THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



583 



first to be invaded and settled by 

 white men, it lias suffered less from a 

 bee point of view than either of the 

 other main divisions— chiefly, no 

 doubt, because of the unevenness of 

 the surface, and because it is owned 

 by individuals, instead of lying ex- 

 posed to the flocks of the "sheepman." 

 These remarks apply more particularly 

 to the north half of the coast Fur- 

 ther south there is less moisture, less 

 forest shade, and the honey flora is 

 less varied. 



The sierra region is the largest of the 

 three main divisions of the bee-lands 

 of the state, and the most regularly 

 varied in its subdivisions, owing to 

 their gradual rise from the level of 

 the Central Plain to the alpine sum- 

 mits. The foot-hill region is about as 

 dry and sunful from the end of May 

 until the setting in of the winter 

 rains, as the plains. There are no 

 shady forests, no damp glens, at all 

 like those lying at the same elevations 

 in the coast mountains. The social 

 composita; of the plain, with a few 

 added species, form the bulk of the 

 herbaceous portion of the vegetation 

 up to a height of fifteen hundred feet 

 or more, shaded lightly here and there 

 with oaks and sabine pines, and in- 

 terrupted by patches of ceanothusand 

 buckeye. Above this, and just below 

 the forest region, there is a dark, 

 heath-like belt of chaparral, composed 

 almost exclusively of Adenos. toma 

 fasciculatn. a bush belonging to the 

 rose family, from five to eight feet 

 high, with small, round leaves in 

 fascicles, and bearing a multitude of 

 small white flowers in panicles on the 

 ends of the upper branches. When 

 it occurs at all, it usually covers all 

 the ground with a close impenetrable 

 growth, scarcely broken for miles. 



Up through the forest region, to a 

 height of nine thousand feet above 

 sea level, there are ragged patches of 

 manzanita, and five or six species of 

 ceanotlius, called deer brush or Cali- 

 fornia lilac. These are the most im- 

 Eortant of all the honey-bearing 

 rushes of the sierra. C'liamctbalia 

 foliolosa, a little shrub about a foot 

 high, with flowers like the strawberry, 

 makes handsome carpets beneath the 

 yellow nines, and seems to be a favor- 

 ite with tlie bees ; while the pines 

 themselves furnish unlimited quanti- 

 ties of pollen and honey-dew. The 

 product of a single tree, ripening its 

 pollen at the right time of year, would 

 be suflicient for the wants of a whole 

 hive. Along the streams, there is a 

 rich growth of lilies, larkspurs, pedi- 

 cularis, castilleias and clover. The 

 alpine region contains the flowery gla- 

 cier meadows, and countless small 

 gardens in all sorts of places full of 

 potentillaof several species, spraguea, 

 ivesia, epilobiuni,and goldenrod, with 

 beds of bryar.thus and the charming 

 cassiope covered with sweet bells. 

 Even the tops of the mountains are 

 blessed with flowers— dwarf phlox, 

 polemonium, ribes, bulsea, etc. 1 

 have seen wild bees and butterflies 

 feeding at a height of 13,000 feet above 

 the sea. Many, however, that go up 

 these dangerous heights never come 

 down again. Some, undoubtedly, per- 

 ish in storms, and I have found thous- 



ands lyin^ dead or benumbed on the 

 surface ot the glaciers, to which they 

 had perhaps been attracted by the 

 white glare. From swarms that es- 

 caped their owners in the lowlands, 

 the honey-bee is now generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the whole length 

 of the sierra, up to an elevation of 

 8.000 feet above sea-level. At this 

 height, where the snow falls to a 

 depth of 15 or 20 feet, they flourish 

 without care. Even higher than this 

 several bee-trees have been cut, which 

 contained over 200 pounds of honey. 



The destructive action of sheep has 

 not been nearly so universal on the 

 mountain pastures as on those of the 

 great plain, but in many places it has 

 been more complete, owing to the 

 more friable character of the soil, and 

 its sloping position. The slant dig- 

 ging and down raking action of hoofs 

 on the steeper slopes of moraines has 

 uprooted and buried many of the ten- 

 der plants from year to year, without 

 allowing them time to mature their 

 seeds. The shrubs, too, are badly 

 bitten, especially the various species 

 of ceanothus. Fortunately, neither 

 sheep nor cattle care to feed on the 

 manzanita, spiriea, or adenostoma ; 

 and these fine honey bushes are too 

 stiff and tall, or grow in places too 

 rough and inaccessible, to be trodden 

 under foot. Also the canon walls and 

 gorges, which form so considerable a 

 part of tlie area of the range, while 

 maccessible to domestic sheep, are 

 well fringed with honey shrubs, and 

 contain thousands of lovely bee-gar- 

 dens, lying hid in narrow side-canons 

 and recesses fenced with avalanche 

 taluses, and on the top of flat, pro- 

 jecting head-lands, where only the 

 bees would think to look for them. 



