Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-10-14
THE HONEY INTEREST.
Address Delivered Before the Bee
Keepers' District Association oi
Southern California, Held in Los
Angeles Oct. f1th. 1888, by the
President, j. e. Pleasant.

President. j. e. Pleasant.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--Another
year has gone by and again we meet in
Convention to review the past and de-
wise plans for the future. You are all
aware Of the wonderful progress made in
agriculture in the last quarter Of centu-
ry. OF all the modern Improvements
will only mention three of the greatest;
The movable comb hive, the extractor
and the artificial comb; but these three
have revolutionized Bookkeeping, for
with their use the quantity of honey is
greatly increased. But, notwithstand-
ing the great increase, the demand for
honey to-day is greater than the supply,
and SO it will continue, for the more
easily an article is produced, the cheaper
it can be sold. and the cheaper it is sold
the nearer it is brought within the reach
of all
As nation, we should rejoice that
America leads the van in all that
relates to agriculture; and as the
demand for honey increases, Amer
lea is called upon to supply that
demand. am sure that California will
in the future, as she has in the past,
come to the front with her tons upon
tons Of unsurpassed and insurpassable
honey. All of US will concede that the
last three or four years have been un-
propitious for the bee business in this
State; but with all the unfavorableness
of the seasons California has produced
enough for home consumption and some
to spare for our cousins over the seas,
whose palates we love to tickle with our
sweet product. The fear of Cutting the
market of the world with good honey is
as absurd as to think Of Cutting it with
wheat. Honey put up in neat and
marketable package will always bring
remunerative prices. The honey inter.
est is an industry which deserves en-
couragement from all. In a good
year it brings into this dis
trict alone over half million
of as virgin dollars as those which
the sturdy miner delves from the earth
while the industrious bees extract it out
of the blossoms which would otherwise
go to waste on the desert air. Read
over the list of premiums offered by the
managers of the fair of the Sixth Agri-
cultural District and see what you find
there to encourage this great industry.
Not one dollar.
This great industry has its enemies
among the fruit growers. While admit
ting that bees are injurious to the raisin
industry, will defend them in most of
the charges brought against them by
their enemies, who oftentimes do not
know the difference between bee and
yellow jacket. The damage done to
fruit is always commenced by other
insects, or birds, but it is invariably laid
at the door of the bee. Sometimes the
fruit grower knows SO little Of the
physiology of the bee that he accuses
him of gnawing through an inch board
to get to his fruit. So the cry is, "The
bees must CO." II not, they will be
trapped and destroyed. Such work is
both cruel and unlawful. 1 am opposed
to keeping bees in the valleys between
May and November, where there are
orchards and vineyards. Generally the
bees which are in the valleys are not
owned by professional bee-keepers, but
by men who just keep pa few for their
own use. 1t is to the interest Of profes-
sional bee-keepers to confine bees to the
mountains exclusively, as the honey pro-
duced in the valleys is Of inferior quail.
ity and therefore injurious to the repu-
tation Of California honey. | am conf
dent that the majority Of the true bee-
keepers will coincide with me.
| As we ell know, there are always two
sides to question, for once upon time
keeper of bees in the mountains, who
for years had been quietly pursuing the
even tenor Of his way. had his tranquil
ity interrupted by tiller of the soil,
who moved into the vicinity and planted
his vines and melons. In the course of
time the pioneers bees fed upon the
sour grapes and melons of his neighbor,
and as it was not their natural food, they
became diseased and perished. Where
upon their owner became enraged and
called an anti-fruit-growers' meeting, the
decision of which was that the husband
man must CO.
Query; Will he go'