356 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



Like all of California, the spring months gave 

 an abundance of flowers; but in June there is 

 a short time of scarcity which sometimes en- 

 dangers the life of the colony unless closely 

 watched and fed. 



At Upper Lake much alfalfa is grown, and 

 Mr. Shires had an idea of moving to that local- 

 ity, where he thought a greater amount and 

 better quality of honey could be produced; but 

 there is no better evidence needed to show the 

 abundant honey-flow of this locality than the 

 number of bee- trees. 



In the morning Mr. Shires came over to our 

 camp with a nice basket of fruit and some sam- 

 ples of his comb honey; and, how opportune! 

 We had ceased to say, "May the shadow of 

 Pryal never grow less," for the honey he gave 

 us was all gone; and now we changed our 

 opinion, and thought that the Shires shadow 

 ought never to grow less; and how can it, with 

 a swarm of seven children ? 



The objection to making a business of bee- 

 keeping in this locality is its distance from 

 railroad transportation. Mr. S. found sale for 

 his honey in the home markets. We felt much 

 benefited by meeting Mr. S., and were better 

 posted in relation to honey-production in Lake 

 Co. At the close of our fraternizing we turned 

 our faces in our respective directions; and soon 

 Lower Lake was a memory of the past. 



Lake Co. is noted for its numerous mineral 

 springs and health resorts; and, as a native said, 

 the country seemed to make a good share of its 

 living off the tourist. We desired to do our share 

 toward supporting the country, and resolved to 

 take a turn among a few of these resorts. 



At Seigler's Springs we found a fine hotel, 

 many cottages, and tents; but owing to the 

 hard times there were but few occupants. The 

 sparkling waters reminded me much of the 

 mineral waters of Saratoga, N. Y. We lunched 

 at Seiglers, and then pushed on toward Adams 

 Springs; a rough, stony, and steep road tried 

 the mettle of our ponies, but we accomplished 

 the journey without accident, I was pleased 

 to note in many places by the wayside quite 

 thrifty little fields of sweet clover. The bees 

 were working upon it quite freely, and they 

 were presumably from the surrounding trees, 

 for there were no bee-keepers in the vicinity. 



At Adams Springs the mountains closed in to 

 a narrow gorge. Here we found hotel and 

 stables, and numerous cottages. There was 

 barely room for a road, and we nearly desr aired 

 of finding a camping- place. We did, however, 

 find a little sq\iare spot large enough for our 

 tent, and we decorated the side of the moun- 

 tain with our wagon, blocked with stones, and 

 our ponies hung, as it were, to the bushes. 



When we bade Mr. Pryal farewell in Oakland 

 he partly promised to join us in Napa and enjoy 

 with us for a season our travels and camp-life; 

 but hearing no word from him we could only 

 hope that he would follow on and overtake us. 



We had been two weeks from Oakland, and his 

 shadow had grown very dim, and here in this 

 wooded country we had given up all hopes of 

 his arrival. 



MR. PRY At- S UNSEASONABLE VISIT CREATES 

 SOME ALARM IN CAMP. 



We had retired, and were about to send up 

 our somniferous orisons, when we heard a 

 tramping of many feet up the narrow roadway 

 — a lantern and a rough voice intimating that 

 those hobo fellows had better get their tent out 

 of that or they'd get pitched out. Our valiant 

 Jack rushed out to the defense, and the parties 

 halted. Mr. Wilder followed the dog to see 

 what all the racket was about; and whom 

 should he meet but our friend Pryal? It is 

 needless to say that we gave this bee-keeper of 

 Oakland a cordial greeting. He had been upon 

 our trail for several days, and an extra push on 

 the lines, and a late drive enabled him to over- 

 take us. We gave him a soft corner of earth in 

 our camp for his bed ; here he rolled his blanket 

 around him and soon forgot the toils of the day 

 in sleep, witli the rest of us. 



MK. PRYAL AND HIS RIG SUSAN B. ANTHONY. 



In the early morning we saw a sort of nonde- 

 script animal across the gulch, and Mr. Wilder 

 was the first to exclaim, " Hello! Bro. Pryal, 

 where in the name of the equine race did you 

 get that hoss?" 



