1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



55 



less than two inches, and there are no 

 fogs, yet there are miles and miles of 

 water (irrigation ditches). Here the 

 snow never falls; during the months 

 of December and January some few 

 frosts occur, sufficiently severe to kill 

 most tender plants; ice on still ponds 

 sometimes reaches a thickness of one- 

 eighth inch. 



During the months of February and 

 March there are strong winds, corres- 

 ponding to the March weather in the 

 East. In April it grows warm and 

 soon becomes what the cotton planters 

 call cotton weather, ;'. <•., warm days 

 and nights. The heat is never broken 

 by cold snaps. This continues for some 

 three months. 



During August the thermometer 

 often reaches 120 degrees in the shade, 

 but the extremely dry atmostphere 

 causes the sensible heat to resemble 

 that of 90 degrees in the eastern States. 



No. 3.— Cans Filled Ready for Shipment 



In midwinter and again in midsummer 

 one or more light local showers may 

 be expected; during the season of 1916 

 no rain of importance fell from Febru- 

 ary to November. 



This industry came with the early 

 settlers, in the year 1900. Among the 

 first were Henry Perkins, J. W. Huff 

 and a Mr. Jones. Mr. Perkins had the 

 honor of shipping the first car of 

 honey from the valley. Among the 

 successful men of today I will mention 

 J. W. George, W. W. Fairchild, J. W. 

 Huff, D. O. Page, M. S. Phillippe, L. 

 Logan and F. J. Severin. These men 

 may be styled " Men whom the bees 

 keep." 



SPRING MANAGEMENT. 



The successful man has learned to 

 prepare for the year's harvest the fall 

 previous, by inducing late breeding, 

 thus having a large percentage of 

 young bees for the winter. Such man- 

 agement, in a measure, prevents 

 " spring dwindling," and gives a larger 

 number of workers to begin the har- 

 vest. 



SOURCES OF HONEY. 



Pollen is gathered as early as Janu- 

 ary from cottonwDod and wild holly- 

 hock. Sometimes as early as Feb. 18, 

 some honey is gathered from the wild 

 hollyhock. This may be called the first 

 stimulation. It is followed by arrow- 

 wood which furnishes a fine flavored 

 honey ; many think it adds to the flavor 

 of the early alfalfa. In some locations 

 where willow grows it furnishes a fair 



flow for a limited time. The great 

 fields of cantaloupes furnish some 

 honey, the flow from this source lasting 

 about a month. 



About .May 18, the flow from alfalfa 

 commences and lasts through May, 

 June and into July. The flow is slow 

 but of long duration. Oftentimes when 

 conditions are favorable, when nights 

 and mornings are a bit humid, the bees 

 simply " roll in" the honey. In normal 

 years there is often a short flow in 

 September. An operator is able to 

 work but two yards, and he needs to 

 hustle to do even this. Many of the 

 beekeepers say that cotton furnishes 

 honey, the long staple variety being 

 the best. Nearly every town in the 

 valley has its gin, and there is an oil 

 mill. I predict that the cotton inter- 

 ests will increase. At present there is 

 no boll weevil, and such perfect 

 weather to harvest the crop. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS. 



The acreage of alfalfa is on the de- 

 crease, that of cotton and corn on the 

 increase. The growing of cantaloupes 

 has been on the increase, and from 

 this source some honey is produced. 

 For the past two seasons there has 

 been a shortage of water during July 

 and August, caused by the ditches silt- 



ing up. The alfalfa is allowed to dry 

 out and the little water available is 

 used on cotton and corn. Many of the 

 beekeepers complain of the cold winds 

 in the spring retarding brood-rearing. 

 Summing up it would seem seem that 

 the acreage of alfalfa was at least 30 

 percent less than formerly, that the 

 flow from cotton and cantaloupes does 

 not make up the deficit, and the honey 

 crop has fallen off in the last three 

 years from .'!0 to -50 percent, yet the 

 market price has increased. The bulk 

 of the crop is marketed in Los Ange- 

 les and other coast cities. The color 

 of the honey is not so light as that of 

 Nevada or Colorado. The extreme 

 heat might be a small factor. 



Very little comb honey is produced, 

 and none shipped ; extracted has in 

 past years sold as low as three cents, 

 yet this season the average is near 6K 

 cents. From 30 to 40 cars are shipped 

 annually; beeswax sells around 25 

 cents. A foreign buyer is reported to 

 have bought nearly all available supply 

 in the valley. 



Disease has appeared, yet it is well 

 under control, only a few apiaries hav- 



NO. 4 -LIVING QUARTERS OF A BEEKEEPER DURING THE HONEY SEASON 



NO. 5— VIEW OF THE APIARY FROM A DISTANCE 



