First Successful Introduction of the Honeybee to California!

First Successful Introduction of the Honeybee to California
Landmark #945 Santa Clara County Visited: August 27, 2016 Plaque?  YES! 🙂
What is it? A plaque at San Jose Municipal Airport!
What makes it historical? THE GUIDE SAYS: Here, on the 1,939-acre Rancho Potrero de Santa Clara, Christopher A. Shelton in early March 1853 introduced the honeybee to California. In Aspinwall, Panama, Shelton purchased 12 beehives from a New Yorker and transported them by rail, “bongo,” pack mule, and steamship to San Francisco. Only enough bees survived to fill one hive, but these quickly propagated, laying the foundation for California’s modern bee-keeping industry.

OTHER TIDBITS: The honeybee that we’re all so familiar with has its origins in Europe, and people are so deadset on using them for agriculture that folks will truck them in from the Midwest for use in Californai orchards! But did you know that California has about 1600 species of bees, most of them native?!

How can I Help the Helpers? HERE’S HOW:

Where is this place? LISTED DIRECTIONS:
San Jose Municipal Airport
1661 Airport Blvd
San Jose, CA 95110

ANNOTATIONS:
The plaque is by Door 10 of Terminal C, directly across from the intersection of Airport Parkway and Airport Boulevard!

From Los Angeles: ~343mi (553km) — 5.8hrs
From Sacramento: ~117mi (189km) — 2hrs
From San Diego: ~463mi (746km) — 7.8hrs
From San Francisco: ~46mi (75km) — 0.8hrs

When should I go? Whenever the mood strikes you!

Click here to see more California historical landmarks!

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