1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



469 



a San Francisco commission house on the 

 shipping-case ; but the honey in the tumblers 

 had no such distinguishing mark. The grocer 

 did not have as strong a prejudice against 

 California honey as I had found further south, 

 and this honev in tumblers had a ready sale, 

 therefore it is reasonable to suppose that it 

 was reasonably pure honey. 



In writing of the humidity of this northern 

 country I may have fallen into a fault-finding 

 vein ; but under the genial skies of Seattle I 

 feel like uttering an apology, and giving this 

 land its just dues. Whtn we compare the 

 rainfall of Oregon and Washington with cer- 

 tain portions of the East I find it about the 

 same. The only difference, if any, is the con- 

 centration of the rainfall here into certain 

 months, while in the East it is distributed 

 through the entire year. 



Then another remarkable point crops out. 

 Although it is called a web-foot country, there 

 are portions east of the Cascade Range where 

 mountain and air currents are so combined 

 that moisture-laden clouds are deflected, and 

 there are large areas of the country where 

 there is but little rainfall, and the irrigation 

 of farming lands must be resorted to. 



The bee-keeping industry is in its pioneer 

 stage, for there is not enough honey produced 

 to supply the home demand. As the country 

 becomes more and more reduced to farm 

 products the better it will bt for honey pro- 

 duction. Some locations toward the coast 

 are highly spoken of for bee-keeping. Then 

 there are others east of the Cascade Range, 

 notably Walla Walla County, which are quite 

 thickly settled, and devoted to general farm 

 products. 



I spent Sunday in Seattle, and found a large 

 church-going community. The Congregation- 

 al Church where I attended would seat nearly 

 a thousand people, and every seat appeared to 

 be full at the morning and evening services, 

 and from appearances the other churches were 

 as well patronized. The Y. M. C. A. numbers 

 500 members, and is a growing and thriving 

 institution. Here this Sunday afternoon 

 there is a crowd upon the streets. They 

 march and sing and shout, and are doing a 

 world of good ; and whenever I meet these 

 lads and lassies I mentally ejaculate, "God 

 bless the Salvation Army ! " They get on a 

 rapid pace when it is toward good ; but when 

 the evil appears, their motto is to "Keep to 

 the right; go s^ozv." 



HOLDING THE BREATH WHILE HANDLING 

 BEES. 



A correspondent in the American Bee 

 Journal, a Mr. Raymond, says nothing is so 

 offensive to the bees, and nothing so angers 

 them, as a man's breath. I have noticed this 

 myself man}' and many a time ; and when I 

 get a comb close to my face to discover eggs, 

 I invariably hold my breath, or take an inspi- 

 ration rather than an expiration. For the fun 

 of the thing I have sometimes, when well veil- 

 ed, breathed on a comb of bees, and instantly 

 the veil-front was fairly covered with an angry 

 mass of sizzing bees with tiny drops of poison 

 protruding just beyond the end of my nose. 



CALIFORNIA ECHOtSi 



H. MARTIN. 



One result of the short honey crop is an ad- 

 vance in the price. The price quoted in this 

 city for new extracted honey is iy 2 cts. 



Mr. Pender, from Australia, made a brief 

 call upon Los Angeles. He found his way to 

 the Rambler's apiary, and partook of those 

 delicious flapjacks. From Mr. Pender's ac- 

 count Australia must be a good honey country. 

 He almost gave me the Australian fever. 



Evil reports come from some of the interior 

 locations. Half of the bees have died from 

 last year's famine, and now another famine 

 threatens, and that will use up a large number 

 of the remaining half. Foul brood is also 

 ranpant in some quarters. Evils never come 

 singly. 



Mr. H. E. Wilder and his wife have gone to 

 Oro Fino to manage Mr. Levering's apiary. 

 The prospects are fair for a good honey yield 

 in that portion of the State, though the sea- 

 son is cool and later than common. Mr. Wil- 

 der carried his guns. If the deer and the bear 

 knew as much about him as I do they would 

 all move over into Oregon. 



Several tons of honey have been harvested 

 near Rivemde where the bees had access to 

 the orange-orchards. The orange-blossoms 

 yielded a good amount of nectar this year. A 

 limited amount of sage honey is coming into 

 the bos Angeles market, showing that there 

 are a few favored locations. There will be 

 hardly enough, I think, for home consump- 

 tion. 



Dr. Miller has a demurrer on page 211. He 

 says that, when he knocks a bee down that is 

 pestering him, another bee does not take its 

 place, and his experience is limited only to 

 the dinner hour. Now, it is clearly the odor 

 of the dinner that keeps the bees away. Say, 

 doctor, are you sure that it was not the odor 

 of the dinner that knocked that single bee 

 down, instead of your hand or your paddle? 



I clip the following from the Criterion : 



THE ARMY IN THE DRUM. 



A soldier sought the battlefield 



Where first in coat of blue 

 He passed before the Angel Death 



In swift and stern review. 

 The broken swords were sheathed in mold, 



The rusty cannon dumb; 

 But in the tangled grass he found 



An army in a drum. 



The sticks were gone that rattled once 



Tattoo and reveille, 

 The shell that took the drummer's life 



Had burst the head in three. 

 But from the shattered sheepskin rose 



A low, continuous hum, 

 The murmur of the rank and file — 



The army in the drum. 



For there the bees had built a home 



And stored the sweets away, 

 From blossoms born of soldier blood, 



The mingled blue and gray. 

 Where once the morning sky beheld 



The charging columns come, 

 They pitched in peace their waxen tents — 



The army in the drum ! 



