370 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



covered with groves of orange, lemon, and other 

 fruits, and nuts. The land is under the control 

 of a company who are developing a water sup- 

 ply, and settlers^ are invited, on easy terms, to 

 invest in their lands. 



We soon entered the common highway, and 

 then our pleasures were of another sort. This 

 country, during the many months of dry weath- 

 er, develops something that the land companies' 

 circulars and the booming local papers never 

 mention. It is, the finest and most numerous 

 dust you ever breathed. A horse trotting or 

 even walking in it. where the feet sink inio it 

 up to the fetlock, is sure to raise an impenetra- 

 ble cloud of it. We were obliged to talk through 

 our noses for some miles, and even that was 

 disagreeable. It was a genuine relief to drive 

 off the road and approach a ranch where the 

 pleasures of cooling shade, blooming roses, and 

 refreshing S])ring water were to be enjoyed. 

 This lovclv i)laci"]Ki(l the lovi'ly name of Wild 



from the apiary to the honey-house, some 25 

 rods, on a wheelbarrow. 



Miss Alfiretta combines schoolteaching with 

 her other duties; and from the enterprise with 

 which these ladies manage the ranch, it was 

 easy to see that they were thorough business 

 women. 



In the house was a fine library and a case of 

 several hundred curios. On the floor was a 

 large lynx skin to which Mrs. Wood called our 

 attention. Herself and daughter had treed the 

 animal in the night, and the hired man was 

 called out with gun, and successfully finished 

 the hunt. 



We were loth to get out into the dust again; 

 but the pleasures of Wild Rose Park were not 

 so irresistible but that, after another quaff at 

 the cooling waters, we pursued our journey and 

 soon arrived at the Glen Ivy Hotel and the 

 Temescal hot sulphur springs. We were in 

 just the condition to appreciate the cleansing 



WILD ROSE PARK APIARY. 



Rose Park, and was managed by two lovely 

 women, Mrs. Wood and her daughter, with the 

 lovely name of Alfiretta. Out beyond the great 

 oak-trees that surrounded the house, and 

 crowded upon a narrow margin of land between 

 the wash and the hillside, was a long array of 

 130 swarms of bees. The peculiarity of this 

 apiary was the large number of Harbison hives. 

 These hives were a little different from oui- 

 Sacramento friend's. Instead of using a block 

 to fill up a vacancy, the hive had been increased 

 to such a degree that several crates of sections 

 could be storified, and the hive had a very 

 lengthy ai)pearance; in fact, it is a Long-Idea 

 hive pointing toward the sky. The greater 

 share of the hives in the apiary were of the 

 L. pattern, and the ladies wished to sell all 

 of their Harbisons, and this was strong evi- 

 dence that they preferred the L. During the 

 East season the yield had been .5000 lbs. of comb 

 oney, and Mrs. Wood had transported it all 



properties of a bath, and made haste to plunge 

 into the water, warmed to 105 degi'ees tempera- 

 ture, and medicated by nature in tne hidden 

 recesses of the earth. We forgot the dust and 

 discomfort of the ride, and exclaimed, "Oh 

 what a glorious country is this I" The hotel 

 and these baths make the locality a noted 

 resort. The glen from which the hotel takes 

 its name is a beautiful and romantic goi'ge with 

 a clear stream of water tumbling and foaming 

 over the boulders, making many beautiful 

 wateifalls. Besides the hotel there is a little 

 stoie, a pretty and commodious school house, 

 used also for a church and Sunday-school, and 

 half a dozen cottages scattered here and there 

 among the oaks and cottonwoods. This com- 

 prises Temescal. The main product of the 

 town is honey, and nearly every resident is in- 

 tei'ested more or less in its production. There 

 are over 1000 colonies owned in this vicinity. 

 Mr. Isaiah Audi-rson is the veteran bee-keep- 



