THE JtMERICJtK BM® JQ13^RI*MIr. 



409 



STEALING HONEY. 



A Cirizzly Bear Caught in tlie 

 Act. 



Written for the Youth's Companion 

 BY A. WRIGHT. 



The Hoklen brothers, Roswell and 

 Frank, went to California from a New 

 England town in 1881, for th(> benefit 

 of Roswcll's health, upon nietlieal ad- 

 vice ; and subsequeiith' they found 

 themselves engaged ip the business of 

 bee-keeping near Los Angeles — for 

 cireumstanees, accident rather than 

 design, first led them into it. 



The children had inherited a consti- 

 tutional tendency to pulmonitry dis- 

 eases, which had already begun to de- 

 velop itself in Roswell. Indeed, he 

 had become so far an invalid that his 

 friends deemed it unsafe fur him to 

 set off on so long a journey alone. 

 After man}' family deliberations it was 

 arraged that Frank, and Ellen, their 

 sister, should accompany him. and re- 

 main one winter, if not longer, in the 

 West. 



As their means were limited, Frank 

 and Ellen began, soon after arriving 

 in California, to look about for some 

 way to earn a living. Roswell, too, as 

 his health improved, wished for some- 

 thing to do ; and at length they were, 

 by chance, led to buy 13 colonies of 

 bees of a lady — herself formerlj- an in- 

 valid — who had employed her leisure 

 in apiculture, but now was about re- 

 turning to her home in New York. 



With these 13 colonies the young 

 Holdens entered upon the honey-pro- 

 ducing business earlj' in 1S82. For a 

 year they resided in the vieinit\' of 

 Los Angeles, but finding that the bees, 

 as the number of colonies increased, 

 were unpopular among their neigh- 

 bors, they were led to move from so 

 thickly inhabited a district, and lived 

 for a time near Majave. 



Thence, JKnvever, early the follow- 

 ing spring, they again moved to a 

 tract of unoccupied country further 

 back among the mountains, in a kind 

 of long delile. or crooked valley, in- 

 closed by a \vooded range on either 

 hand, but which, from the great abun- 

 dance of wild flowers, affords good 

 pasture for bees. Here they are at 

 IJreseut dwelling. 



The Holdens have now between 200 

 and 300 colonies, having made it a 

 rule, so far, to keep all the swarms 

 which come out, though a few have 

 escaped. The care of these numerous 

 colonies of bees occupies all their time 

 and attention, and they hired two In- 

 dian gills to assist them to watch the 

 numerous sub-apiaries which they have 

 established in different parts of the 

 valley, generally within a mile of e.ach 



other. For it will not do to ha\T3 all 

 these 200 colonics, or more, collected 

 near one spot, on account of the sup- 

 ph' of flowers being over-fed, and the 

 bees having to go too far. 



The wliole number of colonies is 

 divided up into groups of 10 or 15 col- 

 onies, and these are often shifted from 

 place to place as the season passes. 



For moving colonies to fresh j)as- 

 turage, the boys have a platform set 

 upon four wheels, and drawn by two 

 steady mules. Then, after the bees 

 have entered the hive at night, they 

 are closed in, and the hives are trans- 

 ferred to the platform. Very carefully 

 then, and slowly, so as not to jar the 

 hives too much, the transportation of 

 the colonies to the distance of a mile 

 or two is effected. 



valley, well stocked with flowers and 

 flowering shrulis, outspread before 

 them ; and so secluded did the place 

 seem, that the young apiarists judged 

 it entirely safe to leave .the bees to 

 gather honey here, unguarded, for a 

 few tlaj-s at least. 



Having seen to it, therefore, that the 

 liives were well placed, they retui'ned 

 down the valley to their shanty-house, 

 where their sister and the Indian girls 

 looked after the few simple domestic 

 atlairs of the household. In fact, it 

 was their custom thus to colonize a 

 new pasture, and they had met with 

 few losses. Honey in small quantity 

 had been stolen from them on one or 

 two occasions, and once a number of 

 deers, in their flight across the valley, 

 had upset three or four hives. 



The Grizzly Honcy-Entcr vf rtilifoniid. 



In March or April of last year the 

 Holdens had pastured out 10 colonies 

 at a point higher up the valley than 

 any they had previously occupied. In 

 point of fact, the new pasture was in 

 a branch of the main valley. Hither 

 they had come up from their bee- 

 sheds next below, two miles distant, 

 with a load of liives, and built a "rest" 

 for them near two Large oaks — great 

 trees with wide-spreading branches 

 that nearly touclied the ground — on 

 the north side of the intervale, at the 

 foot of the mountain. 



It was a favorable location, for on 

 the south side the bees had the entire 



But on thi~ occa.sion tliey met with 

 a mishap ; for on going to the place 

 two or three days afterward, to see 

 how their swarthy "Italians" were 

 prospering. Frank found one hive 

 upset, and another of the ten missing 

 altogeth(;r. From the latter circum- 

 stance, as also from certain marks and 

 traces in the grass, resembling foot- 

 prints, he at once concluded that some 

 thief had "jumped" the hive — that is 

 stolen it bodily. 



A few da\s before they had heard 

 the report of a gun sever.al times, faint 

 and at a distance, and had conjectured 

 that there was a hunting party, either 



