406 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



BEE-KKEPIIVG AI^D CROPS IP« UTAH. 



BY E. S. LOVESY. 



Friend York : — The " Old Reliable " comes regularly and on time every week, 

 and while we always find In its pages many good things, we often cull, from a 

 single number, points of information of more value than its subscription price for 

 a whole year. While we get many other papers, we receive none that we relish 

 with a keener interest than the American "Bee Journal. No matter how far ad- 

 vanced, or how scientific our bee-keepers may become, there are none that will not 

 be benefited by scanning its pages. 



The honey-flow here, so far as we can learn, is above the average. While we 

 have not heard from all points, we have heard from many places, and nearly all 

 send good reports, and some say that the honey crop this year is unusually heavy — 

 in fact, for crops of every description Utah is unusually blessed this year. 



I have just returned from a trip through the northern counties to Bear River, 

 north of the Lake. Now while we have pretty good crops nearly every year in most 

 places, I do not think that I ever saw anything to quite equal this year. Fruits of 

 every description — the trees and vines are groaning and breaking under their heavy 

 loads ; and the grain crops are also good. In potatoes and roots I don't like to state 

 how much is often grown on an acre, because in this instance the truth would sound 

 stranger than fiction. 



I was surprised to see what is being accomplished in the Bear River country. It 

 is not long since the coyote made his home there, and even now when we look on 

 that portion of the soil that is still in its native or unbroken state, we are loth to 

 believe that it will grow such immense crops, but I saw corn standing 8 feet 

 high, and lucerne, the third crop, now ready to cut, averaging seven or more tons 

 to the acre for the three crops ; cabbage as large as a water bucket, and I saw over 

 30 potatoes dug from one hill, and other crops in proportion. I noticed a growth of 

 fruit trees, vines, and shade trees, this season, of from 5 to 7 feet. 



It seems to be an excellent country for bees. We visited one bee-keeper that 

 had 63 colonies; he robbed 35 of them the second time two days before I called on 

 him, taking out 2,300 pounds. This honey was gathered entirely from lucerne 

 and the Rocky Mountain honey-plant. Shall we tell our friends the secret of all 

 this ? It is water — iife-giving water. Water is on top in Utah. It is first and 

 foremost. Next is our invigorating climate. We have no hot nights, no malaria, 

 no cyclones, but it is claimed that Utah has a greater variety of minerals than any 

 other State, and as she will soon be coming into the Union, we flatter ourselves that 

 she will soon be one of the brightest stars in this great Nation. Please pardon this 

 bit of enthusiasm for our own bright little gem that will soon be a shining star. 



I visited several bee-keepers in this Bear River section, and they all reported 

 that the bees were doing well. I am very much tempted to try and start a bee- 

 ranch up there. The reason this land was not settled many years sooner, was the 

 immense cost of getting the water on the land. There is plenty of water now which 

 they can turn out of the river. The dams, tunnel, 70 miles of the two main canals 

 30 feet wide in the bottom, and 200 miles of laterals have been built at a cost of 

 $2,250,000. They have about 9,000 acres under cultivation, and there is about 

 180,000 acres under the canals. 



I met people there seeking homes from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas, and other places. They expressed themselves as 

 being well pleased with this country — the land seems to be adapted to the sugar 

 beet. The sugar industry here has proven to be a grand success. Our climate 



