1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



17 



judge is a feeble man, and not long for this 

 world. I was tinctured somewhat with the 

 same opinion until I saw those flat soda pan- 

 cakes disappear. I immediately made up my 

 mind he was good for thirty years more of 

 life. He is now 71. Why, land sakes ! you 

 all know what a strong stomach a corn-sheller 

 has for digesting things. Well, a Levering 

 pancake would give it the colic in five min- 

 utes. I really think the effect upon the judge 

 was distressing, for he never became pancake 

 hungry again during my residence in the 

 neighborhood, and it was very fortunate for 

 him that he did not. We silently, but by 

 mutual consent, dropped the subject. 



In nearly all other matters of cookery the 

 judge displayed decided talent. I admired 

 the rolling-pin he used when making biscuit, 

 and have sketched it for the benefit of the 

 reader. In its season we had much fruit on 

 our table, and at the end of six months' bach- 

 ing we found the expense was $1.66 per week. 

 Now, 83 cents each per week is not slow for 

 economy. The judge was looking out all the 



CHAPARRAI, THICKET. 



time for the interests of the heirs of the estate; 

 and as long as he and I were satisfied with the 

 board the heirs ought to be ; but, ten chances 

 to one, the judge will, in the end, get no 

 thanks, but kicks instead. 



Our honey season started in somewhat slow, 

 and with some elements of discouragement. 

 The early fruit-bloom did not yield honey, 

 neither did the manzanita, which is quite 

 abundant here. The mountains are also cov- 

 ered with chaparral, which, I am told, yields 

 some honey, but it failed this time. Chap- 

 arral is a dense growth of bushes on the 

 mountain-side, and they are so interlocked 

 that it is next to impossible for a man to find 

 a passage through it. It has a small white 

 blossom, but I doubt whether it yields much 

 honey at any time. While my nearest neigh- 

 bor rounded up his herd of cattle, sheep, and 

 his family, for a photo, I found that I bad in 

 the background a very good view of a moun- 

 tain covered with this growth, and it will give 

 your readers an idea of the appearance of 

 chaparral. 



Owing to rain and cool weather, several 

 hundred pounds of old honey was fed to the 



bees. As this was mostly comb honey in 

 large 12-pound boxes the task was an easy 

 one, except that, every time honey was placed 

 over the brood-nest, the back door and top of 

 those Harbison hives had to be retucked with 

 paper or rags. 



It was well into June before the bees com- 

 menced to gather honey, and this came from 

 the first crop of alfalfa. While in Southern 

 California five or six crops are harvested per 

 annum, and always cut just as it comes to the 

 blooming-point, here there are but two crops ; 

 and, fortunately for the bee-keeper, it is allow- 

 ed to stand two weeks in bloom. The first 

 crop yields more honey than the second, and 

 with less admixture of honey from other 

 sources. Our honey from this first crop was 

 almost as white as sage honey, and of fine 

 flavor. The second yield, in August, was less 

 in quantity, and darker in quality from being 

 mixed with honey from blue-curl, locally 

 known as tar-weed, and known in Southern 

 California as flea-weed or vinegar-weed. It 

 secretes a dark honey having a strong dis- 

 agreeable flavor. There were 

 acres of it on all waste places 

 in the valley. The bees com- 

 menced to work upon it just as 

 soon as the first crop of alfalfa 

 had been harvested. 



When I saw indications of the 

 coming of the second yield of 

 honey from alfalfa I extracted 

 all " tarweed " honey; and, al- 

 though it was nearly all unseal- 

 ed, it was ripe enough to com- 

 mence to granulate in the tank 

 in a few days. 



The removal of over a ton of 

 this dirk honey enabled me to 

 secure a better grade of honey 

 from the second crop of alfalfa. 

 The only admixture thereafter 

 was a small amount of tar-weed 

 honey. 

 Sweet clover was also a small factor in our 

 honey production. The late Mr. Levering 

 went east a few years ago, and upon his 

 return be brought with him the seeds of sweet 

 clover, m >therwort, catnip, and other plants, 

 for introduction here. Tne sweet clover took 

 hold of the soil real well here, and, after a few 

 years of trial, Mr. Levering wished he hadn't 

 done it, and tried to eradicate it; but it was 

 too late, for it is scattered more or less through 

 Scott Valley, and is considered by some an 

 obnoxious weed. From my observation the 

 bees work upon it industriously. Mr. Lever- 

 ing was passionately fond of flowers, and his 

 little cabin was surrounded with them iu great 

 variety, and his place was noted for its beauty. 

 The season was an extremely poor one for 

 comb honey. If we had depended upon that 

 for our income we should have had to econo- 

 mize still further in the household expenses. 



The late Mr. Levering had progressed far 

 enough to commence the use of the 4% x \% 

 sections. The upper surface of a Harbison 

 hive is not easily fitted with these sections, 

 and Mr. L. put them in one at a time, tiered 

 up three in height, with no crate to hold them. 



