April, 1915. 



121 



American lee Joarnal 



PERCY KOLB, OF BILLINGS, AND S. F. LAWRENCE, OF HARDIN, MONT. 

 The former is Secretary, the latter, memberof Executive Committee of the Montana Assn. 



ter and are going to perish before 

 spring — inany are nearly gone already. 

 Today I examined two or three of these 

 colonies that are in uproar, and as I 

 expected, found combs of honey granu- 

 lated solid and the bees chewing off 

 the cappings trying to use the granu- 

 lated stuff for food. I was afraid of 

 this last fall and fed many colonies 

 that had enough weight without any 

 extra feeding, hoping that the syrup 

 would tide them over until spring. In 

 some cases the bees have eaten near 

 enough to the top of the frames to get 

 at this poor stuff, and they a/e now 

 showing the effects in an unmistakable 



manner. If a cleansing flight had 

 come sooner, things might have been 

 better, but I doubt if it would have 

 helped a great deal, as poor stores will 

 "do the trick" even if bees have an 

 occasional flight, if the weather is 

 severe between flights. As to the bees 

 in the north yard wintering on aster 

 honey, I have not yet been there. 



I cannot say how conditions in On- 

 tario will be generally, but I venture 

 the guess that the loss will be the 

 heaviest in years. This is a natural 

 sequence, following a failure of the 

 honey crop, especially when poor 

 stores are in the hives for winter. 



ner gives us the salient features in re- 

 gard to beekeeping. We would only 

 add for the more general reader that it 

 is several hundred feet below sea level, 

 has but about 3 inches of annual rain- 

 fall, and that from the crude but rich 

 elements found there the inhabitants 

 have built cities and towns of richness 

 and beauty. Their fields grow almost 

 all known crops in the greatest abun- 

 dance. It is surrounded by the weird 



An Apiary Covered with Arrow Weed 



but beautfully fascinating scenery of 

 the Colorado desert. Here is the home 

 of the noted novelist, Harold Bell 

 Wright, whose most successful book, 

 " Barbara Worth," is the story of the 

 early reclamation work. 



"Imperial county is located in the 

 southeastern portion of California, and 

 is perhaps the only county in the State 

 where crops are entirely dependent on 

 irrigation. Here all the water is taken 

 from the Colorado river, nearly 500,000 

 acres being irrigated from this source. 

 The country was a desert; the soil is 

 silt deposited by the overflow of the 

 Colorado. You may go for 30 miles 

 east and west, or 60 north and south 

 and not find a single pebble unless it 

 were one that had been brought by 

 some one. 



"The honey producing plant is 

 alfalfa. While some honey is pro- 

 duced from cantaloupe and water- 

 melon blossoms and from cotton, the 

 main crop is alfalfa. 



"The first bees were brought into 

 this county in 190.5. by wagons from 



GOIFORNIA ^ BEE-KeEPING 



Conducted by J. E. Pleasants. Orange. Calif. 



Honey Producing Sections of Southern 

 California 



All southern California is good for 

 honey production. Of seven of the 

 most southern counties, San Diego, 

 San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, 

 Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Bar- 

 bara, the native nectar-producing flora 

 is substantially the same. These are 

 the sages, sumac, wild buckwheat, wild 

 alfalfa, etc. These plants cover the 

 foothill and mountain region of all 

 these counties. 



In the large cultivated valleys come 

 fruit bloom of various sorts, especially 

 the orange blossom which furnishes a 



good yield. Also in several counties 

 such as Ventura and Orange, lima 

 bean bloom gives a good supply. 



Imperial county, as Mr. Wagner tells 

 us, is almost exclusively alfalfa bloom 

 for a honey yield. 



Beekeeping in Imperial County 



We present this month a sketch 

 from Imperial county by Mr. A. F. 

 Wagner, the inspector of that county. 

 Imperial valley is a unique spot both 

 in its peculiar conditions and for the 

 quality and enterprise of the people 

 who have made it what it is. Mr. Wag- 



A. F. Wagner in Front of His Apiary 



the mountains east of Snn Diego. The 

 county now contains 20,000 colonies. 

 The product is practically all extracted 

 honey, and the average crop is some- 

 thing near 100 to 200 pounds per col- 

 ony. The actual surplus honey-flow 

 lasts only about 00 days, although the 

 climate is extremely warm and the colo- 

 nies contain brood perhaps at all times 

 of the year. All the yards are shaded. 

 Almost all of the sheds are long enough 



