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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Nov. 16, L899. 



to be fashionable in Washington to eat honey. L<et it be 

 announced that the President eats honey and you will sell 

 plenty of it. Those who eat honey are better for it. Dr. 

 Mason says he likes honey better than butter. 



Dr. Mason — I beg pardon, but I didn't mean just that. 

 Both are needed at our house, but altho I like honey, I feel 

 sure if one — honey or butter — had to be banisht, honey 

 would have to go. Mr. Danzenbaker has been telling of 

 his success in selling honey in Washington, and I have 

 been wondering if people didn't buy honey of him for the 

 same reason that they buy of me sometimes — to get rid 

 of me. 



Next W. E. Flower, vice-president of the Philadelphia 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, gave an address on 



Source of the Honey-Supply In and Around Philadelphia. 



Mr. Flower's address was illustrated bj' a large number 

 of stereopticon views, and no report can be g'iven that 

 would present an adequate conception of the views shown, 

 and of the wit and humor that seemed so readily to flow 

 from Mr. Flower's tongue, often convulsing the large audi- 

 ence with laughter, and at some of his sallies that seemed 

 to be unintentionally made, it took the venerable president 

 and other staid members some time to work off, in hand- 

 clapping and laughter, their stored-up surplus of apprecia- 

 tion of Mr. Flower's witty hits in describing some of the 

 views. 



The first view shown was a life-like picture of Father 

 Langstroth. After a few deserved words of praise of the 

 original of the picture, Mr. Flower said, " Now, in imagina- 

 tion, we will take the trolley and go to the home of Mr. 

 Selser, and take a look at his apiary, a picture of which I 

 show you. Mr. Selser never uses a veil or gloves when 

 working with bees — in the winter time. [Laughter.] His 

 neighbors say he is trying to get a cross between bees and 

 lightning-bugs. They said nothing about his feet, which 

 may be compared in size to those of a man who complained 

 when a horse stept upon his foot, and a by-stander remarkt, 

 " The horse must step somcii'licrc." 



The next view was of Mr. Flower's apiary. Mr. Flower 

 said, " My wife said I ought to have gone into the house 

 and got my other clothes. I told her people could see these 

 were not my other clothes." 



The next picture was of Mr. Hare's apiary, who reports 

 a yield of about 40 pounds per colony this j'ear. 



Several views of Germantown apiaries were shown, one 

 of which, belonging to Mr. Melon, was located on the house- 

 roof. Some of the bees have to go miles for honey. 



Referring to another picture, Mr. Flower said : "This 

 is a view of the apiary of John Connor, of New Jersey. 

 Some fellow got stung in the rear — I mean some fellow in 

 the rear got stung." 



'■ The next picture is that of Uncle Rastus, who does 

 not believe in the modern methods, a fact that his apiarj- 

 well illustrates." 



" This is the apiary of Mr. Geo. Burwell, and this is 

 Mr. Hahman's. I want to say right here that no one has 

 done more to make this meeting a success than Mr. Hahman. 



"This is a view of Mr. Kugler's apiary. He gave a 

 ver3'' good idea of the honey-plants around Philadelphia in 

 his paper last evening. Mr. Kugler has a wonderful dog. 

 She is longer in the morning than at night, for he lets her 

 out in the morning and at night he takes her in again." 

 [Laughter.] In answer to a question, Mr. Flower said, " I 

 am like Dr. Mason ; when I don't know a thing I say so." 



Dr. Mason — Dr. Miller, you mean. 



Views were given showing an extractor, how a begin- 

 ner keeps bees, using veil, gloves, etc. Mr. Flower then 

 showed, by means of a picture how the bee-moth destroys 

 the comb, saying that Langstroth compared the work of 

 the moth to sin. 



A student once gave the following definition of a crab : 

 "A crab is a red fish, and he walks back%vard." His pro- 

 fessor said : " The crab is not a fish, it is not red, and it 

 does not walk backward. With these slight inaccuracies 

 your definition is correct." Mr. Selser's paper is the same. 

 Pollen is not the product of the bee ; propolis is not the 

 product of the bee ; wax is the product of the bee. 



Next came pictures of the bee, showing the difference 

 between the queen, worker and drone, also one showing the 

 growth of tlie bee from the egg to the fully developt bee. 



