GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



One of .T. .1. Wilder's apiaries, made up of Caucasian and also Italian colo 

 nies, run for the purpose of proving which are superior. 



but he is now discovering that alfalfa will 

 grow along the creeks and rivers — that is 

 to say, in the valleys where it will yield im- 

 mense crops, of sometimes three or four 

 cuttings in a season. What is more, this 

 semi-arid country does not have to depend 

 on irrigation, which sometimes fails further 

 west. Its own creeks and rivers water the 

 valleys on both sides, and the dwellers in 

 these valleys are becoming prosperous, and 

 largely on account of alfalfa which enables 

 them to produce meat. Witli the present 



J. J. Wilder, the late Mr. Herlong, and Mr. English 



upward bound in pric- 

 es of beef, alfalfa is 

 being grown as it nev- 

 er was before. 



On cai'eful inquiry 

 I found there are com- 

 paratively few bee- 

 keepers in Oklahoma 

 and Kansas in these 

 valleys. . While alfalfa 

 does not yield nectar 

 in Kansas and Okla- 

 lioma as it does in the 

 irrigated regions fur- 

 ther Avest, yet one can 

 get fair returns in 

 honey because t h e 

 country is not yet 

 overstocked. 



Right here let me 

 say that here is a 

 chance for the bee- 

 keeper to " go west." 

 I advise him to secure 

 a home-seeker's ticket Avith the privilege of 

 stopping off, taking in the territory of both 

 Oklahoma and Kansas. Let him stop a few 

 days at a number of hotels. Let him inquire 

 carefully Avhere alfalfa is grown. Go over 

 the Avhole territory, and then after returning 

 home let him fix on some location, and make 

 a start in bees where no one else is located. 

 Another promising thing in both States 

 is that farmers are beginning to find that 

 sweet clover will groAV on the uplands, and 

 furnisli a fine hay and pasturage for sheey), 

 hogs, and cattle. In 

 fact, sweet clover will 

 grow on these uplands 

 wliere i( was supposed 

 that nothing but prai- 

 rie grass Avould thrive. 

 But SAveet-clover pas- 

 ture I am told Avill 

 support a much larger 

 number of hogs and 

 shee]i than even alfal- 

 fa, because it can be 

 cropped doAvn closer 

 Avithout killing. There 

 is bound to be im- 

 mense development in 

 this legume, in these 

 semi-arid regions, in 

 the next ten or fifteen 

 years ; and the early 

 l^ird if he looks before 

 he leaps Avill be the 

 one that gets the worm. 

 Tn Oklahoma we find 

 that cotton can be 



