1802 



».LEANIN(}S IN BEE CUI/rURE. 



S4r 



iiiissi(>n;ir\' \\nrl<. ami iiiaiiy a Siiiultvy-scliool 

 MiptTiiiti'iiiifiit lias laisi'd a iiifUKiM' sum once a 

 yi-ar to send to the hoiiic mission to aid in tin' 

 fsial>li>lnn<-nl of Siuidav - scliools in the faf 

 West. Haviiiu wjtiu'sscii ilic laisiiifiof funds 

 on om- sidr of tlif oonlincnt. it. was with genu- 

 ine pleasure tiiat. I s\ itiicsscd tlic plaiitiuK of 

 tli»' sci'd in this far wt'SttTu land. It liaiijii'in'd 

 in this way: 



The new sctth-rs drsii-fd a Sunday-school, 

 and an acont of the home mission hapixMicd 

 alonir. Tht'St' mi>si(iiiari<'s afc always handy. 

 They oan sih^ what is iioinji to be a new town a 

 Ions way otf. and ai'c ready to put up with any 

 ini-oiivt'iiicnoe if they ean only organize a Suii- 

 day-seliool. In this case the S(>ats were boards 

 mounted on saw-horses or nail -kegs, and the 

 preacher's desl< was a few boxes pih'd up. 

 The legs of the urchins dangled from the seats 

 tliiit were too high foi- them, and ,<()nie were so 

 short that they didnt dangle at ail. but their 

 toes stuck straight u|) just ov<m' tht; edge of the 

 board, while they seemed to take great interest 

 in the proceedings. After the Sunday-school 

 w as organized the agent electrified the audience 

 by stating that the Land and Water Co. had 

 offered ten acres of land, selling price .*1(»0 per 

 acre, and two building lots, to the first denomi- 

 nation who would build a church: and as his 

 denomination was well represented in the set- 

 tlement, there would be a church ready for 

 occupancy -before Christmas. 



That's the go-aliead and hopeful way they do 

 business in this country; and the teacliing I 

 wish to convey is. that money devoted to the 

 hoini' missionary work was well invested in 

 this case, as I have no doubt it is in a great 

 majority of cases: and the schools like this one 

 became at once .self-supporting. So. ray friend, 

 whatever your opinion may be in mi-sionary 

 work in general, do not fail to give liberal aid 

 to the home mission cd' your respective denom- 

 inations. It will aid to plant the standard of 

 good morals in many an embryo town. 



The next point is the cutting oft' of honey 

 resources. In a previous ramble it was stated 

 that the apiaries around this valley had, dur- 

 ing the past poor season, produced many tons 

 of honey. It was drawn mostly from the val- 

 ley, which is well covered with all kinds of 

 wild bushes, including sage, wild buckwheat, 

 and honey-plants too numerous to mention. 

 Thn establishment of ."^unday-schools means the 

 rapid digging up of honey-plants, and their 

 places will be filled with cultivated lields. Of 

 course, it is a pleasure to see the wild covering 

 of the plain rolled up like a scroll, and see the 

 reclaimed lands dotted with thrifty homes. 

 The rapidity with w hich it is being done is 

 shown by the fact tliat two large colonies of 

 thrifty and steady Dunkards have taken up 

 about" 120(J acres of these lands, and will soon 

 commence digging and ini|)roving. and proba- 

 bly the first thing will be the establishment of 

 a Sunday-school, afii'r their peculiar belief. 

 \ decline in honey production will follow, and 

 it is hardly possible that fruit and alfalfa cul- 

 ture will ever take the place of the tnore pro- 

 lific sage in the secn'tion of hotiey. Next in 

 order will come the conflict between the fruit- 

 men and the bees in the foot-hills: and I can 

 safely say that the Sunday-school is not in this 

 Hght: for the man that poisons and burns bees 

 is usually if not altogether outside of Sunday- 

 sciiool influence. 



15KES AM) FRUIT— THK I!K.\I. SITIATION. 



Upon this point of the abuse of the rights of 

 bee-keepers I have an array of facts that will 

 harrow up the sympathetic feelings of every 

 bee-keeper in the land. As a prelude to fuiure 

 articles, I wish to give a brief account of a visit 



!♦> (ilendiile and the home of Mr. Woodbury. 

 Wiiile in Los Angeles in Se|)t<'ml)er. and whil<' 

 having a friendly chat with Mr. Hrodix-ck. 

 who should run against iis but our old friend 

 and veteran bce-kee|)er Mr. Corey, of Santa 

 i'aula ! Having a few hours to be profitably 

 spent. Mr. 1{. advised us to nui out to (Ilendale 

 and interrupt the <ven tenorof Mr. Woodbury's 

 ways: and about 10 a. .m. found us safely on 

 the ground: but instead of finding Mr. W. 

 walking around in a civilized way, we found 

 him under ground — or, in other words, in tljat 

 tunnel previously mentioned in (Ji.E.^NiNds. 

 The tunnel had progres.sed inward, and then 

 downward, like a well; and down there in the 

 water was Mr. Woodbtiry. Peering up he re- 

 marked. *• W<'ll, what can I do for you?" But 

 before I could tell him I wanted a job at tun- 

 neling. Mr. Corey thrust his head over the 

 opening. It was recognized, and, "Oh, hoi 

 that's you!" came from the well; and when 



How mi:, woodhuhv gets ot'T of his tuxnei,. 



Mr. C. said the other head was the Rambler's, 

 there was another exclamation, " Ah, ha!" and 

 a great kicking and splashing of water followed 

 as he swung himself up to his ladder, which 

 was secured at the top. and lacked several feet 

 of reaching the bottom. 



When upon the surface we found Mr. W. a 

 very pleasant bee- man, and, of course, the 

 apiary of about W colonies neatly arranged on 

 terraces was looked at and discussed. Mr. 

 W. is not only enthusiastic in bee-managetnent, 

 but also in fruit culture, and has a good show- 

 ing of figs, oranges, and small fruits. The 

 raspberries were bearing a second crop, and 

 we picked several fine clusters: and although 

 Mr. W. cultivates raspberries on his ranch, 

 without injury from the bees, a neighbor 

 was irritating him because the bees were 

 destroying /a-s raspberries, and was threatening 

 all sorts of vengeance against them. ]Mr. W.'s 

 bees wv.Vi' the only ones in sight, and, of course, 

 came in for their share of all of the blame. 

 The reason why Mr. W.'s raspberries were un- 

 injured in the' immediate vicinity of the bees 

 was from the fact that the berries were picked 

 before they became overripe, while the neigh- 

 bor allowed his berries to get beyond that peri- 

 od, and were really worthless for shipping. 

 Still. Mr. W. ottered to pay damages, and was 

 really thinking of selling his bees, which were 

 a source of considerable revenue to him. Mr. 

 Corey and I strongly advised him to stand by 

 his rights of priority, for he had been on his 



