GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



women, and be in danger of having them mis- 

 taken for ray outfit, was a little too much. I 

 frantically shouted to Mr. Wilder to drive in, 

 and that explained what our real outfit con- 

 sisted of, and no women aboard of it. I found 

 that, during the two and a half years that had 

 elapsed since my visit to the Sespe bee-ranch, 

 there had been many improvements. The pep- 

 per-trees up the Sespe Avenue had grown to 

 good height. New orchards have been plant- 

 ed, and new and elegant residences built, new 

 oil-wells sunk, and prosperity seemed to smile 

 upon the good people of Fillmore. 



MR. AND MK8. M IM'YRE AND FAMILY. 



The Sespe apiary seemed to be in a flourish- 

 ing condition. The orange- trees were loaded 

 with fruit, which was being disposed of to 

 various customers who called for it (tint is 

 what the outfit of eight women were ;titer). 

 The various other fruits on the place wen' get- 

 ting ready for the harvest. The only unpro- 

 ductive thing this year was the apiary, and a 

 feeder now and then on a hive showed that 

 there were some colonies that were getting 

 short of stores; but our friend hoped that the 

 apiary would pull through without a general 

 feeding. Mr. Mclntyre still has a greater por- 

 tion of his last season's crop all packed in a new 

 fire-proof honey-storehouse. The dread of fire 

 and the cost of insurance are banished, and the 

 precious sweets that cost so much toil from 

 both man and bee are safe. Mr. Mclntyre's 

 home sales of honey are quite large. His repu- 

 tation for a good article leads many small 

 dealers to place their orders with him. 



The honey-extractor devised by Mr. Mcln- 

 tyre, and described in a past issue of Glean- 

 ings, has done its work well, the little water- 

 motor causing it to spin like a top, and save 

 much hard labor. 



The great honey-plant of this region is the 

 purple sagp. Ft dJiTcrs from the common black 

 sage in having laigrr boils, and the foliage is 



nearly white, while the black sage is dark- 

 green. The purple sage covers the great moun- 

 tains to their very tips; but without rain there 

 is no honey nor fragrance to call the honey-bee 

 to its accustomed task. We found that the 

 disease recently spoken of by Prof. Cook, and 

 which in some respects resembles foul brood, 

 has been known here for some time, and is not 

 considered a dangerous disease. Bee-paralysis 

 is quite troublesome in some apiaries, and Mr. 

 Mclntyre attributes it in a measure to the col- 

 ony getting weakened at some period in the 

 winter, so that the queen gets slightly chilled. 

 Uniting an affected colony with a strong one, 

 and thus warming them up. usually cured the 

 disease. Bees kept in shady or moist places 

 were also more affected than in sunny locations. 

 Experiments in this line are worthy of trial. 

 From accounts of the widespread prevalence of 

 the disease, and its virulence in some localties, 

 it would be well for apiarists to note the condi- 

 tion of their colonies in the early spring months, 

 when cool nights are prevalent. 



The next day after our arrival we attached 

 our ponies to Mr. INIcIntyre's family wagon, 

 and Mr. and Mrs. Mclntyre and the four girls, 

 with Mr. Wilder and myself, made a lively 

 picnic load. We all journeyed up the Pole 

 Creek Canyon to the residence of T. F. Arun- 

 del 1, another of the noted bee-keepers of Fill- 

 more. It would delight any reader of Glean- 

 ings to make the trip here, as well as in the 

 .Sespe Canyon; for a like boldness of the scenery 

 is most inspiring. As we wind along from the 

 mouth toward the tail end of the canyon, final- 

 ly, after a sharp climb, we find ourselves at the 

 I'esidence of our friend, which is sublimely lo- 

 cated upon a little mesa, right among the 

 towering mountains. The photo will give the 

 reader a very good idea of the situation of 

 mountain after mountain, canyon and precipice 

 commingled Although Mr. Arundell has the 

 usual sized farm of KiO acres, or thereabouts, 

 his stock has the range of all of those vast 

 mountains; and though some of the pasture- 

 lands hang up edgewise, like a picture upon 

 the wall. Mr. Arundell and his boys and his 36 

 horses can climb them as nimbly as a deer. 

 Tlies(> alpine climbs give great expansion to 

 the lungs, and sickness is unknown in the 

 Arundell family; and when all together there 

 is quite a swarm of youngsters clustering 

 around the parents — four boys and two girls. 

 The two older boys mount the old pet horse, 

 and dash down the steep winding grades of the 

 canyon, at a rate that would make an ordinary 

 fellow's head swim. The cows are hunted. 

 The musical ding-dong of the covvbell directs 

 them to the herd, and they are soon in the cor- 

 ral near the house. 



I'ole Creek Canyon is so named from the 

 number of tall sycamore poles found there. 

 Owing to the perpendicular and even over- 

 lianging sides of the canyon, trees have to 



