[wburg]

Unlikely, since the Bee has been around since 1857 (all that 150th anniversary stuff last year) which was well before the Sacramento region became a major agricultural center...that was still technically during the Gold Rush era, before the Sacramento Valley became an agricultural powerhouse. There were some farms, but settlement was still pretty sparse.

About the name, it may have referred to the first issues' small size (printed on smaller paper to limit expenses.) Founder James McClatchy described the early paper as "It was a wee thing then and feeble in appearance, but though small, it was bright and plucky."