1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



945 



bloom the entire season, and likewise sweet 

 clover. This very land that had been sold 

 at high prices was now comparatively 

 worthless except for bees. 



But the seasons in later years have not, 

 apparently, been as good. Last year, in 

 this very locality, I understand the crop 

 was very poor. In the mean time Mr. Har- 

 ris has sold out and gone for better pas- 

 turage. I have also since learned that the 

 locality is quite thoroughly overstocked, 

 and that bee-keeping now is not the bonan- 

 za it once was. But if the great irrigation 

 schemes now materializing develop, there 

 will be a chance for more bees and more 

 bee-keepers — but, mind you, not in locali- 

 ties now under cultivation. 



I called at one of the outyards in the ab- 

 sence of the proprietor, Mr. Harris. In the 

 extracting-house I heard a whirring of an 

 extractor, and, going inside, I found a 

 young lady busy at work. tShe was about 

 as much fiustrated as I. After stammering 

 out an apology for my intrusion, and telling 

 who I was, 1 begged the privilege of taking 

 a photo of the bee-yard, which was granted, 

 and which is shown in one of the illustra- 

 tions accompanying. She was not prepared 

 to receive company, much less a kodak 

 fiend, and I did not volunteer to take her 

 picture, as I well knew the request might 

 be refused; but the next day, on visiting 

 Mr. Harris and his family at his home, I 

 secured a picture of the whole family, in- 

 cluding the young lady before mentioned. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Harris stand in the center of 

 the group. The young man at the right 

 was one of the helpers in the yard, and the 

 young lady before mentioned is a sister of 

 Mrs. Harris and of Mr. Harry Crawford, 

 a bee-keeper well known on this side of the 

 Rockies. But I think I will not tell her 

 name, as she might be the recipient of nu- 

 merous letters, as was one other young lady 

 whose picture I gave in Gleanings, and I 

 -will only say this: Neither she nor any of 

 the persons shown in the picture are now in 

 Delta. Some time ago we showed in these 

 columns a picture of Mrs. Harris and one of 

 the yards which she was operating herself, 

 and it is entirely possible that Mr. Harris' 

 success as a bee-keeper is due in large part 

 to his better half. 



But I must not forget to refer to a dog 

 that interested me greatly — half coyote and 

 half shepherd, and as intelligent as any an- 

 imal I ever saw. He seemed to thinl.- he 

 was the special guardian; and when Mrs. 

 Harris was left at home alone on the mf-.is 

 this dog was the equal of any man. X it- 

 urally suspicious, he showed his coj-wtc 

 qualities by reminding me ili^it I had bt-t- 

 ter not presume too much un his good u.i- 

 lure. I essaj'cd to take a picture of liini; 

 and as I did so he lopped his eats as much 

 as to say, " I do not know what kind of a 

 gun you have there, but you better not try 

 that again," and I didn't. You will read- 

 ily see his ears are lopped, and that I am 

 given fair warning to look out. 



But one thing interested me greatly in 



this country, and that was the mesas. 

 These are elevated table-lands anywhere 

 from 200 to 300 feet above the valleys, in the 

 immediate vicinity. On some of the mesas 

 the land is fertile, and fruit-growing is one 

 of the specialties. Indeed, Delta is recog- 



THE COYOTE SHEPHERD THAT OBJECTED TO 

 HAVING HIS PICTURE TAKEN. 



nized as one of the great fruit-growing re- 

 gions of Western Colorado, and it is on 

 these mesas th:it the fruit is grown largely. 

 The trees them<e:ves are not so much 

 affected by soil c>ntaining alkali as are 

 some other farm cro})s. 



TO GET A COLONY OUT OF A BEE-TREE WITH- 

 OUT CUTTING THE TREE. 



There is a man here who had a svv^arm of 

 bees alight in one of his big maple-trees, 

 about 60 feet from the ground. There are 

 plenty of limbs on the tree, and he said he 

 would not have it cut down for all the bees 

 ill the count^s as it stands right in his 

 liooryard. 



He asked me if there was any way by 

 which I could rig up a hive or super in the 

 tree to get some of the surplus honey. I 

 told him I did not know, as the hole where 

 the bees come out is about two inches in di- 

 ameter, and the bees are in the main part 

 of the tree. 



I do not care how much work there is to 

 it, even if I have to make a special hive. 



