1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



123 



was undoubtedly reduced, but the 

 amounts secured were large. In the 

 American Bee Journal for October 5, 

 1889, Harbison gave an account of 

 the invention of the section and of 

 his shipments of comb honey to the 

 eastern markets. In 1873 he shipped 

 his first carload of section honey to 

 Chicago. It was probably tie first time 

 St large a shipment had reached 

 that market from one producer. This 

 shipment, followed by others the 

 next year, introduced the section to 

 eastern beekeepers. 



In 1876 Harbison shipped ten car- 

 loads at one time to New York. This 

 was sufficient to attract the attention 

 of the general public, and the New 

 York Sun had an extended interview 

 with the honey man from the west. 

 M. H. Mendleson, of New York 

 State, a young man much interested 

 in beekeeping, saw this trainload of 

 honey and was attracted to the pos- 

 sibilities of California for beekeeping. 

 The big shipment of fine comb honey 

 was sufficient to send him westward, 

 where he has lived for many years 

 and has, himself, become one of the 

 best known and largest producers. 

 The Harbison shipment totaled one 

 hundred tons, and Mendleson has 

 since produced a crop equal to that 

 figure. 



The interview in the New York 

 Sun is an interesting account of the 

 Harbison shipment and of his ex- 

 periences in its production. He is 

 credited with saying that he would 

 not clear to exceed one thousand dol- 

 lars for the entire shipment, after 

 deducting expenses and interest on 

 his investment. He employed fifteen 

 men and found it necessary to move 

 his equipment and product over 

 rough mountain trails for many 

 miles, thus making production and 

 marketing extremely expensive. 



When, during the San Diego short 

 course, a trip was proposed to the 

 site of the principal Harbison apiary 

 in Harbison canyon, 20 miles east of 

 San Diego, the invitation was eagerly 

 accepted. Mr. W. H. Wineland, 

 County Farm Advisor; G. M. Hawley, 

 a local beekeeper; Dr. E. F. Phillips, 

 E. R. Root and the writer composed 

 the party. For most of the distance 

 the roads are perfect, and we spun 

 along over the finest paving. The 

 road into the canyon, however, was 

 rough and at times almost impassa- 

 ble. We found the surroundings 

 much as they had been when Harbi- 

 son lived there among his bees, ex- 

 cept that all traces of his habitation 

 have disappeared. Mr. Hawley is au- 

 thority for the statement that at 

 times he had as high as five hundred 

 colonies '.n one yard and probably 

 3.000 colonies altogether. Our cover 

 lustration is a picture of the moun- 

 tain rising behind the site of the 

 former Harbison home in the canyon. 

 There is an abundance of white sage, 

 black sage, summer buckwheat and 

 wild alfalfa, all good sources of sur- 

 plus. It seemed a little disappoint- 

 ing not to find any bees in this his- 

 toric spot. Surely some beekeeper 

 ,'hould find it an advantageous loca- 

 tion even now. 



As we viewed the great mountain 

 rising behind the site of the former 



Harbison home, it was suggested that 

 this should be Harbison mountain. 

 Mr. Wineland volunteered to look 

 the matter up and ascertain whether 

 it had ever been officially named, 

 and if not to convey to the authori- 

 ties the wish of the entire party 

 that it be named after the famous 

 beeman who lived and labored beside 

 it for so many years. We have since 

 been informed that the mountain had 

 not been previously named and that 

 the authorities have seen fit to act 

 on the suggestion and call it "Har- 

 bison Mountain." The canyon had 

 long been known as Harbison Can- 

 yon. 



About Inspection 



I NOTICE what is said about foul- 

 brood laws in the February num- 

 ber and also what is said about 

 the Texas law in the January num- 

 ber. I would not advocate such a 

 stringent law as Texas has, but un- 

 less we have something that will 

 compel careless beekeepers to clean 

 up, the law is largely a dead letter. 

 I think we should have an inspector 

 and deputies where needed and when 

 disease is found, for the inspectors 

 to clean up, or see that it is done. 

 Many will not try, and many do not 

 succeed when they do try. For an in- 

 spector to find disease and leave in- 

 structions and then go away with 

 nothing done, does no good at all. I 

 do not think there are 10 per cent 

 of the number of bees in our county 

 there were before foulbrood got a 

 start, and I think this is true in a 

 great manv other places in our State. 

 J. W. ROUSE, Mexico. Mo. 

 The fortunate thing about foul- 

 brood is that it does not put good 

 beekeepers out of business. It is very 

 inconvenient, causes some trouble 

 and expense and a lot of annoyance. 

 However, .expert attention makes it 

 possible to keep the disease under 

 control and at the same time harvest 

 some honey. This being the case, the 

 problem resolves itself into making 

 good beekeepers wherever the dis- 



ease is present. Many very success- 

 ful beekeepers date their success 

 from the time when they began to 

 fight foulbrood, and in some cases 

 both American and European foul- 

 brood are present. The writer could 

 name some of the most successful 

 beekeepers who make a business of 

 harvesting big crops who are con- 

 stantly fighting both diseases. 



The fact of the matter is that in 

 localities where principal stress has 

 been paid to police power the bee- 

 keeping has declined, whereas in 

 States where more attention has 

 been given to education by the in- 

 spection force it has been built up 

 in spite of the presence of disease. 

 The fact that the business has im- 

 proved in the face of disease, where 

 educational methods are in operation, 

 and has not done so by the police 

 method, is a very good argument 

 against the continuance of the old 

 plan. In most of the States the 

 tendency has been more and more 

 toward educational methods for some 

 time, and some States are abandon- 

 ing quarantine methods entirely. 

 While there should be sufficient law 

 to prevent a man from continuing to 

 expose his neighbors' bees to disease, 

 needlessly, there is no justification in 

 continuing the general practice of 

 quarantine methods after a disease 

 has become so generally diffused that 

 there is no longer any hope of eradi- 

 cating it entirely. Since educational 

 methods have proved most effective, 

 while at the same time accomplishing 

 far more for less money, the interests 

 of the beekeeper can apparently be 

 better served by extending the new 

 plan.— F. C. P. 



Bluevine or Climbing Milkweed 



(Also called Anglepod or Shoestring 

 Vine.) 



By E. A. Ragland. 



YOU wanted to know about this 

 vine and its nature. Well, I will 

 say it comes up early in the 

 spring a long, straight shoot at first 

 and when it is about 2 feet high two 



A group of beekeepers at the site of Harbison's former home 



