VOL. LIX— NO. 9 



HAMILTON, ILL., SEPTEMBER, 1919 



MOMHLY, $1.00 A YFAR 



HONEY PRODUCTION IN THE SAGE DISTRICT 



Notes on the Methods of a Well-Known Beekeeper Who Produces Honey on 

 a Large Scale— By Frank G. Pellett 



MH. MENDLESON. of Ventura, 

 Calif., is well known to the 

 • readers of the American Bee 

 Journal. Beekeeping has been his life 

 work and he is eminently successful. 

 During the California short courses 

 Mendleson was a center of attrac- 

 tion everywhere. Government ex- 

 perts and editors of journals re- 

 ceived due attention, but it was easy 

 to see that Mendleson, the man who 

 had made such a conspicuous success 

 of honey production under California 

 conditions, was the man whose ac- 

 quaintance California beekeepers 

 were most anxious to make. 



Mr. Mendleson has been a bee- 

 keeper since 1871 and has been in the 

 business continuously in California 

 since 1881. Few men have equalled 

 the large crops which he has pro- 

 duced and none are more careful 

 about the details of daily attention to 

 the apiary or the preparation of the 

 crop for market. 



In our April issue, in connection 

 with the story of California's first 

 extensive beekeeper, J. S. Harbison, 

 mention was made of the incident 

 that started Mendleson to California. 

 It was in 1876 that Harbison shipped 

 ten carloads of honey to the New 

 York market. Hearing of the ship- 

 ment. Mendleson went to the city and 

 »aw the honey. He became so much 

 interested in the possibilities of the 

 west that he later left his home in 

 New York and located in California, 

 where he has since remained. 



Mr. Mendleson tells interesting 

 tales of the early days in California. 

 On his first arrival from New York he 

 entered the employ of Mr. Wilkin. 

 at Sespe, where he spent two years. 

 Wilkin was at that time one of the 

 large producers of California honey. 

 The trip to the west was an eventful 



one for young Mendleson. Reaching 

 Santa Barbara by boat, he took stage 

 for Santa Paula. Here he left his' 

 trunk at the stage office and startsd 

 on foot to Sespe, 9 miles distant. 

 About four miles of the distance had 

 been covered when darkness over- 

 took him, and he found the road had 

 been plowed up. It is easy to imag- 

 ine the feelings of the young man 

 just from the East at finding himself 

 lost in a strange, unsettled country. 

 After wandering about for a time, he 

 saw a light and in due time came to 

 a shack occupied by a long-haired 

 man with one arm who was living 

 alone with his bees in a remote situ- 

 ation. In spite of the appearance of 

 his host, Mendleson declares he was 

 never better entertained in his life. 

 The lone beekeeper was a well edu- 

 cated man, who shared his rough 



quarters with the wanderer. Next 

 morning Mendleson continued his 

 journey on foot. When he finally 

 reached the Wilkin quarters he found 

 a two-room shack. The family had 

 come up to the apiary site to spend 

 the summer months, leaving their 

 home in Ventura. He found Wilkin 

 also with long hair and beard and 

 his wild appearance, 'ogether with 

 the strange surroundings made the 

 young man very homesick for a time. 

 However, he found his employer to be 

 genial and refined, and he was soon 

 busy and content. 



Getting supplies in and the honey 

 crop out was a much more serious 

 matter in those days than is the case 

 now, with the fine roads and automo- 

 biles. Then there were no roads ex- 

 cept mere trails, and of course horses 

 furnished the only means of trans- 



