1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



331 



it is with Mr. Wheelor that I travel to Temec- 

 ula and Fallbrooi<. We start from Riverside, 

 and journey llirough the pass known as Box 

 Springs. The water is deveinjjed, and large 

 boxes are sunk into tike ground, niiiking a sort 

 of reservoir from whicli the water is conducted 

 to where it is needed. The numl)er of these 

 developed springs and boxes gives the locality 

 its name. TlHue are several apiaries in this 

 canyon; and as the entire collection of TJox 

 Spring Mountains is not many miles from popu- 

 lous Riverside, the number of apiaries is on the 

 increase. 



Our journey led through several small towns, 

 and I remembered Wiidoniar in particular as 

 being the place where Mr. Hubbard, of River- 

 side, had purchased some chickens. They were 

 of the Plymouth Rock denomination; and 

 when they arrived at the Hubbard mansion 

 they were examined with enthusiasm by Mrs. 

 H.; but for many days when they were called 

 to their breakfast they would run away in the 

 opposite direction. Mr. and Mrs. H. thought 

 this a strange freak: and, after some thought, 

 Mr. H. found the reason to be that the chickens 

 had been purchased of a Wildomar Dutchman, 

 had been called in Dutch, and, when the good 

 United States " chick, chick," had been shout- 

 ed to them they did not "sabe." Due training, 

 however, by Mrs. H. has quite naturalized and 

 Americanized them. 



The Dutch way of catching chickens is also 

 quite novel, and may give our American poul- 

 try-fanciers a hint, which will save much bois- 

 terous running. A long light slender pole, with 

 a wire hook on the end of it, is the simple ap- 

 paratus. The hook is stealthily applied to the 

 neck of the fowl, and it is immediately a cap- 

 tive. 



We found Temecula another shipping-point 

 for a great amount of honey. The town is not 

 so thriving as it was in boom times, and is sort 

 of waiting for the next boom. 



We stopped over night here and found the 

 hotel-keeper a typical Californian. He was an 

 ex-bee-keeper; sold his honey for 3>.2 cts. per 

 lb., and on that low price went out of the busi- 

 ness. Another factor among the reasons for 

 quitting the business was that, on the lonely 

 bee-ranch, his wife was attacked and danger- 

 ously bitten by a wildcat (Eugenias, take no- 

 tice). The wife, however, was equal to the oc- 

 casion, and got hold of it in such a way as to 

 choke the life out of it. The town, therefore, 

 had attractions for mine host and his family. 

 The tinkle-tonkleof the supper-gong broke in 

 upon our meditations; and upon gratifying 

 curiosity I found it to be a large cultivator- 

 tooth being whacked with a piece of iron. It 

 made the valley echo, and, to all intents and 

 purposes, it was as good as an expensive gong. 

 We were rather late in getting to the supper-ta- 

 ble, and I was placed opposite another rambler 

 in the shape of a Temecula Indian, of which 



there is quite a sprinkling around the country. 

 My opposite was very taciturn, and dcwoted 

 liimself strictly to the business of satisfying 

 the inner man. 



When we proceeded upon our journey the 

 next morning we found, in the next town, what 

 might be termed a natural curiosity; but it was 

 not considered remarkable liere. This nook in 

 the mountains has the unusual phenomenon of 

 a Rainbow every day in the year. Wet or dry, 

 hot or cold, clear or foggy, that Rainbow is sure 

 to be found. It is not of the prismatic order, 

 but prefixes to the name, J. P. M.; and this 

 Rainbow owns 200 colonies of bees, a large 

 amount of land, is supervisor in San Diego Co., 



and the postoifice in this neighborhood bears 

 the same name; and, on the whole, though the 

 heavens are not spanned, this Rainbow is no 

 mean affair, and walks and talks to some pur- 

 pose among the children of men. 



As we get through the pass from Temecula to 

 Fallbrook we get into a more prosperous-look- 

 ing country. We skirt alongside the Red 

 Mountain Ranch, containing 800 acres, fully 600 

 of which is planted to fruit-trees, and of va- 

 rieties too numerous to mention. From one por- 

 tion of tlie road, as we wind around the moun- 

 tains we get a view of the Pacific Ocean, only 

 about twenty miles away. Frequent fogs, and 

 the moisture resulting therefrom, enables the 

 ranchers to grow qu'le a variety of products 

 here without irrigation; and though Fallbrook 

 has no present boom on, we met parties who 

 gave such a roseate description of the town and 

 its possibilities that one would think there was 

 not another such town on earth. We begin to 

 think, also, that, to be a true Californian, the 

 town in which we live must be the subject of 

 unstinted praise wherever we go, whether it de- 

 serves it or not. In Fallbrook we found Mr. A. 

 F. Cate, quite an extensive bee-keeper, and in 

 business as a lumber-dealer. In the latter ca- 

 pacity he handles bee-hives and sections, dis- 

 tributing many thousands among the surround- 

 ing bee-keepers. Mr. Cate had just received 



