1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



965 



The four are seated under the dense 

 shade of a tree close to the house, F. E. 

 Marks at the left, and then, following in 

 order. Miller, Hershiser, and Mercer. The 

 camera was manned by the county foul- 

 brood inspector. 



On pap^e 964 are seen the same four out- 

 side Mr. Mercer's honey-house. Califor- 

 nians will be a little puzzled to see that 

 beautiful cluster of j'ucca-blossoms at Dr. 

 Miller's shoulder, for the last of Auji^ust 

 is not the time of yucca bloom. This one 

 was found in full bloom entirely out of sea- 

 son (was it in compliment to the Los An- 

 geles convention?) , the flower-stalks of all 

 others being entirelj' dead. 



in the open, filled with tons and tons of the 

 finest California extracted, and yet they 

 were never molested. When it is under- 

 stood that many of these yards were down 

 in the canyons, or up on the mountain-sides 

 remote from any dwelling or living being, 

 and that the3' were visited by the owners 

 only occasionally to extract the honey, the 

 fact that this sparkling sweetness was not 

 stolen speaks volumes for the honesty of the 

 California people. Some tanks were left 

 so exposed that a dog or any large animal 

 might brush against the faucet and let out 

 tons and tons of honey; but in only one in- 

 stance did I hear of such a casualty taking 

 place; but the bees promptly helped them- 



THE INNOCENTS ABROAD TAKING IN CALIFORNIA CLIMATE AND CALIFORNIA WATER- 

 MELONS. 



Inside the building were stored the sixty- 

 pound cans containing Mr. Mercer's crop 

 for the season, collected from the different 

 apiaries — £0 tons in all, or 100,000 pounds 

 of honey gathered bj' less than a thousand 

 colonies, spring count. A pretty solid block 

 of sweetness! The two-can cases of honey 

 seen outside the building did not belong to 

 Mr. Mercer, and he did not know who was 

 the owner. Some neighboring apiarist had 

 brought them there, perhaps to be shipped 

 with Mr. Mercer's. Five or six hundred 

 dollars' worth of honey left in that way 

 shows that California bee-keepers have con- 

 fidence in each other, and it also shows 

 that out in these wilds there is little fear 

 from thieves. 



[Your reference to ground-squirrels and 

 California quails parading innocently by 

 brings back many a pleasant memory 

 among the mountains of Southern Califor- 

 nia, and when you speak of the fact that 

 quite a lot of hone\' was left outside of the 

 building shown in the picture, where it 

 could be easily stolen if any one were dis- 

 posed to do it, you also reminded me of the 

 time when I visited a good many of the 

 California apiaries, and found yard after 

 3'ard where the honey-tanks were left out 



selves and carried it all back again — into 

 their little tanks from which it was pur- 

 loined by man. 



It looks decidedly as if it must have been 

 very warm weather from the looks of the 

 four of you in the picture; and I do not at 

 all wonder that the watermelon was de- 

 lightfully refreshing. Say, isn't it fun to 

 eat California fruit right where it grows? 



I have often said to Mrs. Root that I 

 should like to spend my last days in and 

 about Los Angeles — such a climate! such 

 luscious fruit ! such beautiful thick honey ! 

 such flowers, and such perpetually nice 

 weather the j'ear round ! and the summer 

 so near like the winter it would be hard 

 for a tenderfoot to tell one from the other ! 

 No wonder that the Spaniards named it 

 the City of the Angels. 



Lest there be a flood of bee-keepers into 

 Los Angeles, it may be well to emphasize 

 the fact before set forth in these columns, 

 that our brethren of the craft in this part 

 of the world have a good man3' off years. 

 They can not safely count on more than 

 two good years out of five. They may get 

 more. Then when there is no honey and 

 no rain is the time that tries men's souls. 

 Beautiful climate does not begin to make 

 up for loss of honej', and waiting year after 



