GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A sample of how bees can be made to spell. See Mr. Arthur's letter. 



ney, at one time a contributor to the Re- 

 view, revealed that he had removed to Ari- 

 zona. 



Passing over minor ranges of mountains, 

 rich with fern and vine, we arrived in the 

 Rogue River Valley, where alfalfa is com- 

 mon, and great orchards ship trainloads of 

 the finest fruits to the world's markets. 



At Central Point we found an up-to-date 

 beekeeper and rancher, and here replen- 

 ished our supply of alfalfa honey. 



Inquiry at Medford revealed the pres- 

 ence in that community of another bee- 

 keeper having 200 or more colonies; but as 

 we Avere unable to find him we left between 

 showers for Ashland and the summit of the 

 Siskiyou Mountains. We waited two days 

 at the base of the mountains for the rain to 

 cease, and then made the climb without dif- 

 ficulty. Down long grades, through green 

 ravines and valleys, here and there a little 

 field of alfalfa brightened the eyes of the 

 travelers until, in Siskiyou Co., California, 

 we pulled up one night at a farmhouse 

 where about 100 two or three story hives 

 adorned the landscape. We spent the 

 night with good Mr. and Mre. Brown, dis- 

 cussing bees and locations, pictures and cli- 

 mate, until a late hour. 



Near Kalamathon we found a dilapidat- 

 ed apiary where once some old bee hermit 

 held forth, but now far on the road to ex- 

 tinction. 



At Chico, where, a few years before, the 

 government had stationed John M. Rankin, 



with a government experiment apiary, we 

 exjoeeted to revel in good bee talk again ; 

 but, no. A long walk to the government 

 gardens showed us that the bees had been 

 sold and the work abandoned. 



At Nicolaus, seedy and forlorn, the home 

 of the carpet grass, formerly the home of 

 the Tyler Brothers, bee kings of Nevada 

 and California, we met a beekeeper of some 

 500 colonies who was about as communica- 

 tive as a clam ; so, after sampling the honey 

 of the region at the corner store, we went 

 on our way. 



We ended our trip at Sacramento, as the 

 winter rains made travel any tiling but 

 pleasant. 



As a whole it seemed to us that the vast 

 territory from Portland to Sacramento was 

 about as poor bee-territory as could be lo- 

 cated on the map, with here and there a 

 little oasis where fair crops may be had. 



After a few days at Sacramento I took 

 the train for Idaho, while Mr. Dilatush 

 went on by train to the sage and orange 

 apiaries of the South. 



Meridian, Idaho, Jan. 25. 



[In 1901 we went over that same terri- 

 toiy, and our conclusion was that it was by 

 no means the equal of the central part of 

 California nor yet the southern. We are 

 not quite prepared to believe, however, that 

 it is poor territory, for we believe that, 

 when population increases, some fine bee- 

 ranges will be found. — Ed.] 



