G T. R A N I N G S T N B E R C U 1. T U R E 



Ai'RiL, 1921 



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AMONG CALIFORNIA BEEKEEPERS 



CONSTANCE ROOT BOYDEN 



(Stancy Puerden) 



lUr 



ID you ever 



know a 

 woman t o 

 ai-eopt an invita- 

 tion to share in 

 a four weeks ' 

 trija, with just 

 one hour and 40 

 minutes in which 

 to prepare for 

 it? Take my advice and don't risk such an 

 invitation unless you mean it, for my nearest 

 man-relative tried it, and now he is paying 

 for my traveling and hotel expenses. In other 

 words, much to my own surprise, this page is 

 being written beside an open window, thru 

 which the soft California air is pouring, in- 

 stead of in a steam-heated room back in 

 Ohio. Altho there were dozens of reasons 

 why I should stay at home, I temporarily 

 forgot everything except that the husband I 

 have had for 23 years was going to the 

 beautiful State which I adopted a year ago, 

 and I wanted to be with the former in the 

 latter. 



Some of my friends laugh at my enthusi- 

 asm for the Golden State, and returning 

 tourists have even professed not to like its 

 climate or scenery. Everyone to his taste, 

 but it is my candid opinion that a person 

 who can find fault with California at this 

 time of year will point out defects in Heaven 

 if he ever gets thru the pearly gates. 



At the start I had rather regretted that 

 we were not going by one of the southern 

 routes, but for delightful contrast nothing 

 could excel the route we took to San Fran- 

 cisco. We had ridden for days thru country 

 which showed no signs of spring, the last 

 day thru treeless desert plains, rimmed by 

 great, barren mountains, some of them cov- 

 ered with snow, their only beauty lent them 

 by the brilliantly clear air and the dazzling 

 blue sky, the reflection of which in the des- 

 ert parts made the country ' ' The land of 

 the sky-blue water." 



At night we climbed the mountain range 

 out of Nevada into California, went thru 

 the 21 miles of snowsheds with moonlight 

 glimpses of great, snowy peaks thru the 

 breaks in the sheds, and when morning came 

 we were dropping down the west slope of 

 the range into springtime in Paradise. 



In contrast with the dull gray brown sage 

 of the winter desert the grass was every- 

 where a A'elvety green, and after seeing 

 scarcely a tree for days the magnificent 

 trees dotting the landscape were a beauti- 

 ful surprise. And oh, the wonderful orchards 

 of fruit bloom, mostly apricot, I believe, 

 altho they looked much like peach trees to 

 me. Even high up on the green foothills 

 were orchards covered with those soft pink 

 blossoms. 



Gardens and fields under cultivation, sheep 

 and cattle on the green hills, picturesque 

 mountains in the background, fertile val- 

 leys, woodsy canyons, bird music, palms, 

 orange trees and flowers, (loweis every- 



3 



%j 



where, continue 

 with the ]ierfeet 

 climate to make 

 o n e understand 

 how Adaiu ami 

 Kve must have 

 felt when driven 

 out of a similar 

 Paradise. 



WHAT started my traveling companion 

 to California at this particular time 

 was the thirty-second annual meeting 

 of the California State Beekeepers' Associ- 

 ation, held in Oakland March 2, 3, 4, and 5. 

 Its sessions are being held in the fine large 

 municipal auditorium across the boulevard 

 from beautiful Lake Merritt. 



Westerners certainly know how to do 

 things of this sort. In the first place they 

 persuaded the governor of the State to issue 

 a proclamation that this was honey week 

 for the whole State, and calling upon all the 

 citizens to eat honey this week. In every 

 street-car in the city is a large placard, 

 "Eat Honey." 



The city provided an ideal place for the 

 meeting with ample free space for exhibits, 

 the mayor gave an address of welcome, 

 and plenty of able speakers seem available. 

 I imagine a very large part of the credit is 

 due to the enthusiasm and energy of Cary 

 W. Hartman, president of the Alameda Bee- 

 keepers ' Association. He makes an ideal 

 host. 



Just as we were leaving the Hotel Oak- 

 land to attend one of the sessions an inci- 

 dent occurred which is so typical of the 

 West that I am going to take space to tell 

 it. In the doorway we met a party of four 

 or five fine-appearing men. One of them 

 stepped up to Mr. Boyden, shook hands cor- 

 dially, and said, ' ' How do you do, sir. I 

 am nobody in particular, but I just wanted 

 to shake hands and bid you welcome to 

 our city. ' ' He had noticed the yellow rib- 

 bon badge of the State Beekeepers ' Asso- 

 ciation, which Mr. Boyden wore. 



Now I have no intention of attempting to 

 give a report of this beekeepers' meeting, 

 but I am going to tell you a little about an 

 address by C. H. McCharles, chemist for the 

 State Food and Drug Laboratory of the Uni- 

 versity of California. He was to talk on 

 "Composition of Honey, detection of adul- 

 teration and effect on honey of overheating 

 and other bad things in the care of the prod- 

 uct. Also difference in composition as in- 

 fluencing granulation" — some subject. 



Prof. McCharles, with the aid of charts, 

 told us something of the chemical composi- 

 tion of the various sugars, including those 

 in honey. I think he stated that his figures 

 were based on government bulletin reports, 

 but he put the water content of honey 

 rather higher than generally stated. 



In the course of his remarks it (levelo})ed 



