Stearns sold half his interest in the Bee to C. L. Packard in 1879,As reflected in an advertisement published in the Oregonian: and the remainder to Atkinson & Farrish in 1880. He went on to a successful career in real estate and fruit trees. The Bee was renamed the Bulletin in August 1880 and discontinued in 1882. It was the third Portland paper to carry the name "Bulletin"; Atkinson had launched the first, which lasted only a few months, more than a decade prior.
