TMIE SMERICHlIf mUM J©ia^RJHJ£lLr. 



571 



ARIZONA. 



Honey - liHlii§try of §sill Kivcr 

 Valley. 



Written for, the Pacific Rural Press 



BY GEO. KAY MILLER. 



A few years ago, as an experiment, 

 a few colonics of bees were brought to 

 tliis part of Arizona. Being a success, 

 otliers followed. All the honey pro- 

 iluced brought 8 cents per pound, 

 which soon created quite a demand for 

 bees. As usual, the rage for bees 

 cooled oft', and to-day manj' hives can 

 be bought for first cost of material — 

 bees, hone}-, wax or whatsoever they 

 might chance to contain, all thrown in 

 for good measure. Last spring I 

 bought out a small a])iary of 75 colo- 

 nies for $2.00 per colon}-, when the 

 same apiary was set up at a cost of 

 .|2.50 for the new, empty hive. 



Last season the bee-keepers of this 

 county organized an association, but 

 failed to eft'ect much as to business. 

 Our local merchants threw a wet blan- 

 ket over the thing, and thought that it 

 had ceased to exist. 



The spring of 1890 opened very 

 favorable to the bee-keepers, so the 

 call for the bee-keepers brought out 

 a large attendance, resulting in an in- 

 corporation with five directors, who, 

 as a prime movement, " fired out" the 

 old coal-oil package, and with the fir- 

 ing out, a few went oft" at a tangent, 

 still adhering to the flavor of " coal- 

 oil in theirs." 



Now for our export : Our honey-as- 

 sociation met, and we were stalled over 

 the situation. We counted up, and we 

 found three cars of honey on hand, 

 and extractors all running. Our in- 

 spector found that he had a delicate 

 job to grade the honey. Just look 

 around and see where your hat is, and 

 how far it is to the door, before you 

 tell the lady of the house that she 

 does'nt make good butter ; and it is 

 about the same when you condemn the 

 flavor of honey — sometimes ! 



But we get back to business : The 

 Maricopa Bee-Keepers' Association has 

 one car of No. 1 honey in new packa- 

 ges, and expects to ship to Chicago in 

 a few days. This hone}' is mostly con- 

 tributed near Phoenix. Tempe has two 

 cars of honey mostly in old coal-oil 

 packages, which will go to Chicago 

 soon. All told, up to date, of this sea- 

 son's crop, about b carloads of honey 

 have been produced in this valley. Our 

 merchants had gotten prices pretty 

 well demoralized, but our corporation 

 has set the price of No. 1 honey at 5 

 cents per pound, and the value of the 

 package added. 



We have had a sample of our alfalfa 

 honey passed on by Mr. A. I. Root, of 



Medina, O., and is pronounced equal 

 to the best of clover honey of the East 

 — so it is no very hard matter to get at 

 the value of our honey in the Eastern 

 markets. 



Since writing the above, I can add 

 that the Maricopa Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation starts a ear to Chicago on July 

 22. The honey is sold at 7 cents per 

 pound. Another car will go soon. 



Tempe, Ariz,, July 19, 1890. 



COiVVENTION DIRECTORY. 



1890. Tlvie and place of meeting. 



Aug. 19.— Northern Illinois, at Harlem, Ills. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec., Cherry Valley, Ills. 



Aug. 29.— Haldimand. at South Cayuga. Ont. 



E. C. Campbell, Sec, Cayuga, Ont. 



Sept 10.— Ionia County, at Ionia, Mich. 



H. Smith. Sec , Ioni.a. Mieh. 



Oct. 8.-S. W. Wisconsin, at Platteville, Wis. 



B. Rice, Sec, Boscobel, Wis. 



Oct. 15.— Central Aliehigan, at Lansing, Mich. 



W. A. Barnes, Sec, Lansing, Micb. 



Oct. 29-31.— International American, at Keokuk, la. 

 C. P. Dadant, Sec. Hamilton. Ills. 



Oct.— Missouri State, at Mexico. Mo. 



J. W. Rouse, Sec, Santa Fe, Mo. 



In order to have this table complete, 



Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting. — The Editor. 



International Bee-Association. 



President— Hon. R. L. Taylor.. Lapeer, Mich. 

 Secretary-— C. P. D;idant Humllton, Ills. 



ITational Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President — James Heddon ..Dowag-iac, Mich. 

 Sec'y. and Manager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 





Uees did »lo«lei-ateIy YVell. 



