First Honeybees in California

The bronze counts twelve hives bought in Panama. John Quincy Adams Ballou, interviewed at 99 in 1925, remembered two swarms carried among Shelton's belongings with a shipment of plants for Commodore Stockton's ranch, the ground this airport now covers. Either way, Shelton did not see the bees spread. He was killed on April 11, 1853, when the boiler of the steamer Jenny Lind blew out on the run from Alviso to San Francisco. The plaque first stood in a brick pier outside Terminal C and now stands by the flagpoles near Terminal B.

What the plaque says

First Honeybees in California 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 beekeeping industry. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 945 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with E Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850, and in honor of San Jose City Historian, Clyde Arbuckle. March 6, 1982.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Old Sites of Mission Santa Clara de Asis and Old Spanish Bridge — 0.8 mi
• Santa Clara Women's Club Adobe — 1.3 mi
• Mission Santa Clara — 1.4 mi
• Charles Copeland Morse Residence — 1.5 mi