166 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



KAMBLE 127. 



GAS FOR THE BEE-PAPEKS. 



By Rambler. 



Mr. Pryal, having the Rambler upon his 

 hands, felt it his duty to ramble me in various 

 directions around the cities. Near Mr. Pryal's 

 were many beautiful residences, and ample 

 grounds laid out in a paradisaical sort of way. 

 The owners were men of wealth, millionaires; 

 here a grotto of rockwork covered with ferns 

 and flowers, and running water, a beautiful 

 plaything costing only $3000; there a copper 

 affair made in imitation of half of an immense 



time ago; and though he is now out of the busi- 

 ness, residing with a daughter here in Oakland, 

 he still retains so much interest as to be a sub- 

 scriber to Gleanings. 



Our call was of such a pleasant nature that 

 Mr. N. returned it the next day, and sojourned 

 in our camp for awhile. Mr. Pryal, with cam- 

 era in hand, gave us a shot while Mr. Wilder 

 and I were enjoying our noonday meal, and a 

 very good photograph of. Mr. Norton, leaning 

 against our wagon, is shown. 



Immediately after dinner we all started for 

 San Francisco, to make a call upon Mr. Harry 

 L. Jones, a brother bee-keeper. On the way 



CAMP ON TEMESCAL CKEEK, NEAK I'KVAL, ,S. 



sea-shell; the cost of this plaything was s^OOO. 

 Across the way is an i-state formerly owned by 

 J. Ross Browne, who, when in this life, was a 

 genial writer and traveler. The residence and 

 grounds are fitted up in oriental style, or like a 

 Chinese pagoda. There are quite a number of 

 bee-keepers in a small way around the cities of 

 Oakland and San Francisco, but not much at- 

 tention is given to the industry as a business. 



Our first call was upon Major P. L. Norton, 

 not only a veteran bee-keeper, but a veteran of 

 the war, as will be seen by the handle to his 

 name. Mr. N. is from Lanesboro, Pa., where 

 himself and son were successful apiarists. Mr. 

 N. imbibed the love of the bee in boyhood, and 

 has never lost it. He invented a self-spacing 

 frame that was illustrated in Gleanings some 



across the bay Mr. P. informed me that Mr. 

 Jones, besides being interested in bees, was a 

 gas collector. Now. imponderable substances, 

 such as electricity, etc., were always a mystery 

 to me, and I said to Bro. Pryal. " What on 

 earth does he do with the gas when he collects 

 it?" " Well," says Mr. P., " this gas business 

 is a very deep question. Ask Mr. Jones about 

 it; he will give you full information." 



Mr. Jones lived then away out near the 

 Golden Gate Park; and after we left the cable 

 car we had quite a climb up one of those steep 

 streets for which the city is noted. The ocean 

 breeze comes up here howling from the Golden 

 Gate, and loose things go flying through the 

 air; so the San Franciscans, when they speak 

 of their bracing climate, mean much — its brace 



