The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25
Written for 1.-The CALI by Distinguished Authorities.


ing the drying season. The latter, how
ever, is impracticabIe, as there are so many
bees IN hollow trees, rock crevices, and es-
pecialIy in the walls of buildings that are
beyond control that removal is impossi-
bic. 1t is said that there are more than a
thousand colonies of bees in the buildings
of Los Angeles. The people OF Italy
seem to be in advance of the people OF
portions OF our own country in this
matter of the relation of bees to fruit.
Italy is one of the most important fruit re-
gions of the world, and is equally ceie-
brated as a Bookkeeping country. Yet
there the value of the bees is universally
recognized, and there is no quarrel or an
tagonism between the pomologist and the
apiarist. Through the farmers institutes
and clubs California is rapidly coming to
the same condition. Our more intelligent
fruit-growers already recognize the i'm
portance of bees to their industry, and
welcome the presence of the beekeeper
and often offer an inducement to secure
the location OF an apiary in close proxim-
lty to their orchards.
California is equal If not superior to the
most favored regions of the world as bee
keeping State. She has no winter prob
lem" to solve; she produces honey of the
highest excellence; she furnishes honey in
quantities rarely equaled and never ex-
celled; she produces an average per colony
of bees which is a surprise to other bee
keeping regions; she can keep more col
onies in single apiary than any other
region so far as we know
a u-ip tnr Nf ~ ~
rock on which prosperity is often wrecked.
Often whole apiaries are destroyed in a
single winter. and even the most intelli-
gent beekeeper is not exempt from this
scourge. TO meet this enemy, costly de-
positories, packing boxes, or double walled
or chaff hives are provided. The Califor-
MIA beekeeper has no occasion to provide
expensive apparatus against the winter.
The sage honey, product OF white and
ball or black sage, Audibertia poIystachya
and Audibertia palemeri, is confessedy
equal to white clover honey, which is say
ing that 1t is as fine as the finest in the
world. The orange blossom honey and
that from the common wild buckwheat,
Eriogonum fasciculatum, and alfalfa are
not quite so white, but unequaled in ex-
cellence of flavor. The bean and fruit
honey is also OF first grade. The far
famed thyme honey of Mount Hymettus
is not bit superior to that which comes
in such abundant profusion in the apiaries
of our own California.
The product of honey par excellence
from single colony of bees in a single
season is almost beyond belief. Six hun
dred pounds from one colony is by no
means exceptional in our best seasons.
One hundred and fifty pounds per colony
for the entire apiary of hundreds of colo
| MES is common in such years. This ex-
traordinary production is accounted for
from the fact of exceptionally long periods
OF bloom. White sage is in bloom two
months or more, and buckwheat even
! longer, while citrus bloom is rarely abse MT
| from the lemon and orange orchards.
! Thus the honey season is so prolonged
that enormous productions can be counted
| on in seasons favorable to nectar secretion.
But all seasons are not equally good.
| In the last twenty years seven years have
| been remarkable, giving a yield of $50
! to COO pounds per colony. Nine have
| given an average surplus of from ten to
! sixty pounds, while four years were so I'M
/ favorable that the bees had to be fed to
/ prevent starvation. The average, how
| ever, in all these years has been seventy
two pounds per colony per season. These
| figures are from the Sespe apiary of J. f.
Mcintyre, which has about the average To-
! cation. This is most encouraging show
! ing, especially when we consider that the
/ expense in labor and materials is reduced
/ nearly to zero in the off years.
again, the usual cause of failure is scanty
rainfall. Occasionally dry hot winds
prove disastrous, but the character OF the
rainfall is known before the season opens,
so the misfortune is minimized. The bee
keeper does not buy the apparatus neces-
sary to store his crops, and can arrange
| beforehand to engage in other pursuits.
The Bookkeeping industry win never Ian
| guish where an annual production like
that of California is assured, especially as
the expense and labor is only required for
! three-fourths of the year, and is at it's
| height for hardly more than one-third of
the time, when the production is tremen-
! dous.
| The number of colonies that can be
| profitably kept in one location without
any apparent overstocking OF the pastur-
age is equally exceptional. In the East