But, on the other hand, a great por- 

 tion of the woody plants that escape 

 the feet and teeth of the sheep are 

 destroyed by the shepherds by means 

 of running fires, wliicli are set every- 

 where during the dry autumn for the 

 purpose of burning off the old fallen 

 trunks and underbrush, with a view 

 to improving the pastures, and making 

 more open ways for the flocks. These 

 destructive sheep-lires sweep through 

 nearly the entire forest belt of the 

 range, from one extremity to the 

 other, consuming not only the under- 

 brush, but the young trees and seed- 

 lings on which the permanence of the 

 forests depends ; thus setting in mo- 

 tion a long train of evils which will 

 certainly reach far beyond bees and 

 bee-keepers. 



The plow has not yet invaded the 

 forest region to any appreciable ex- 

 tent, neitlier has it accomplished much 

 in the foot hills. Thousands of bee- 

 ranches might be established along 

 the margin of the plain, and up to a 

 height ot four thousand feet, wher- 

 ever water could be obtained. The 

 climate at this elevation admits of 

 the making of permanent homes, and 

 by moving the hives to higher pas- 

 tures, as the lower pass out of bloom, 

 the annual yield of honey would be 

 nearly doubled. The foot-hill pas- 

 tures, as we have seen, fail about the 

 end of May, those of the chaparral 

 belts and lower forests are in full 

 bloom in .Tune, those of the upper and 



alpine region in July, August and 

 September. In Scotland, after the 

 best of the Lowland bloom is past, 

 the bees are carried in carts to the 

 Highlands, and set free on the heather 

 hills. In France, too, and in Poland, 

 they are carried from pasture to pas- 

 ture among orchards and fields in the 

 same way, and along the rivers in 

 barges, to collect the honey of the de- 

 lightful vegetation of the banks. In 

 Egypt, they are taken far up the Nile, 

 and floated slowly home again, gath- 

 ering the honey-harvest of the vari- 

 ous fields on the way, timing their 

 movements in accord with the sea- 

 sons. Were similar methods pursued 

 in California, the productive season 

 would extend nearly all the year. 



The average elevation of the north 

 half of the sierra is considerably less 

 than that of the south half, and small 

 streams, with the bank and meadow 

 gardens dependent upon them, are 

 less abundant. Around the head-wa- 

 ters of the Yuba, Feather and Pitt 

 rivers, there are extensive table-lands 

 of lava, sparsely planted with pines, 

 through which the sunshine readies 

 the ground with little interruption, 

 and here flourishes a scattered, tufted 

 growth of golden applopappus, lino- 

 syris, bahia, wyetheia, arnica, arte- 

 misia, and similar plants ; with man- 

 zanita, cherry, plum, and thorn in 

 ragged patches on the cooler hill- 

 slopes. At the extremities of the 

 Great Plain, the sierra and coast 

 ranges curve around and lock together 

 in a labyrinth of mountains and val- 

 leys, throughout which the coast and 

 sierra floras are mingled, making at 

 the north, with its temperate climate 

 and copious rain-fall, a perfect para- 

 dise for bees— though, strange to say, 

 scarce a single regular bee-rancli has 

 yet been established in it. Cultiva- 

 tion, however, is making rapid head- 

 way over all tlie State, and before 

 long, the wild honey-bloom of the 

 mountains will vanish as completely 

 as that of the fertile lowlands. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Scorpions in Bee Hives. 



ARTHUR TODD. 



Have any of your numerous readers 

 ever come across these insects living 

 in the hive with' the beesV I shall be 

 glad to know, for I had an experience 

 I will briefly relate, and have never 

 seen anything in print on the subject. 

 Having purchased a lot of Arab hives 

 when in Algeria, next thing to do was 

 to go and take them, for the Arab 

 never "delivers." 



The adventures of that night will 

 not be forgotten in a hurry. There 

 were 30 hives, all on the ground, 

 buried in weeds: some rotten, some 

 good, and all with communities that 

 knew exactly how to apply the" busi- 

 ness end " to advantage, if you only 

 looked at them. 



Well, we got to work,- first some 

 rats scared us, next a few tarantulas, 

 as we called those immense centipedes. 

 Suddenly my assistant Arabs called 

 out to beware of scorpions, as I was 

 about to disturb the stones support- 



