The San Francisco call., 1907-02-03
BEE RANcHING IN CALIFORNIA
Good Occupation for Hermits and
Lovers of Nature

Bee ranching has been adopted as a
profession more extensively in Califor-
mia perhaps than in any other section
of the United States. This is due in
part to the fact that the Golden State
has attracted many health seekers, who
find in bee culture an easy, interesting
and at the same time lucrative calling,
which gives them plenty of outdoor
life and does not too greatly tax their
physical strength. But the explanation
is found in larger part in the combina-
tion of everlasting sunshine and the
wonderful extent and variety of fora
which both alike are characteristic of
California The rugged mountain ridges
and innumerable canyon sides, which
to the superficial view of the tourist
seem of no value commercially, are
covered with white and black sage,
wild buckwheat and other growth. ahd
from them is gathered each year a
harvest of sweetness which places the
State far in the lead among the honey
producing sections of the country.
In many instances bees are kept as
a by-product of the ranch. The rancn-
er will have, besides his other varied
sources of income, few stands of bees,
which cost him little trouble and bring
him in very fair returns. In fruit sec
tions, however, bee keeping is looked
upon with disfavor by the orchardists,
who regard the bees as a nuisance, and
in some cases the keeping of bees with
in certain prescribed limits is pro-
hibited by town and city ordinances.
But most of the bee culture is car
ried on in apiaries by those who make
a business of it. They begin with a
few stands and study the business like
any other. Every year they double the
number of stands until soon they have
all they can take care of.
The life Of the bee rancher in Cali
fornia is a lonely one. In fact, it is in
this respect very similar to that of the
shepherd on the great sheep ranges Of
the West. who is obliged to live apart
from his human fellows the greater
portion of the year. Usually the bee
ranch is located in some little canyon
miles from civilization and near the
mountain sides where the bees feed.
And here during the whole of the sum-
mer from April until October the bee
man will live, often with no. other COM
panfons than some books and maga-
zines which he has taken in with him
in the spring and a dog large and fierce
enough to hold his own with the coy
otes and wildcats which infest the
mountain regions.
The monotony of such life might be
wearing were not the periods of isola-
tion comparatively short When the
of the books which he brought in with
him, and is familiar with even the ad-
vertisements In his magazines October
has come and he can close up his cabin
and go back to town, after having
taken care of the summers product
The summer period covers the time
when the new swarms are raised and
the work of laying in the stores for the
coming season is done. AT intervals
| during the winter, perhaps, the beeman
will visit his ranch, but only in bad
years need the bees be fed.
| For many reasons beekeeping in CAL
| ifornia, Notwithstanding drawbacks
which are inevitable from the nature
! of the case. is an attractive and profit
able profession. For one thing, as the
work can be done almost entirely il
| the summer months the bee ranchel
has his long winters in which he car
| engage In some other profitable occupa.
ton IL he chooses Then, only a small
| amount of original capital is needed t.
embark in the business and the first
years proceeds often repay the origina
| outlay The land upon which bees
thrive and gather such rich harvests
is usually absolutely unfit for any
thing else, hence the beeman can es.
tablish himself with little investmen,
at the outset. His colonies do not