Some people say bees destroy grapes. Mr. Flower con- 

 tends that they do not until after the skin of the grape is 

 broken, and said he had never found any one who would 

 say that the bee is really the aggressor. 



There was no danger of ancient honey being adulter- 

 ated, because there were no glucose factories. 



A picture of comb honey was shown, of which Mr. 

 Flower said he was proud. A display on the screen of 

 clover, white sage, goldenrod, basswood. Rocky Mountain 

 bee-plant, poplar blossom (which produces rich but dark 

 honey) ended the illustrations. 



[Continued next week.] 



Some California Statistics— First Introduction 

 of Foul Brood— A Word of Warning'. 



BY HON. T. M. H.\MB.\UGH. 



IN the year 1856 Messrs. Buck and Appleton, of San Jose, 

 Calif., placed upon the market 400 pounds of honey, 

 which sold at from $1.50 to S2.00 per pound. This was 

 the first honey placed upon the market, of which we have 

 any record, west of the Rocky Mountains, and vras certainly 

 the initiative of the traffic that has done a great deal toward 

 making- California famous, for California sage honey has 

 acquired a reputation in the markets of the world of the 

 highest character, and the most astute of the pioneers of 

 this industry is Mr. John Harbison, of San Diego County, 

 to whom we are indebted for most of the information given 

 us. Mr. Harbison is not only a pioneer in the bee-industry, 

 but also that of horticulture. An early day writer says : 



" Durirg the fall and winter of 1855, and again in the 

 fall of 1856, he (Mr. Harbison) made large importations of 

 the choicest fruit-trees from the most celebrated nurseries 

 in the East. From these importations was started that 

 great series of orchards which line the banks of the Sacra- 

 mento River and adjacent countrj'." 



A former letter covers the period from this date up to 

 1859, giving Mr. Harbison's experience in the introduction 

 of the " Honey-Bee Upon the Pacific Coast." 



In the year 1857 Mr. Harbison invented the section 

 honey-box, an invention which has done more for the ad- 

 vancement of comb-honey production than any other dis- 

 covery in bee-keeping. For this he was granted a patent 

 Jan. 4, 1859. At the California State Fair held at Marys- 

 ville in September, 1858, Mr. Harbison exhibited the first 

 section-box honey. His fields of labor were largely con- 

 fined to the region of Sacramento utitil the year 1869. In 

 the fall of that year a partnership was formed between him 

 and a Mr. R. G. Clark, for the purpose of introducing bees 

 into San Diego County ; 110 colonies from Mr. Harbison's 

 apiaries in Sacramento being landed in San Diego on the 

 morning of Nov. 28, being the first bees of which we have 

 anj' record introdticed into the county. Other importations 

 soon followed, and tlie partnership continued for four years. 



The great success attending the enterprise, and the 

 world-wide fame of their San Diego County honey soon 

 attracted the notice of bee-keepers and farmers from all 

 parts of the United States. Many came here, took up land, 

 establisht homes, and embarkt in the bee-keeping pursuit, 

 with other rural industries. 



Mr. Harbison kindly gave me the following figures rel- 

 ative to the success of the firm of Harbison & Clark : 



In 1870, 3,750 pounds of comb honey ; in 1871, 17,000 

 pounds. There were no other producers up to this date in 

 San Diego Countv. In 1872,30,000 pounds, all comb honey ; 

 1873, over 60,000 pounds. 



In the )'ear 1873 tlie firm shipt the first carload of honey 

 overland by railroad to Chicago, which was sold at 27 cents 

 per pound wholesale. 



The following years. 1874 and 1875, being off years, Mr. 

 Harbison was unable to furnish data. Emigration was also 

 coming in, and the choice bee-ranches were fast giving way 

 before the ax, grubbing-hoe and plow, and the onward 

 travel of the hungry fruit-and-grain ranchmen have rele- 

 gated the bee-men to the canyons and undesirable locations, 

 there to make the best of their unfortunate conditions. Mr. 

 H. adds : 



" By this time the country had been settled up, and a 

 very large proportion of the honey-producing vegetation 

 cleaned off, thus destroying the bee-pasture, consequently 

 bee-keeping has steadily declined, and only in the rougher 



