1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



191 



NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



Arizona Bee.keeping Concluded ; the Temperature of 



Arizona ; the two Associations ; our Genial 



Friend " Mike." 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



I have before mentioned that there are 

 two associations of bee-keepers in Arizona. 

 One of them goes by the name of the Arizo- 

 na Honey Exchange, of which J. Webster 

 Johnson is secretar}' and manager. The 

 other bears the title of the Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation of Maricopa Co., of which J. P. 

 Ivy is secretary. The first mentioned is a 

 split-off from the other. Some members in 

 the old society, it appears, were dissatis- 

 fied, and a new organ ization was formed 

 across the river. But so far as I could see 

 there was not, at the time of my visit, a 

 spirit of ill will or rivalry between the : wo. 



HON. |. p. ivv. 



They are practically working together as 

 one harmonious unit. Mr. Johnson finds a 

 market for the members of his organization, 

 and Mr. Ivy performs a similar service for 

 those of his. 



I have already introduced Mr. Johnson, 

 and given a view of his apiary. I now take 

 pleasure in presenting Hon. J. P. Ivy, the 

 active man of the Maricopa Co. Association, 

 who owns and operates some 700 colonies, 

 and who is considered all through the Salt 

 River Valley as one of the progressive and 

 successful bee-keepers. 



At the time I met him, there was a gen- 

 eral gathering of farmers and bee-keepers 

 at Phcjenix, at a grange of some sort that 

 was being held. Not only active in bee 



matters, he is a leader in political matters 

 also. Recently he had been honored by his 

 party, having been elected as Representa- 

 tive on the Democratic ticket over a very 

 popular candidate of the other party. 1 

 was invited by him to go out to his apiary, 

 as he was expecting to do some honey-ex- 

 tracting the next day; but as I was then 

 almost at the limit of my time I found it 

 impossible to accept his invitation. 



On this day of the grange meeting we 

 met quite a number of bee-keepers. Be- 

 sides other bee-keepers, whose names I do 

 not recall, there were present Mr, Win. 

 Rohrig'-; W. L. Chambers; J. P. Ivy; and 

 last, but not least, Mr. M. C. Wall, or 

 "Mike," as he is familiarly called. Mr. 

 Wall is another active man in the Maricopa 

 Association, and owns and operates over 

 1000 colonies. His particular forte seems 

 to be buying up apiaries that "do not pay." 

 Often he will take those same bees, and 

 sometimes in the same localities, and make 

 them return the cash put up for them in one 

 season. I had heard a great deal about 

 Mike — of how he was a "hale fellow well 

 met;" and when that person joined our 

 group nearly every one began to smile, for 

 Mike always brings a ripple of merriment 

 wherever he goes. 



I remember there was an ai-gument be- 

 tween him and Mr. Rohrig as to how warm 

 it was that day. I said it was about 120, 

 or at least it /c// that way to me. Mike 

 made the statement that it was 110. Mr. 

 Rohrig very promptly asserted that he was 

 away "off." There was something said 

 about soda water and ice cream. Mr. Roh- 

 rig very promptly accepted the challenge 

 from his friend Mike; and thereupon some 

 of the parties went to look at the thermom- 

 eters at the nearest drugstore. Mike came 

 back all wreathed in smiles. 



"You will have to pay for the soda and 

 ice cream," said he. 



After we had refreshed ourselves at Mr. 

 Rohrig's expense it developed that Mike 

 had looked on the warm side of the build- 

 ing, where the mercury actually showed 

 110, yet the other thermometers showed 

 only 105. 



I mention this little incident to give an 

 idea of the ever3^day weather in summer 

 in Arizona; in fact, I was told that I would 

 have to be prepared for a temperature of 

 120 in the shade. I did not find it as high 

 as that; and Mr. Rohrig said, I think, thai 

 it never reached that, in his experience, in 

 the Valley. 



The question of temperature finall}^ re- 

 solved itself into a little discussion as tc 

 the pi'oper conditions favorable for a honey- 

 flow. All practically agreed that a tem- 

 perature of from 115 to 120 is decidedly un- 

 favorable, especially if accompanied with a 

 breeze. The air must be absolutely still. 

 and the mercury in the shade should stand 

 from 90 to 100. " Then the honey will fairly 

 rain down. 



I had heard so much about Mike that I 

 was anxious to visit his apiary. I "hinted 



