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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



can secure before or during the holidays, 

 so that they may be published. It is 

 high time that the date of holding the 

 convention be decided upon, if a conven- 

 tion is to be held this year. It is only 

 one month from the date of this number 

 of the Bee Journal when we will be 

 writing " 1893." Three or four weeks 

 is a very short time in which to notify 

 all those who will wish to attend. The 

 notice should be in all the bee-papers 

 now, if anything like an average at- 

 tendance is expected. Of course, the 

 committee has done all that it could in 

 the matter, and stands ready to accom- 

 modate the members. 



Later. — Since writing the foregoing, 

 we have had a letter from the Secretary, 

 Mr. Hutchinson, which says that it is 

 now definitely decided that Dec. 27, 

 28, and 29 -will 1>e the days for 

 holding the convention. Mr. Benton 

 had informed this member that "he 

 could not give any definite information 

 n regard to meeting with some other 

 society " in Washington. 



If all who expect to attend the conven- 

 tion will let us know the fact, we will 

 publish it in advance, for the benefit of 

 others who can or cannot attend. 



The programme will likely be published 

 next week. 



Two Historic Bee-Men.— The 

 old pioneers of California apiculture are 

 being gradually thinned out — they are 

 being gathered to their Heavenly Father, 

 to receive that rich and sweet reward 

 which they undoubtedly deserve for the 

 humane spirit they manifested to the 

 little, toiling bee. 



In an article on California bee-keeping, 

 soon to be published in the American 

 Bee Journal, Mr. Pryal refers to the 

 death of Mr. C. A. Shelton, who is given 

 the credit (and probably correctly so) of 

 mporting the first honey-bees into Cali- 

 fornia. Mr. Shelton was accidentally 

 killed in a steamboat explosion a short 

 time after he introduced the bees into 

 that State. His loss was greatly re- 



gretted, for Mr. Shelton, as we learn 

 from Mr. Pryal, was an ardent lover of 

 Nature and Nature's God — he was one 

 of California's pioneers in matters ap- 

 pertaining to modern gardening. 



His grounds, near San Jose, in the 

 early '50's, were devoted to raising prize 

 fruits, vegetables and flowers. He had 

 the four corners of the globe, even in 

 those early days of the Golden State, 

 searched for new fruits and flowers, that 

 he might add them to his collection. He 

 paid high prices for everything of merit 

 in these lines which were brought to 

 him. His paying a big price for the 

 first colonies of bees was in keeping with 

 the man. The enormous size of his 

 fruits and vegetables were heralded 

 throughout the East, and did much to 

 induce emigration to that State. Had 

 he lived longer, it might have been that 

 the product of his bee-hives would have 

 been great, and also materially added to 

 an increase in the State's population. 



In January, 1892, at his home in 

 Contra Costa County, Calif., there died 

 Mr. A. J. Biglow, who brought the first 

 Italian bees to California. Mr. Pryal is 

 working up the history of the bee-busi- 

 ness in California, and is already in pos- 

 session of many facts relating thereto. 

 He hopes to get photographs of pioneer 

 bee-men, and present sketches of their 

 lives along with their portraits. Prob- 

 ably all of these will be given for the 

 benefit of the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal during the forepart of 

 the coming year. The practical articles 

 from practical bee-keepers that we have 

 secured to write for these columns the 

 ensuing year, with the historical and 

 biographical interests well represented, 

 will make the old American Bee Jour- 

 nal wonderfully interesting and profit- 

 able from now on. 



A Dark Blue Wax, which is 

 more poisonous than arsenic, is said to 

 be produced by a species of bee in the 

 southern part of South America and the 

 islands adjacent. 



