The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-12-02
CALIFORNIA BEES.
Mountain Caves Converted Into
Hu~o Hives.
"A vcritnbio alinc of Honey Discovered In
tho Hlounta.us-A Isattlo for Its
Possession between ices
and Miners.


In many places, particularly in the
southern part of the state, caves in the
mountain sides have been taken posses
sion of and literally filled with the nee
tar gathered from the myriad honey
producing wildflowcrs. There is b re-
marlSablc instance of this sort of natur-
al beehive, says the San Francisco
Chronicle, in the Cajon Pass, north of
the city of San Bernardino. In n pre-
cipitous bluff rising from the bed of the
creek that flows through the canyon is
IN opening in tho rock large enough
for !: man to walk through. Over this
rude door made of wide mcshcd wire
netting has been placed, SO that while
the itgress and egrcss of the bees is not
hindered, the stores of honey cannot
be molcsted except ut the will of the
person having the key to the door. The
cave pcnetratcs far into the hillside and
is literally alive with bees. Away in
the back the combs hang from the
rocks for several feet downward and
arc literally black with age. Toward
the front many fresh combs are seen,
some already scaled over and others
being filled with honey. 1t is evident
that there must be many swarms in the
cave i'll order to have produced as much
honey as is stored away within it's rocky
walls.
The bees of California are ambitious
workers, and when their hives are not
kept clear of the surplus honey will
put their stores in all sorts of places.
Tho writer once had charge of large
apiary, and the season was so favorable
that 1T was impossible to take the honey
from the hives as rapidly as it was
stored In one case there were three
hives standing on some scantling, with
about Il foot of space Intervening IIav-
ing filled the vacant boxes the bees
next turned their attention to the out
sides, and filled the space between
the hives and also underneath them
with solid mass of honey. So close
ly were the hives fastened that it uctu-
ally required the use of u crowbar to
pry them apart.
Down at Tcmescal, San Bcrnardino
county, near the famous San Jacinto
tin mine, there is vcritable mine of
honey. Actually and literally this is u
fact. There is u large force of men
employed ut the tin mine, and they put
in their idle time prospecting in the
hills in the vicinity. On Sunday half n
dozen of the miners applied to Col. Rob
inson, the superintendent, for the privi-
lcgc OF using some giant powder ana a
few tools. lie asked them what they
wanted to do, and they replied that they
had found honey mine and proposed
to tap it, Laughing, he gave his con-
sent and an order on the storckcepcr
for the desired articles, and, with n
supply of pals and tubs, the men set
out on their expedition.
They were gone all day, and along
toward shutdown n sorry-loolling pro-
cession came over the hill and made its
way to the employees headquarters.
They had tapped the mine, there could
be no question about that They were
sticky with honey from head to foot
Hair and beard dripped with it, like
unto the appearance of Aaron when he
was Amounted, even so that the oil ran
all over him and down to his feet.
Their clothes were literally plastcrcd
with mixture of honey and mud; there
was honey everywhere. But the tubs
and buckets were full of honey as well,
for Il rich lead had indeed been struck.
But the miners had paid dearly for
their trouble. Their faces were puffcd
up and swollen, eyes were almost
closed, and there was not square inch
of exposed cuticlc but showed the marks
of contact with the torrid business end
of the in sects who had been robbed.
The men, it appeared, had found a
crevice in the rocks whence issued q
constant stream of bees, and from this
they judged that there must be a large
quantity of honey in the reccsscs of the
cliff. The opening used by the bees
was too small to admit of the passage
of human being, and after carefully
examining the place Il tunnel was com
mcnccdcl 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 q hot contest with
the bees several hundred pounds of
comb honey 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 regarded as q
permanent feature OF the property of
the San ,Jacint oGtnto