The herald., 1895-02-27
An Occupation That is Suitable
for Old Men 49, re-
BEES WILL WORK FOR THEM
The Industry Reduced to Science in
California .e
Prospects for Good tion-y Crop This Year.
Disastrous Effects of Last Years
Drought a. lrr
Los Angeles. Feb 90

held in Los Angeles, has reawakencd interest
in an inus;ry that was lansuishins on account
of last years dry weather. The promise of
good honey crop this year has given the bee
man renewed hope. and many who were on
the point of abandoning the industry will give
it another trial. The bee colonies have been
greatly reduced by the drought as many OF tho
bees died OF starvation, but with plenty Of
honey this year the colonies will rapidly mu,-
tiply until the industry is restored to its fer.
mer magnitude and importance.
The facts and figures given in the following
article from the San Francisco Call, although
somewhat obsolete are we'll worth perusal;
There comes time in the life OF every man
who has not made name or wealth or fame, or
who aims at little something for his old age
outside Of the almshouse or dependence on his
relatives, when he asks himself seriously,
'What shall do?"
And again he asks himself the question. and
there is no answer. He cannot dig, to beg he
is ashamed. Younger men, aggressive and
iriepressible, are crowding him to the wall.
He is perhaps so years OF age. He has toiled
for 35 of these years, raised family perhaps.
is spoken OF as an "old FOSSIL" and finds til lat
he world takes no interest in any man whose
Possibilities are no longer field for specula-
ton, and above all that the story OF Beliisarius
5 cold, everyday truth.
A man of 90 is not an old man, in politics, in
literature, in science, in art, or even in the
conduct of war; but he is an old man to be
in the employ of others, and IL there is . cry
more bitter than another in the heart Of an
honest man at night, 1t is ave me from depsn-
dence in my old age"
Now, down in Southern California, the land
of booms and new enterprises, there 10 young
but thriving industry which requires but little
capital and 40 physical toll 1t fs precisely
suited to the taste OF man who wants to rve
as much as possible in the open air ana pfac-
tice his powers Of observation and reflection.
A bee ranch has host o. attractions. lisa
legitimate, honest enterprise and yields reg
ular return for the Investment Of . vspy little
money.
1t is perhaps an unfortunate Circumstance
that the localities in which bee keeping can
be extensively and prontably pursued are
limited, but there 10 room enough for hun
dreds OF bee ranches yet II man will take the
trouble to choose a site carefully.
Bees have been always quoted a. an example
OF industry, and the bee keeper win not sue
ceed if he Is idle and careless He will not
have to earn his living by the sweat OF his
brow, physically speaking, bu. he will have to
give the same amount OF care and mental
concentration that he would have 70 do to sue
ceed in any other kind of business.
Bee keeping has been reduced almost to q
science, and the man who conducts his busi-
ness on the line of the old "skeps' and leaves
his beeslto shift for themselves will find him
self out of pocket at the end Of the 6rst year,
and bankrupt In the second,
The modern frame hive is an object lesson in
itself. 1t shows bow study, devoted to one
object, pays in bees as in everything else In
the old days, the man whose bees were about
to swarm passed anxious nights waiting. for
the event, and very anxious day With q door
key and an extemporized gong. thick veil
over his head, gauntlets over his wrists. srnd
maybe 80 40 bees sos singing him sncs
smoking out of the bees to get the honey meant
too often the death of the industrious little
colony.
In Southern California today the bee keeper
makes as light of transferring swarm as of
changing his attire, and as for smoking or kill
ing the bees he does not dream of it; neither
does he destroy the comb. They are with
drawn in sections from the frame hives. Put
in an agltator which removes the honey and
The essential conditions for bee culture are:
The proximity OF water or moist lowland, for
perish on the great plains; there must be a
profuson Of summer flowers cultivated for the
bees when the dry season sets in; there must
trees, notably slyssum, wild sage. wild mus
tard, alfalfa, and so on. The gay tinted flow
ers, as rule. are honeyless, as gay plumagsd
1t will give some idea of the increase OF bee
keeping as a acommerci al enterprise If the fig
ures recently obtained for the treasury DEPART
ment are considered, C.lifornis, be it said,
resembles Greece. the land OF the bees in
classic times There are at present $4,000
hives in the state and the yield is from 400 TO
1000 tons, The cost of bee ranch Of 400
hives has been thus estimated: Hives, $500:
boxes for honey, $165; wages and board for
one man for IL months, $3.50; hauling, &l95;
packing cases.. $l65; sundries. $45: total,
$1,000. From this Investment the receipts aare
and wax, and $4,000 from new swarins leav-
ing profit of $1,000 for the year.
The growth of the industry Is best seen from
q comparison of three different years widely
separated; In 1873 there were 10000 htyss
hives worth $11141 in 1885 there were
81, 1875 hives worth Sis, l20. t-tss
The great bee counties are Los Angeles,
Riverside and San Diego, which raise more
than all the others put together. The amount
of honey received in San Francisco in 1880
alone was 1.l4s,S00 pounds; in 1854 the
figures rose to 2, 1877 $50 and in 1859 it was
still over million pounds.
The bee keeper has one great advantage over
the average farmer or ranchct No man ever
became a successful farmer by reading books
toll in the fields, and years Of self denial and
triumphs over "the stubborn globe" as well as
we'll as battles with mortgages, bad years and
short crops But bee eeping is a single prob
lem which excellent books have been
written and the thoughtful, observant temper.
age. is rather favorable than otherwise to sue.
cess in the work,
outside of Los Angeles, Riverside and San
Diego, the counties which have yielded the
best results in the agriculture are San Bernar-
dino, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Fresno.