The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-11-06
CALIFORNIA BEES
Mountain Caves Converted Into
Huge HIVES
a yeritntIe 5linc of t,>,tsy Di-coN cred in
the Stouuis.s.~ - i5Sst.r for Its
Possession tr-fv. cen Bces
aud Miners.

In many places, particularly in the
southern part Of che state, caves IN the
mounta;u sides have been taken posses
sion OF and literally Gllcd with the nee
tar gathered from the myriad honey
prodaaiu~ wiidl1wcrs. There Is "a re-
nar,zo bic instance of this sort Of natuI-
al beehive, SAYS the san Francisco
Chronicle, IN the Cajon Pass, north OF
The city Of San Bernardino. In pre-
cipitous sduff rising from the bed OF the
creek that flows through the Canven Is
an opening in the rock large enough
for a man to walk through Over this
n rude door made of wIde-ncshea wire
netting has been placed. 50 that while
the iugress and ezsreSs Of the bces Is not
hindao'ed. the stores OF honey cannot
be .uoIcsted except at the VIII of ths
person having 1he key TO tic door. Tie
cave pcnctratFS far into the hillside and
is literally alive vita boes Away IN
the back the combs hang from the
rocks for several feet downward and
are literally black with age. To'vard
the front many fresh combs are seen,
some already soaked over and Others
being filled with honey 1t is evident
that there must b. many swarmS IN the
cave in order 70 have produced as much
honey as is stored away withinSS rocky
walls.
The bees of California are ambitious
workers and when their hives are not
kept clear Of the surplus honey VIII
put their stores in all sorts OF places.
The writer once had churgu Of a large
apiarv. and the season was SO favorable
that il was impossible t0tal.c the honey
from the hives as rapidly rs it was
stored. In one case there were three
hives standing on some scautling, with
about a foot OF space intervening. liav-
ing filed the vacant boxes the bees
next turned their attention to the out
sides, and filed the space between
the hives and also underneath tIcm
with a solid mass OF honey. So close
" were the hives fastened that Il actu-
ally required the use OF ,roVlar 10
pry them apart
Down ut Tcmcscal. san BernardiBo
county, near the famous san Jaciuto
tin mine there is a veritablc mine Of
honey. Actually and literally this Is q
fact. There is Iargc force of men
employed NJ the tin mine, and they pUt
in their idle time prospecting In the
dozen of the miners applied 20 Col. Rob
inson, the superintendent, for the privi-
legc of using spue giant powder ana q
few tools. he asked them what thcy
wanted To do. ana they replied that they
had found a honey mime and proposed
TO tap it, Laughing, he gave his con-
sent and an order ON the storrkccper
for the desired articles. and, with
out on their expedition.
They were gone all day, and cIong
toward Sunuoyvu a sorry -.uo',lu.r pro-
cession came over the hiI. a-tJ llud,. its
way to the employees headquarters.
They had tapped the mine. thrr, could
BE- no question about that. They were
sticky with honey from head TO foot.
Hair and beard drippcd with it. like
unto the appearance of Aaron wteu he
was annuiUtcd even So that the OH rgn
all over him and down 10 his t.,t
Their clothes were Hberaliy p'a~t-rcd
with a mixture OF honey and uul; tnCI,,
was honey everNEyhorc. Bat the tubs
and buckets were full OF honey IS wen.
for rich l-ad had indeed been struck.
But the miners had paid dearly far
their trouble. Their face, were uulisd
up and swollen. eyes were almost
closed, and there was not "a -ovarg inch
OF exposed cUticie but showed la marks
Of contact with the tarrid business end
OF the in nsccts who had been robbed.
The men. it appeared, had found
crcviee in the rocks wbcuca issued q.
constant stream of bees. and from this;
they Judged that there must be a large.
quantity of honey lin the recesscs OF the
cliff. The opening used by the bccs
was too small 90 admit OF the passrge
Cf a human being, and after carefully
examining the place Il tunnel was com
uenccd little way from the entrance.
and after this had been run the right
distance an upraise was put in, which
by good luck struck the ledge of honey
in its center After a hot contest Will
the bees several hundred pounds OF
comb honeg were taken out. and the
tunnel was then closed up. Several
times since additional supplies OF the
sweet material have been taken from
the cave. which is now sa-arded "a, a
permanent feature If tl.- property Of
the san ,IltlutD ,sEt.fs-