ALPINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Alpine, California

Alpine Residents

 

JOHN STEWART HARBISON
PIONEER BEEKEEPER
1826 - 1912

John Stewart Harbison, About 1871
Photo from the San Diego Historical Society Collection

John Stewart Harbison was born the third child of William and Margaret (Curry) Harbison, on a farm near Freedom, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, on September 29, 1826.

He became a bee keeper in the tradition of his father, and later migrated to the west coast of the United States.  After spending some years in other California locations, on November 28, 1869 he arrived in San Diego aboard the ship "Orizaba" with one hundred and ten colonies of bees.  In the spring of 1874,  he moved with his wife and daughter to a homestead near the Sweetwater River, twenty-three miles east of San Diego in a little valley now known as Harbison Canyon.  Within seven years time, he was the largest producer of honey in the world, operating 2,000 to 3,000 hives.  At that time, having several hundred hives was considered a large operation.

His success in capitalizing on the vast honey potential of San Diego County, along with his extensive campaign of selling bees to the residents of the county, was the major force in making San Diego County the greatest honey producing county in the Sate of California by 1874, which in turn made California the leading honey producing state of the Union.  John Harbison was a major contributor to the theory of bee culture with his development of new tools and methods that characterized the remarkable advances made in nineteenth century apicultural science.  Both his brother William and John were imporant early authors on bee keeping science. 

John Harbison opened up the great retail markets east of the Mississippi River needed to absorb the tremendous honey crops produced in California.  He was worthy of the title bestowed upon him by members of the bee industry--"King of the Beekeepers." 

Mr. Harbison died on October 12, 1912, at the age of eighty-six.

A more extensive biography of John S. Harbison can be found on the San Diego Historical Society's website:  http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/69fall/harbison.htm.

 

John S. Harbison

John S. Harbison and his "California Hive"
About 1905--Harbison examining one of his colonies. The Harbison hive opened in the back with a cupboard like door. A glass pane covers the brood chamber at the bottom of the hive, which can be removed to examine the brood and/or queenbee. In the top part can be seen two decks of his two-pound comb honey sections held together in groups of eight by thin wood slats. Note the bees on the sections and open door.--From the U. C. Davis Apicultural Manuscript Collection.

Harbison's two-pound comb honey sections.  Top tier shows how the sections were clamped together.  Center group shows the beeswax starters put in the top of each section to guide the bees in building straight comb.  At the bottom are two sections nearly filled with comb, but containing only a few cells of honey.  Some of his comb honey shipping cases are in the background.--From the U. C. Davis Collection.

Harbison's Sweetwater apiary, about 1905.  This was his "home" apiary, located in what is now known as Harbison Canyon.--From the U. C. Davis Collection.

 

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This page was last updated on May 29, 2008