1SS>2 



(JI.KANINliS liN HHK CU IvTlIRK. 



7(57 



oofasioiial pocUt't of onyx. In ili<' XiTiiumi 

 <liiivrri(>s tlic stoiio is fijiiiiti in lavtn' ami iiicx- 

 liiuistiblf niassos or scams; l)iil licri' il is in 

 hunt' boulders; and \\hoi\ one has hocn ((uar- 

 ricd il is not i-criain that another of lii<e (inaiity 

 will l)e found. There ai'e also tiaees of fj:ol(l 

 ami silver, hut it is found in quafi/ iiiekets. and 

 seai'i'ely pays for the investment of i-apilaito 

 <levelop. 



To siive some idea of tlie hon(n' fesoufc'(\s of 

 this little ranije of rorl<s. with the aid of Mr. 

 C'larU on one side ami Mr. Wildei's broncho on 

 the other. I obtained some notes and snap shots 

 from th(> saddle. Setting out from the Ram- 

 bler's i-abin and following down the north side 

 of the ransre. afti'ra mile, of travel we find the 

 apiary of Mr. t'hoate. Mere are 100 coloni(>s, 

 and a new and complete honey house; and. 

 though the stocks were v(>ry w(>ak in thesprini?. 

 the surpiu>< amounted to -'.■>( H) lbs. With his 

 bee-keei)ing and ranch work Mr. C. puts in his 

 spare time in the large cannei-y at Colton. 



Within half a mile of Mr. ('hoate"s is a newly 

 established apiary of ."lU colonies, owned by Mr. 

 N'anghn. who also li\cs in Colton. We now 

 proceed nearly a mile further, and in front of 

 the broad and level Cucamonga Valley we find 

 the 20i)-acre ranch of Mr. W. K. Clark, with 

 cattle, horses, poultry, and peach, orange, ap- 

 nle. and tig tribes, and 170 colonies of bees. 

 While Mr. Clark operati's the ranch. Mrs. Clark 

 o[)erates the bees and proves to be a skillful 

 operator. This apiary was started about six 

 years ago. from two colonies that were dug 

 from the rocks above the ranch. Being novices 

 in the business, the b(>es were tirst put into va- 

 rious nondescript hiv<'s: but learning of the 

 better management in movabhi-frami' hives, 

 the swarms were prope-ly transferred. After 

 an increase of 57 swarms from 17. and consider- 

 able honey in one season, the bee enthusiasm 

 increased, and the apiary now numbers 170. and 

 tlie product this poor season was 10.800 lbs. Of 

 course, they believe bee keeping pays, even in 

 a poor season. Mr. ami Mrs. C. belong to the 

 class of hospitable Californians; their latch- 

 string not only hang> out. but their door is 

 wide open, and the weary traveler is always 

 welcome. The nearest niMghbois are two miles 

 away, and one of these, a Mr. Button, with a 

 poor season before him. commenced with 25 

 colonies; increased thcmi to 50; sold some 

 stocks, and secured :.'()()() lbs. of honey, a few 

 colonies " giving down "' at the rate of '.'(K) lbs. 

 <"ach. 



Down toward the west I'lid of tlu; range we 

 find the apiary of Mr. Langton. an Englishman 

 who came to California with barely a hope of 

 saving his life fi-()ni the serious inroads of con- 

 sumption; but the climaK^ has given him a 

 measure of good health and hope for many 

 years yet on this tern^-^trial ball. We found .Mr. 

 L. very busy hanging out the family washing, 

 which showed a vi-ry helpful spirit toward the 

 busy hands in the house. .Mr. L.. during this 

 very pooi- season, has increased his l)ees from 

 3.3 to 62. and secured 54(J<J lbs. of honey. 



HOW MR. I,.\N'GTON I'KIM'.VHKS KKtlOSK.VII-r .VXS 

 FOK II()N1-:V. 



His honey is put into kerosene-cans; but if 

 every one used the care that he does there 

 would be no kicking from buyers. In the first 

 place he takes the entire top from the can. 

 Thi> gives ami)le chance to discover any thing 

 wrong in the int'-rior. If it is rusty it is n-ject- 

 ed: if not. it is thoroughly cleamd. and a new 

 top with sc-rew-cap is soldei-cd on. and the can 

 is practically as good as new. and at much less 

 co<t. The way many (irepare kerosene-cans for 

 hoiu'V is. to put a patch over the fiil outlet: 

 put a scresv-cap and handle on w hat was the 



iiottont. That puts tlie brand tli,at beti'ays the 

 can at the bottom; but it is a kero.sene-can all 

 the same, and not so commendable a plan of 

 transformation as Mr. Langtoirs. A little less 

 than a mile froui Mr. L.'s wi' found another 

 bee-keejier. Mr. Bloom, llislirst colonies were 

 also dug from the rocks and plantiMl at the 

 base of the mountain, where they had grown t,o 

 a good apiary; and 72 stocks in tlu^ spring of 

 this very poor season had increased to 110. ami 

 given 11. 3.;5 lbs., or over 100 lbs. to the colony. 

 This is the last apiary westward on the range, 

 and t-h(> valley bniadensout here and stretches 

 away olT toward Los .\iigeles. Tlu; yields of 

 lioney at this point and further down the valley 

 were better than upon the eastern end of th(! 

 range. 



Mr. Bloom has now niad«> arrangements to 

 sell 100 colonies next season for ^i.oo per colony, 

 the purchaser to furnish the hives. He i)iits in 

 no Ifs and (tiids about their wintering, as he 

 is quite sine of that part. 



From this point a lon(^ and deserted cabin is 

 pointed out on the plain, when; a lone bee- 

 kee|)er was murdered and liis body cremated 

 under the burning material of his l)ain. So. 

 lone bee-keepers do come to a bad end; but it is 

 where perhaps (>nemies follow up their victim 

 to avenge some wrong. 



We now pass around the mountain and w ork 

 our way up the south side; and a young man, 

 Mr. Ranee, from 25 colonies in the spring in- 

 creased to .50 and secured 3120 lbs. of honey, 

 which is not bad for a young man during this 

 poor season. 



Another hitch along the base of the moun- 

 tains, and we enter a very rocky and cup- 

 shaped canyon; in fact, it is almost an amphi- 

 theater, with its abrupt rocl<y walls on three 

 sides. Her(> is an apiary of 115 colonies, owned 

 by our friend Wilder, of Grayback and water- 

 melon fame. 





H. K. WILDER S APIARV I.\ WILDER S CAXVOX. 



Mr. Wilder .searched for a long time to find a 

 location that would fit his name, and finally 

 succeeded. The sketch shows that stones 

 abound, both above and below, and of a size; to 

 suit the most enthusiastic admirer of stones. 

 In the rocky |)ass above the apiary it is Wil- 

 ders wildesi, where rocks seem ready to roll 

 down of their own accord. The cabin, as 

 shown in the cut. is about as large as the big 

 rock shown at the right, and is located n<;ar an 

 unfailing spring: and upon a day when th(; 

 mercury gets to the 100 mark it is wonderful to 

 see the st<^ady stream of bees that pass the cab- 

 in for water. In this rocky retreat Mr. W. has. 

 in this season of uncertainty, taken 9120 lbs. of 



