18V»2 



(;i.HANIN(;s liN BEE CULTURE. 



i«t5 



Ilui. study iill \v(> may. and road all we may, 

 •AC ikmhI to cultivate tli»> faculty of observation, 

 riicrc are always sonii- |)roble"m^ in apiculture 

 \ liicli can not he solved hy a general rule. 

 Kach one must work it out for himself amidst 

 his own environments. Ei'OENK Skcok. 



Forest ("it v. la. 



RAMBLE NO. 67. 



>ii\ >Mrni 



AI.l'.\I,K.\-tii:oWIX(; IN CAI.I- 

 I'OKM.V. 



A short distance from the Rambler's apiary, 

 and in the mountains, upon a ten-acre ranch, 

 and with a small apiary, resides a man well 

 known to every to\ni tlirou!;;hoiit this broad 

 land. Let me introduce you to the renowned 

 John .Smith. Mr. .Smith has but si.\ swarms of 

 bees, and they receive; no attention whatever, 

 even in swarminsr time; but when he desires 

 honey for his table a man is employed to ex- 

 tract once from tlie hives. This once extract- 

 ing gives him enough for iiis table a year: 

 therefore the man who desires only a few 

 swaims to obtain honey for his own use will .see 

 in what an easy way it can be done here in 

 California. While the bees seem to be so thor- 

 oughly let alone, and the swarms are going into 

 the rocks at their own sweet will, the ranch is 

 not neglected: and while passing it many times 

 during the season I have i)een repeatedly sur- 

 prised at the wonderful effects of water upon 

 vegetable growth. Twenty months ago this 

 ranch was covered with sage and chemise 

 bushes: now there is a vineyard with such lux- 

 uriant growth as to cover the ground; an 

 ■orange-orchard with wclldevi'loped tops that 

 now have many oraiiges upon them: a row of 

 eucalyptus-trees around the ranch has shot up 

 twenty feet, and the growth is almost visible. 

 But the most interesting portion of the ranch, 

 ■and one in which every bee-keeper would be 

 interested, is a two-acre Held of alfalfa. When 

 I Hrst passed his ranch in February he was 

 mowing it. I had been used to deep snows and 

 cold winds at that time of the year, and it was 

 indeed a novelty to hear the rattle of a mowing- 

 machine. The crop in due time was drawn 

 away, the water glistened again in the stubble, 

 and in what seemed to be an incredibly short 

 time the mowing-machine was rattling again, 

 and the luxuriant growth was falling. As Mr. 

 Smith halted at tlie corner I said, "Mr. S., you 

 •cut that field about three weeks ago." 



"Oh, no!" said he; "'it was six weeks. I cut 

 it about every six weeks."' 



The six-weeks period seemed to go around so 

 rapidly, that, on the 8th of June, while he was 

 mowitig again. I marked the date on his flume. 

 "Now." says L "'we will see about this six- 

 weeks business." I passed again on the !ith of 

 -Inly. Mr. S. was casting his eye over his well- 

 grown field of alfalfa. Said 1, "Are you tliink- 

 ing of mowing again ? " 



" Yes," said he: " I will cut it on Monday." 



I then showed him the mark on the flume. 

 and he svas himstdf astonished at the rapid 

 growth his alfalfa had mad<; in a trifle f)ver 

 four weeks. The average time, however, the 

 year round, is six weeks. Three tons per acre 

 is the average yield, and .?12 per ton tVie price; 

 so an acns of alfalfa brings in cjuite a revenue 

 in the course of a year. The chie.f inter-st to a 

 bee-keeper in an alfalfa-field is its period of 

 blossom; but our rancher defeats the wishes of 

 the bee-keeper and the work of the bees by 

 mowing it every lime before it blossoms. If by 

 «hance he neglects to mow it until it is in full 

 bloom the busy bee is there in great numbers 



to .secure the harvest. Alfalfa will produce for 

 a series of years if abundance of water is ap- 

 plied; and with a growing interest in it. and an 

 increase in the number (tf acres, if the rancher 

 could be impressed with the idea of allowing 

 his alfalfa to bloom, it would make (piite a dif- 

 ference in the honey yield in many localities, 

 and especially splice out in a bad season like 

 the present. 



Witnessing the wonderful growth of tree and 

 grass and iiow(;ring bush, it is no wonder that, 

 in this land of sunsliine and Mowing water, are 

 found the most beautiful homes that can 

 charm the eye. Even the rud(> cabin can liave 

 its imperfections covered with th(! various- 

 hued climbing rose. The oleander grows here 

 to the dignity of a tree; and when the ditTerent- 

 colored flow(M's are grown on one tree by graft- 

 ing, they make a rc^gal appearance upon the 

 lawn. The pami)as grass, with feathered 

 plumes, is another object of beauty. The fan 

 or ray palm is another unioue tree much used 

 in oriiamenting a town. Tlie Sinmish bayonet, 

 with its load of blossoms, and the cn-ergreen 

 and ever beautiful pepper-tree, lend their 

 charms. The two latter are of interest to the 

 bee-keeper as hon(>y producers. The pepper- 

 tree, while in blossom, is worked freely by the 

 bees; but the hon(>y from it is of poor quality. 

 All of the above, and many more trailing vines 

 and flowering shrubs, lend their charms to 

 beautify hundreds of homes in Southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



The science of irrigation is brought to such 

 perfection here that water in many places is 

 apparently running up hill; but when we get 

 up on a level with the ditch we see it is only in 

 appearance. The little gates from the main 

 ditch are so arranged and worked that the 

 amount of water in inches can be adjusted to a 

 nicety: and the rancher or fruit-grower knows 

 just how long to let so many inches run on to 

 his land in order to secure its highest produc- 

 tion. As we hear the little streams of water 

 gurgling merrily along we arc reminded of the 

 old toper who was so overloaded that he fell 

 into the gutter. His jug, witli cork out. rolled 

 beyond his reach, and the whisky gurgled out 

 upon the ground. He imagined the gurgles 

 said, "I'm good. Fm good." In his inability to 

 rise he exclaimed, with a deep-drawn sigh, 

 "Oh. yesi I know you're good, you're good; but 

 I can't save you." The good of the whisky 

 was, however, a misnomer, as the condition of 

 the man indicated: but when our gurgliiig 

 water says, "lam good." it speaks the truth, 

 and the evidence of the truth is all around us. 



While we pass the beautiful homes and ad- 

 mire them we are also brought face to face 

 with the fact that the securing of many of them 

 cost much labor and hardship. Many of these 

 most beautiful homes are occupied by men who, 

 in earlier years, rolled themselves in a blanket 

 and slept under the stars of heaven. 



To the young man who comes from the farm 

 of the East, where hit is treated with consider- 

 ate kindness by his employer, it seems exceed- 

 ingly hard to conform to the ranch life in this 

 country. In a great majority of cases here the 

 extensive rancher knows little about, and cares 

 less for, the comfort of his laborers. He hires 

 Chinamen, Mexicans, Indians, negroes. Dutch, 

 French. Swedes, Jew and gentile; and a young 

 man just from the bosom of a respectable fam- 

 ily in the East, if he desires to work on a ranch, 

 has To put up with the same fare as the com- 

 mon herd. Instances are related where young 

 men from the East have hii-ed out, and at 

 night, after the tiresome toil of the day. asked 

 the rancher for a place to sleep. He replied, 

 " Why! I have 3fJ00 acres of land here; you can 

 sleep anywhere outdoors you please." Another 



