268 



THK A If ERIC AN BEE-KEEPER 



December, 



niy old friend E. F. Atwatcr. I. per- 

 haps, better not say "old friend," for 

 bo is (]iiite a young man, but a long- 

 time friend. If all goes well with 

 him he will be one of the bee-keepers 

 some day. 



The valley of the Snake river is for 

 hundreds of miles, and quite a distance 

 in width, from 20 to 50 miles wide, one 

 vast lava bed. The rook has decayed 

 and formed a soil of varying depths. 

 The action of time has made much of 

 it ver.v fertile, but much of the year 

 it is left dry, so that nothing but sage 

 brush seems to thrive; but here and 

 there ditches have been made to con- 

 vey the water over a small area and 

 the luxuriant growth of alfalfa and 

 other clovers, as well as small fruits 

 and orchards, make a snre crop for 

 honey. I was surprised to see so small 

 a percentage of the valley under culti- 

 vation. I predict that we will live to 

 see the day Avhen large portions of this 

 vallev. as well as many smaller ones, 

 will l)e made a veritable garden. 



Idaho has a bee-keepers' association 

 that it may well be proud of. I had 

 fine opnorttmities o^Tered me to locate 

 there, but my family was in Southern 

 California, so I went on to Washing- 

 ton, into the Walla Walla coiinti"y. 

 ami on to the Yakima region. 



In all these places T found bees neg- 

 lected. I don't mean all — there were 

 a few progressive bee-keepers, but 

 many bees in boxes or hives that were 

 allowed to swarm and abscond with 

 ver.v little or no super room. Then on 

 to Portland and over to Vancouver, 

 Washington. Then up the Willamette 

 Valle.y in Oregon, the garden spot of 

 the United States, if not of the world. 

 The clear flowing streams of water 

 every little way, the ever present fir 

 tree (the prettiest of the evergreens), 

 the rich meadows and farms, the flow- 

 ers and fruit of all kinds, Cexcept or- 

 anges, lemons and figs), small fruits 

 in (he greatest abumlance. At Abauy 

 I stopped over a few days and found, 

 as every Avliere. liees neglected. Many 

 allowed to swarm at will and people 

 content with a small box of honey. 



The next stop after civ>ssing the 

 mountains of Northern California was 

 in the broad valley between the coast 

 r;ipge and the Sierra Nevadas, at 

 Modesto. While there I met the foul 

 brood inspector, Mr. Gilstrap, and 

 found bees in swarming condition on 



April 1st. Alfalfa Is just commencing 

 to be a staple there, and bee-keeping 

 is in a more progressive condition. 

 April 3rd, I sped up the San Joaquin 

 Valley and arrived in Los Angeles. 

 April 4th, I immediately began looking 

 over the countr.v to find out conditions 

 as to bees and prospective crop; with 

 results that a younger brother and I 

 bought an apiaiy about 15 miles liorth- 

 west of San Bernardino, up against 

 Ihe foot of the mountain, where white 

 sage is in profusion. As I worked dur- 

 ing extracting season, looking down 

 across the valley I could see the vil- 

 lage of Colton, and every day I thought 

 of you and those Cyprians, of years 

 ago; and I guess some of their de- 

 scendants have spread over the valley, 

 for I never saw such cross bees as out 

 there. I had a fi.ne time at the con- 

 vention. The most delightful feature 

 to me was meeting so many of our 

 leading bee-keepers, and editors, and I 

 regret that you were not there that I 

 might have met you also. 



I shipped a carload, /of lioney to 

 Mitchell, S. D.. and am back here in 

 n'.v old torritor.v to sweeten up my 

 friends, for all to whom I sold honey 

 in former years are my friends as well 

 as customers. 



I would like to see the time when 

 bee-keepers will see to it that our pro- 

 duct in its purity will get to the con- 

 sumer in a convenient, presentable, 

 suitable package that will stand rapid 

 handling tliat is necessary In railroad 

 transportation. 



Mitchell. S. D., Sept. 3, 1903. 



Haverhill, Mass., Oct. 21, lOaS. 



To the B-ditor of the American Bee- 

 Keeper: 



?ily bees all through the summer got 

 only honey enough to raise tlieir young, . 

 and I was considering the advisabiliiy 

 of buying a barrel or two of sugar to 

 feed them for the winter. In fact, had 

 already got some for this jjurpose, 

 when, on September l.^, I noticed in 

 a glass hive 1 had that the bees in 



