GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



they can publish *o much that will be present- 

 ed to the general public in a form acceptable to 

 bee-keepers. — Ed.] 



RAMBLE 121. 



GETTING CLAMS, ETC. 



By Rambler. 



Mr. Hilton is about the only bee-keeper of any 

 account near Los Alamos. He has only one 

 fraternal competitor, and that is a German 

 bearing the name of Kisswickeder; or if I have 

 not got it right, it sounded as above. Mr. Hil- 

 ton drove me out in his cart one forenoon, and 

 we found the apiary and residence of our Ger- 

 man bee-keeper, but we regretted to tind the 

 owner absent. The hills were very tame around 

 this apiary, and there was a plentiful supply of 

 bee-pasturage; but it was nearly as retired a 

 place as the spot in the Zaca Mountains where 



cultural career, owned ;iOO colonies ; but at the 

 time of our visit it was reduced to 80 colonies ; 

 and, like Mr. Hilton's bees, these were surely 

 getting honey; and I afterward learned that he 

 got a ton or two of surplus honey. Long may 

 the name of Kisswickeder wave! 



Our sojourn in Los Alamos, however, termi- 

 nated. We regretted to leave so kind a friend 

 behind as Mr. Hilton. His generosity broke 

 forth one morning in bringing to our camp a 

 roll of butter and a can of honey. For many 

 days thereafter we audibly ejaculated, "May 

 the shadow of Hilton never grow lessl" I did 

 not regret, however, to leave those various-hued 

 babies. The last thing I discerned distinctly, 

 as we rolled out of Los Alamos, was one of 

 those juvenile faces with a squall spreading 

 rapidly from the mouth to the ears, getting 

 ready, as I opined, to have its picture taken. 



Bro. Wilder, I know, had some regrets at 

 leaving, for some of those bright-faced Spanish 



IVwhri "'^. 





PISMO BEACH. 



Mr. Hilton wished to locate the Rambler. Our 

 German lived the happy life of a bachelor in 

 this retired spot, and his little cabin \Vas char- 

 acteristically German in its surroundings. A 

 great variety of flowers, roses, etc., dotted the 

 lawn, and many rare varieties of trees and 

 shrubs were growing, among which Mr. Hilton 

 pointed out a tea-ti'oe. A tall pole bore upon 

 its summit a dovecote, in which a numerous 

 flock were cooing their love- notes. Evidently, 

 in the absence of dog or cat, our friend found 

 much companionship in the feathered creation, 

 as well as with his bees. Another evidence of 

 German occupation was an empty beer-barrel, 

 and several bottles marked " Lager" or " Rhein 

 Wein." The pipe, also, solaced the German. 



A short distance from the cabin we saw the 

 busy apiary. Mr. K., at one period in his api- 



senoritas tugged hard at his heart-strings : but 

 deer-hunting ahead had greater attractions, and' 

 he tore himself away. 



In Santa Maria we made a brief halt, and 

 then pushed on into the (to us) unknown coun- 

 try beyond. A little beyond the town we ford-j 

 ed the Santa Maria (Mah-re-ah) River. The 

 ford was over a mile across, and not a drop of 

 water in sight. This, too, was one of those riv- 

 that are bottom up, which we tind so often inj 

 this country. The sand was, however, worse to[ 

 ford than water would have been, and our po-j 

 nies needed to rest quite often. This sand ford 

 is not only toilsome fur horses, but a terror tOj 

 the rider of the wheel. We learned from a cy- 

 clist that it is the only place in all the journey^ 

 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, over 5()0i 

 miles, where a wheel will stand alone uprightl 



