March, 1010 



T. K A \ T X G S T N B K K T' T. T I' U F. 



139 



IN THE IMPERIAL VALLEY 



The Bee 'T'aradise of California. 

 How the Big Beekeepers There 

 Their 'business 



on 



Carry 



By E R. Root 

 it a bee paradise 



THIS valley 

 is one of the 

 most produc- 

 tiA'e areas in all 

 the world. The 

 very fact that it 

 has more than 

 100.000 acres of 

 alfalfa and 

 nearly an equal 

 acreage of cotton makes 

 indeed. There are between six and seven 

 cuttings of alfalfa a season, with the result 

 that the blooming periods come on at inter- 

 vals often enough to make the keeping of 

 bees worth while. Since the price of cotton 

 has gone soaring, vast acreages have been 

 grown in the valley during the last two or 

 three years. While cotton is not as good a 

 honey plant as alfalfa in point of quantity, 

 yet one beekeeper has secured 1,000 cases of 

 120 pounds each from about 1,100 colonies. 

 This was mainly cotton honey. At an aver- 

 age price of 20 cents a pound it would make 

 the gross value of the crop around .$24,000, 

 notwithstanding that not one scintilla of 

 value was taken from the main crop of cot- 

 ton that was used to help clothe the world 

 during the past great war. 



I am told that cotton does not yield honey 

 in all sections of the valley; but that it does 

 yield, and yield heavily in some parts, a 

 good grade of light-colored honey, is very 

 clearly attested by W. W. Culver of 

 Calexieo. 



I had the pleasure of looking over acre 

 after acre covered solid with bales of cot- 

 ton. I was told that there were 65,000 bales 

 at an average value of $125, ready to be 

 shipped. It is indeed a most wonderful ex- 

 hibit of productiveness of the soil in this 

 valley. If the cotton production continues 

 from year to year, it will mean that Impe- 



rial Valley will 

 ])roduce immense 

 quantities of 

 cotton honey. 

 But I learned 

 that as soon as 

 the price of cot- 

 ton begins to go 

 down the acre- 

 age of the plant 

 in the valley may be very materially de- 

 creased because the growing of alfalfa, un- 

 der normal conditions, is more profitable. 



There may be some questions raised as to 

 why I speak of the Imperial Valley as the 

 bee paradise of California. I base my state- 

 ment on the fact that the relative yield per 

 colony is not only greater in this valley, but 

 that the crop, year in and year out, is al- 

 most absolutely sure. In other parts of 

 California the yield per colony will not 

 average above a can of honey, or about 60 

 pounds. Moreover, the seasons are more or 

 less uncertain. I am referring now particu- 

 larly to the territory within a hundred miles 

 of Los Angeles. 



As we go further north, however, the sea- 

 sons are more dependable; but I shall have 

 occasion to refer to this in another article. 

 Going back to Imperial Valley, it is but 

 fair to state that a cS.se per colony is con- 

 sidered maximum — the average being, per- 

 haps, about 75 pounds. 



The color of the alfalfa honey in the val- 

 ley ranges from an amber to a light amber; 

 and the flavor, while excellent, is not quite 

 the same as the light-colored alfalfa honey 

 produced in Colorado and Nevada. Why 

 this is so, no one seems to knew definitely; 

 but W. W. Culver of Calexieo suggested 

 that the difference in flavor may be due to 

 the fact that the alfalfa honey in the valley 

 is modified bv other sources. 



One of the main irrigating ditches of Imperial Valley. The water contains .so much of silt from 

 the Colorado River that the ditches fill up and have to he cleaned out with di-edges. I'his is why the 

 embankment is so high on either side. These main ditches feed the lateral or smaller ditches that irrigate 



the individual ranche». 



