50 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



can readily imagine how a wasp might dodge 

 in; but how one could actually build a nest 

 on a comb of honey is not so easy to explain, 

 unless, perchance, this section of honey at 

 which we are looking had been partly built 

 out from the previous season. If it had been 

 put on to the hive a little earlier, before the 

 bees began in the super, a wasp might, after 

 getting through the entrance, be able to make 

 a nest for itself in a comparaiivel\ empty 

 super. But it seems the bees mu>i have " put 

 on the finishing touches," from the fact that 

 they smeared it all over with propolis, and 

 plugged the hole up with the same substance, 

 and the wasp was evidently interrupted in its 

 work. I pity it. — Ed.] 



HOW MUCH HONEY IS CONSUMED IN I.OS 

 ANGELES ? 



This is a rather hard question to answer. It 

 is said that more honey is consumed in cold 

 than in warm climates. Los Angeles is in the 

 semi-tropic belt, and should consume but a 

 small amount of honey ; but as it is the cen- 

 ter of or shipping point for a large amount of 

 honey, many pounds must drop in here for 

 home consumption. From observation of the 

 amounts sold in stores md by p-ddlers we risk 

 the estimate at ten carloads of '20, 000 lbs. per 

 car, or 200,000 Us. This would give a con- 

 sumption of only 2 lbs. per capita in this city 

 of 100,000 population. To raise the per capita 

 of consumption to 20 lbs. is an interesting 

 problem to solve, and who will solve it ? 



Two bee-keepers from our lower country 

 have been doing excellent pioneer work in our 

 extreme Northwestern States. 



The new Weed process of selling honey is 

 another move in the right direction. Now 

 that we have gotten the production down to 

 such a science, we should scientificize the dis- 

 posal of it. We should also remember that 

 there is not enough honey produced in the 

 United Stales to go around if properly distrib- 

 uted. 



From the low lands and cieiiagas (swamps) 

 along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, 

 where the tule grows in luxuriance, there is 

 much honev produced, and of a very dark 

 color. This honey is worth but 1^ cts. per 

 pound, so quotes the San Francisco papers. 

 It is safe to say that there is not much produc- 

 ed at that price. 



The alcohol test is a very simple one for de- 

 tecting the presence of glucose in honej'. 

 Gh:cose seems to have an affinity for alcohol ; 

 and when a small amount of the latter is pour- 

 ed over the surface of the mixture the glucose 

 will send up little threads and balloon-like 

 bubbles into the alcohol. Alcohol placed upon 

 the surface of pure honey creates no agitation 

 whatever. 



There are colonies of bees within the city 

 limits of Los Angeles, in spile of corporation 

 law ; but the most of these colonies are in 

 houses where they are not wanted. There has 

 been an estimate given that there are a thou- 

 sand colonies so domiciled. From our point 

 of view, the estimate is far too large.^ After a 

 residence of nearly two years in this city, and 

 after no little observation, we don't believe 

 there are over one hundred such colonies. 



Mr. W. D. French, of San Diego, went to 

 Oregon with a car of honey, an I after a few 

 weeks of work disposed of it at a fair price. 

 Mr. J. C. Kubias is p-rforming the same 

 trick in Montana. Mr. K. is evidently doing 

 well, for over a cir of honey has been shipped 

 to him. As an evidence of prosperity, he re- 

 cen'-h' returned with a dog that weighed 180 

 lbs. A few more enterprising and get-there 

 salesmen would revolutionize the honey mar- 

 ket. 



In the Chamber of Commerce, in this city, 

 are several jars of pure extracted sage honey. 

 Some of these jars have been on the shelves 

 for over two years, and the honej- is as clear 

 as when placed on exhibition. Pure sage hon- 

 ey will remain liquid a long time. Some pro- 

 ducers go so far as to claim that it will never 

 granulate. And, by the waj-, the said Cham- 

 ber has gotten out a new pamphlet for free 

 distribution, describing the various beautiful 

 features of Southern California. 



A book has been written by a Los Angeles 

 woman, in which she asserts that the human 

 race has full power and dominion over the an- 

 imal kingdom. "All insects," she says, 

 " w 11 go from your body, your house, and 

 vour farm, if you bid them go, and do it in 

 love. They are intelligent, and respond to the 

 spoken word togo." Well, now, we'd like to 

 see her try that on a colony of Cyprian bees. 

 She might start in wilh the love-racket all so 

 gay, but in the end the Cyprians would hold 

 the farm. Come to take a second thought, 

 ' there air some wimmin folks " that have 

 been known to talk every thing off the farm 

 but themselves. We think the bees will stay, 

 sort o' peppery, like the woman. 



Tom Wee Ling is a progressive Chinaman. 

 He is the only bee-keeping Chinaman we know 

 of. The majority of his countrymen lake to 

 the laundry business or to gardening. But 

 Tom has a ranch in the Soledad Canyon, and, 

 seeing his neighbor, Mr. C. H. Clayton, tak- 

 ing oflt tons of honey, his fever in the same 

 direction was excited, and the result is an api- 

 ary and several tons of honey. Tom Wee 

 Ling is, furthermore, so progressive that he 

 has become a member of the Exchange, freight- 

 ing his honey over forty miles by team, and 

 putting it into the Exchange. When he put 

 his honey in the warehouse he said, " Me sell 

 my honey all samee like Mellican man." [If 

 you will send us a picture of T^m Wee Ling 

 we will half-tone it for Gleanings. — Ed.] 



Those bee-men who have been trv'ing to get 

 the government to import Apis dorsata should 

 take courage, for the Secretary of Agriculture 

 has given his assent and approval for the im- 

 portation of lUastophoga psenes, or, in a short- 



