THE LARGEST BEEHIVE IN THE WORLD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1521, 19 June 1873, Page 2

THE LARGEST BEEHIVE IN THE WORLD.

— In Los Angelos county, on the eastern slope of the San Francisco range of mountains, and the immediate vicinity of the Learning Petroleum Company's old region, there is a a wonderful collection of wild honey in existence. The hive is located in a rift which penetrates the rock to the depth of probably 160 feet. The orifice is 30 feet long and 17 feet wide ; four passages. The rift was discovered to be the abiding place of a swarm of bees that is represented as coming out in nearly a solid column one foot in diameter. Certain parties have endeavoured to descend to the immense store of honey collected by these bees, but were invariably driven back, and one man lost his life in Ihe effort. Others have, at the expense of much labor and money, built a scaffold 120 feet high, in the hope of reaching a place whence they could run a drift into the rock and extract its well-hoarded sweets, but finally ceased their work. Within four years the bees have added no less than 15 feet of depth to their treasure, as ascertained by actual measurement, and it is thought that at the present time there cannot be less than eight or ten tons of honey in the rock. A man named B. Brophy lives in a cabin not far from the spot, and .obtained from the melting of the honey by the sun's heat enough for his family reqtiirements. All through that region immense stores of wild honey are found in the trees, in the rocks, nearly every place where its industrious manufacturers think — for bees seem to think— it will be secure. They consume a very small proportion, as the climate enables them to keep up operations nearly every day in the year, and flowers of some sort are always in bloom. It must be a severe season indeed when thelittle fellows are not seen abroad in vast numbers engaged in their mellifluous work.