The main honey months, in ordinary seasons, are April, May, June, July,
and August; while the other months are usually flowery enough to yield
sufficient for the bees.
According to Mr. J.T. Gordon, President of the Los Angeles County
Bee-keepers' Association, the first bees introduced into the county were
a single hive, which cost $150 in San Francisco, and arrived in
September, 1854.[1] In April, of the following year, this hive sent out
two swarms, which were sold for $100 each. From this small beginning the
bees gradually multiplied to about 3000 swarms in the year 1873. In 1876
it was estimated that there were between 15,000 and 20,000 hives in the
county, producing an annual yield of about 100 pounds to the hive--in
some exceptional cases, a much greater yield.
In San Diego County, at the beginning of the season of 1878, there were
about 24,000 hives, and the shipments from the one port of San Diego for
the same year, from July 17 to November 10, were 1071 barrels, 15,544
cases, and nearly 90 tons. The largest bee-ranches have about a thousand
hives, and are carefully and skilfully managed, every scientific
appliance of merit being brought into use.
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