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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sweden, and since his arrival in this country, five years ago, he has given some at- 

 tention to bees. He keeps them according to modern methods. He has been at 

 Lakeport for some years, and during all that time he has found that bees do well 

 every year. He began operations by keeping his bees in the hive he used in his 

 fatherland. It is a long hive, quite deep and narrow, the frame being, I should 

 judge, 14 inches deep. A couple of years ago one colony, in one of these hives, 

 yielded 900 pounds of honey. How is that for Lake county ? What part of the 

 United States can do better ? That beats the report of B. P. Carroll, of Texas, 

 who some ten years or so ago reported 1,000 pounds from one colony and its in- 

 crease. The Lakeport colony, so Mr. Morby says, gave the 900 pounds itself, with- 

 out the aid of its increase. I did not learn whether the colony swarmed that year 

 or not. 



This year Mr. M.'s bees have done well. During my visit at the very beginning 

 of September, they were bringing in much honey, and storing it in the surplus 

 apartments. At my home (North Temescal, Alameda county), at the same time, 

 my bees were bringing in only enough to barely live on. We have few flowers in 

 summer and fall there. 



In the same county (Lake) I saw a small apiary composed of box-hives, I did 

 not stop to enquire if the bees did well or not. I do not suppose their owner would 

 be able to tell, anyway, for what box-hive bee-keeper is able to judge of such mat- 

 ters ? We learned that there was a man some distance back of Lakeport, who kept 

 bees, but we did not call on him. 



At this place (Brocksburg), we called at Mr. Hope's. He is keeping 12 colonies 

 in old-style Langstroth hives. (By the way, Mr. Morby, referred to above, has 

 adopted the 8-frame dovetailed hive, as made at a factory in this State). Mr. 

 Hope's bees did well until he removed the hives beneath the dense shade of the trees 

 back of his house. His home is on an eminence immediately overlooking the little 

 town, and part of his land was pine and brush land, he having cleared it oflf. He 

 has a fine young orchard which is now yielding largely of luscious fruit. He is 

 showing the people of this grazing country what can be done in the fruit line. I 

 have seen a few other places, so far in this country, where they have thrifty fruit- 

 trees, heavily laden with as fine appearing fruit as I have ever seen in this State. 

 One thing I notice is, that the fruit crop is much later hereabouts than it is in the 

 counties within a radius of 50 miles of San Francisco. Of course this is well toward 

 the northern portion of this State ; besides, the latitude is much higher than the 

 famed fruit sections of California, Still, perhaps, some day, when there is a rail- 

 road through these counties, and the largo sheep ranges are divided up into small 

 holdings, there may be more fruit grown, and the country may wear a more pros- 

 perous appearance than it now does. 



I was astonished to find so much timber land in Lake, Mendocino and Hum- 

 boldt counties. I knew that there were many big trees in these counties, but I did 

 not think that there was such an endless profusion of it. With all the big valleys, 

 to say nothing of the southern deserts of the State that are treeless, still there is 

 more than enough timber along the coast in the Sierras to more than compensate 

 for the want of trees in the former portions of this wonderland. 



' W. A. Pryal. 



Jt^" "People about here say they cannot 

 aflPord to take the 'Bee Journal.' They 

 say the bee-business does not pay enough ; 

 but I tell them that the ' American Bee 



Journal ' is a good paper — that it tnakes the 

 business pay. So send it another year." — 

 Wm. F. Lancaster, of Indiana, Nov. 15, 



181)4. 



