"No. 163. An Apiary on the Foothills of San Gabriel", stereoscopic photograph, circa 1878

"No. 163. An Apiary on the Foothills of San Gabriel," stereoscopic photograph, originally photographed by Alexander C. Varela, Los Angeles, California, USA, circa 1878 and republished by Isaiah W. Taber, San Francisco, circa early 1880s. The view shows at least three rows of stacked boxes in which honeybees were kept for the production of honey. At the left is a white two-story structure, probably the house of the apiarist. The land on which the apiary was kept is mowed and there is one lone tree in the background, behind which are the San Gabriel Mountains. Varela moved to San Jose and worked as a photographer there in 1880, but evidently sold his negatives to Taber before returning to Washington, D. C., where he worked in the federal government system. With slight mount curvature, some soiling and edge rubbing, the overall condition is good.