, &c. Un- 

 til tlicn, remember me as of old, an 



Amateur. 



For ilic American BeeJournai. 



A Suggestion— Be Honest. 



Bee-keepers are not looked upon with 

 much favor by the general public. Any 

 individual, who has earnestly endeavored 

 to enlightened his neighbors, in regard to 

 the mysteries of bee-keeping, has found 

 himself, at some time associated in tiieir 

 minds, either with insane persons, or with 

 the venders of Wooden nutmegs. 



Now, there is, perhaps, nothing which 

 has tended so niucti to bring this about, 

 as our enthusiasm and generosity. Unlike 

 men in many other callings, the bee- 

 keepers are willing, yes, anxious, that the 

 people should understand the mysteries 

 of his trade. And who ever heard of a 

 bee-keeper that was afraid of competition. 

 On the other hand, he believes that 

 "anybody can and ever^'body should keep 

 bees." 



Now, is it not high time that we should 

 desist from some of our talk iu this re- 

 spect. True, anybody can'learn to keep 

 bees, but it is not one in a thousand who 

 will. And why should we find fault. 

 Now we know that under favorable cir- 

 cumstances, and with the experience of 

 years, we do sometimes realize almost 

 fabulous profits, from our little workers. 

 We further know, that to the expert bee- 

 keeper, there is no investment of capital, 

 that presents so few liabilities to lose as 

 this. But it is not so to the Novice. 

 Many things of vital importance, while 

 they appear very simple, nevertheless cost 

 us patient toil, ere we learned them. 



1 have had men come to my apiary, 

 and seeing the case with which I could 

 handle the bees — make new swarnls, ex- 

 tract honey, &c., — have begged me to 

 come and fix up their bees. I have 

 done so at even a i)ersonal sacrifice ; all 

 would go well for a time, but suddenly 

 I would be cursed for killing his bees. 



Now the fact is : BeecuUure is EOt 

 such a simple thing after all. True, it is 

 briefly comprehended iu one saying : 

 "Thou shalt keeji thy stocks strong," but 

 the minuiia of its modus opfrandi is as 

 complex as that of any trade iu the world. 



