408 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



deep-green foliage; the clean, trim appearance, 

 and, in the fruiting season, the golden fruit. 

 Four stands are placed around each tree; on 

 these stands are two little hives, with frames 

 the size of a iJi^^H section. The frames rest 

 on two bottom stiips, and the whole little hive 

 can be removed f)om the frames, leaving them 

 free to be manipulated. The stands are also of 

 sufficient height to work around without much 

 bending of the back, which is an excellent pro- 

 vision when a dignified lady manipulates the 

 hives. 



I have no doubt Mrs. M. can run that whole 

 apiary of 500 colonics, and do it as well as she 

 can make bread. She comes honestly by her 

 bee-lore. for. as the most of bee-keepers know, 

 she is the daughter of Mr. Robert Wilkin, one 

 of the pioneer bee-keepers of this portion of 

 California, and she has been used to the hum of 

 bees all her life. 



Mr. Mclntyre has been written up so much 

 that you would hai'dly know that he had a 

 helpmeet of ability, and 1 hope the above will 

 set her right before the public. 



Mr. M. returned the next day, and we made a 

 short call at the apiary of Mr. Keeney. A de- 

 scription of his apiary tallies well with others. 

 Let me describe nine-tenths of the California 

 apiaries in a few words. Pasturage, bees, hives 

 (good, bad, and indifferent), stones, a 10x12 

 honey-house (sometimes only a frame covered 

 with burlap, or in Mexican style of adobe): a 



especially adapted to the cultivation of beans; 

 and this is probably the greatest bean-produc- 

 ing valley in the world. The largest bean- 

 ranch contains 2300 aci-es, and produced 1030 

 tons of lima beans, making several solid rail- 

 road trains of beans from one ranch. About 

 1.500 carloads from the county were handled, 

 and the value was $133,000. 



In Ventura we find many bee-keepers. Mr. 

 Mercer, well known to the fraternity, is in the 

 business to the number of 1200 swarms. Mr. M. 

 has four stalwart sons to help him, and is a 

 general driver in business. He and his sous are 

 all engaged, not only in bee culture, but also in 

 carpentry and building, and have a planing- 

 mill to aid them in their various enterprises, 

 and are doing a great amount of business in the 

 building line, all the time adding to and ex- 

 tending the size of the growing town of Ven- 

 tura. In the honey season, he too. like Mr. 

 Richardson, of Santa Paula, goes out to his 

 apiaries with his whole family and his horses, 

 and the cow and the calf and the colt. Our 

 photo shows the train coming in after thi^ con- 

 clusion of the labors of the season. The colt 

 is mounted in the wagon; the head wagon has 

 the inevitable trail wagon behind, and Mr. 

 Mercer is driving. 



Mr. Robert Wilkiii, of Ventura, has retired 

 somewhat fi'om the activities of the pursuit, 

 though he still has apiaries in a distant portion 

 of the county. He has a very pleasant home, 



THE WAY A CALLFOENIA HOUSEHOLD MIGKATES TO AN OUT-APIAKY. 



gaivanized-lron honey-tank: sun wax-extractor; 

 badger, skunk, squirrel, and gopher holes all 

 around; sometimes a little 10x12 cabin to bach 

 it in through the honey-season. 



Mr. Keeney's apiary was near his residence, 

 and was in very good trim. Mr. K. himself is 

 not only a bee-keeper, but he is also a cultivator 

 of the vine, and produces quantities of raisins. 

 If the bees get troublesome he covers the grape- 

 trays with wire cloth, so the fruit-growing and 

 bee culture go hand in hand, as they should. 



From Mr. Keeney's I proceeded to Santa 

 Paula. Here Mr. Wm. T. Richardson resides, 

 and is owner of 1200 colonies of bees. He is a 

 contractor and builder; but when the honey- 

 season opens, with his family and a crew of 

 helpers he goes from one apiary to another 

 until the flow ceases. His bees were out in the 

 mountains on what is called the Sime ranche. 

 Mr. R. Touchton also has kept bees in Santa 

 Paula foi' 1(3 years, and is one of the veterans in 

 the business. In a good season he can take ten 

 swarms and increase them to one hundred. 



Mr. C. W. Metcalf, of Santa Paula, is a metal- 

 worker and tinner, and has invented a new re- 

 versible extractor. The baskets are operated 

 by a sprocket-chain, very ingeniously arranged 

 around several sprocket-wheels. The machine 

 workis very well, and the inventor is selling a 

 number of them. 



While the foot-hills and the mountains are 

 rich in honey, the fertile bottom lands are 



presided over by his youngest daughter. In his 

 front yard I noticed a pretty fountain and reser- 

 voir with goldfish. His house and surroundings 

 denote refinement and comfort, and I believe it 

 all came through bee culture. In his palmy 

 days he was ambitious to secure a crop of 50 

 tons of honey, and accomplished it. He then 

 sought a market for it in England, with good 

 results. Since living in California he had 

 bought and sold many apiaries. I find that 

 apiaries are more salable property in California 

 than in the East. Every season those who wish 

 to enlarge their business are looking for api- 

 aries, either to purchase or to rent; while in 

 the East, if an apiary is sold it has to be broken 

 up and sold to vai'ious parties, unless the pur- 

 chaser buys bees and farm. Here the apiary 

 is located upon government land, or land that 

 can be used for nothing else, and the purchaser 

 buys the bare bees, hives, and fixtures. 



Mr. Wilkin is a progressive man, takes an 

 active part in the prosperity and upbuilding of 

 the town in which he lives, and has also been 

 an active factor in the formation of bee-keep- 

 ers' associations. 



Mr. Walker, a few miles out of Ventura, com- 

 bines bee-keeping with ranching. He has sev- 

 eral thousand acres of land, and cattle and 

 horses. We read of the " cattle on a thousand 

 hills."' Here it would seem there are a thousand 

 cattle on a hill. P'ruit culture is, however. Mr. 

 Walker's hobby, and all kinds and of the best 