Bees have done moderately well here 

 this season. Although it is very dry now, 

 we had an abundance of moisture in the 

 forepart of the season, and as we have the 

 best soil on earth tor withstanding drouth, 

 as well as excessive wet weather, we do not 

 have to report failure, neither tor honey 

 nor other crops ; at the same time, season- 

 able showers would be of vast benefit to us 

 now. Clover having never gained any ex- 

 tensive foothold here, we do not get much 

 clover honej-, but as it does well when 

 sown, we have great hopes foi* it in the 

 future. Our honey is from buck-brush, 

 basswood, buckwheat and golden-rod, 

 principally. I am stocking up with Car- 

 niolans this season. J. W. Steel. 



Moorehead, Iowa, Aug. 8, 1890. 



Poor S<>a son in Ontario, Canada. 



It has been a poor honey season here, but 

 I am in a poor location for bees, being one 

 mile from town, and there are many bee- 

 men all around me, and in town, until the 

 locality is overstocked. I had my 4 colo- 

 nies on the summer stands packed with 

 hard-wood shavings, and they came out 

 strong in the spring. I took off 200 pounds 

 of honey, and had 5 colonies, all in good 

 condition. One mau out in the country 

 has taken 3,000 pounds off already, and is 



ready to extract again, from 40 colonies, 

 spring count. How is that for Ontario, this 

 poor season ? 



I have transplanted a lot of catnip, and 

 it is doing well. I believe that it is a good 

 honey-plant. I have watched the bees 

 closely, but 1 never saw them work on 

 goldeurod. I like the form of the " Honey- 

 Almanac," and think that it is just the 

 thing to create a big demand for honey. 



J. P. LOCKWOOD. 



Owen Sound, Ont., Aug. la, 1890. 



But Liittle KasMVt'ood Honey. 



The honey crop is very poor in this 

 locality ; clover and basswood yielded but 

 little. Honey-bees are now working on 

 buckwheat and autumn flowers, which maj- 

 produce enough honey for winter stores. 



C. J. DnX.iLDSOX. 



Lapeer, Mich., Aug. 11, 1890. 



Honey Crop Almost a Failure. 



The early drouth in June (it still con- 

 tinues) cut off the clover crop with almost 

 everything else, so that there is no surplus, 

 nor even. enough to keep the j-oungswarms. 

 All colonies have run down so weak that if 

 we have a fall harvest, we will have no 

 bees to gather it. The prospect is bad for 

 winter. P. P. Collier. 



Rush Hill, Mo., Aug. 11, 1890. 



More Favorable Prospects. 



Bees are doing very little in Western 

 Connecticut this season, though the out- 

 look in the spring was quite encouraging. 

 The white clover was extra in quantity, 

 but the wet weather and cold nights kept 

 the bees back so much that I had to feed 

 them to keep them alive ; but now they are 

 strong, and things look favorable for some 

 honey this fall, but none from white clover 

 worth speaking of. From 32 colonies I 

 have 3 swarms. Honey must be higher in 

 price this fall than usual. 



H. H. Knapp. 



Danbury, Conn., Aug. 11, 1890. 



Bees in Poor Condition. 



I wish I could write something more en- 

 couraging from this corner of Missouri, 

 but the fact of the matter is, that we can 

 only report no swarms, no honey, and bees 

 starving out the last of July. We had a 

 cold, dry spring, and terribly hot and dry 

 summer. We have had some good rains 

 lately, and the bees are doing better uow, 

 but we cannot hope for much fall honey, 

 as the bees are not in a condition to gather 

 it, even if the flow should come. 



L. G. Pi-RVis. 



Forest City, Mo., Aug. 11, 1890. 



My Experience with Bees. 



Last spring I bought one colony of bees 

 in a box hive, which I transferred into a 

 Chautauqua hive on June 18, while at that 

 date they were on the verge of starvation. 

 After transferring they commenced work 

 rapidly, and now I have taken 75 pounds 

 of honey from them ; while my other colo- 

 nies, which have swarmed once and twice, 

 have averaged only about -tO pounds. So 

 I have concluded to keep my bees from 

 swarming, and buy increase, especially 

 black bees. The Amekica.^c Bee Jouksal 

 is found in the homes of a great many bee- 

 keepers here, and is praised very highly by 

 all who read it. H. C. Farnvm. 



Aristotle, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1890. 



