Historical and Archaeological Investigations into late 19th and early 20th century bee keeping at San Diego County’s Nathan Harrison site and beyond

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

During the late 19th century, San Diego County became the largest honey-producer in the state,

and California led the nation in its production. This paper investigates historical, cultural, and

environmental transformations in the region during a time in which drought curtailed cattle and

sheep ranching and bee keeping boomed in southern California. It discusses important

pioneers in the field—like “King of the Bee Keepers” John Stewart Harbison—, details essential

elements of an historic apiary toolkit tied to logistics, procurement, processing, and packaging,

and applies these insights to examinations of Palomar Mountain’s past and present honey

industry. The Nathan Harrison site, which has had ongoing archaeological investigations since

2004 and boasts an assemblage of over 50,000 artifacts, serves as a cornerstone of this analysis.

Harrison, the region’s first African-American homesteader, was a historically documented bee

keeper and close friends with some of the area’s most prominent honey venturers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology