KS91 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



(i23 



sum of $oOO pel' annum; provided, liowever, tliat no 

 portion thereof shall be paid for, or on account of 

 any salary, or emoluments of any ofHcer of said as- 

 sociation; and that said sum be expended by said 

 Illinois State Bee-keepers' Association in the publi- 

 cation of such reports and information pertaining 

 to this industry as will tend to promote the growth 

 and develop the apiarian interest for the years 1891 

 and 1892. 



Section II. That, on oi'der of the President, 

 countersigned by the Secretary of the Illinois State 

 Bee-keepei-s' As.sociation, and approved by the Gov- 

 ernor, the State Auditor shall draw his wai'rant an- 

 nually in favor of the Treasurer of the Illinois Bee- 

 keepers' Association for the sums herein appropriat- 

 ed. 



Approved June 16, 1891. 



Brother Root, this is one of the grandest 

 things that has happened to us bee-men for 

 manj- a year. I think I see Dr. Miller's eyes 

 snap with pleasure at the good news. Illinois 

 is now and will be the cynosure of eyes all over 

 the world, and this good move on her part will 

 be the signal for more decided recognition of 

 our industry, and foj' similar appropriations in 

 other States. 



Let this be the signal for bee-keepers in Ohio 

 to get this matter thoroughly digested, and in 

 form for presentation to the ne.xt General As- 

 sembly of Ohio. 



" Forward " be our watchword, 

 Hearts and voices joined. 



Chicago, July 20. Hekman F. Moore. 



[This is indeed important; and, as a prece- 

 dent, it will be invaluable. Now, ii there is any 

 organization that needs such an appropriation, 

 it is the North American Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion. Although the stamping of medals, etc., 

 is now under way, to be awarded to affiliated 

 societies, in accordance with the constitution, 

 we need other benefits that we can award to 

 members that we can not now give from the 

 treasury. The Ontario Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion gave to each of its members one year a 

 copy of Langstroth's Revised; the last year, I 

 believe they gave a copy of Cowan's scientific 

 work. The Honey-Bee. The Ontario associa- 

 tion has had an appropiation. so that it is able 

 to give its members substantial benefits. This 

 is just what we need for the national associa- 

 tion. Bee-keepers are not aft(M' presents; but 

 benefits confei'n^d in one way and another 

 would help very much to enlarge the membei'- 

 ship of our national association. This will be a 

 proper and a timely subj<'Ct to discuss.] E. R. 



CENTRAL ARIZONA AS A HONEY COUNTRY. 



A TKIl' OF 40 MILES IN TIIp; WILDS OF THE 

 COUNTRY. 



As I sat on a stone by the roadside and took 

 my fii'st square look at the Verde Valley, the 

 thoughts uppermost in my mind were, that, if 

 that were a honey country, I had at last found 

 something more marvelous than the manufac- 

 ture of nice jelly out of old boot-heels. It was 

 the aftei-noon of Sept. 21, 1888, and I had been 

 tramping most of the time for the previous 24 

 houi's. I had walked until 9 o'clock of the pre- 

 vious evening, and then rolled myself up in my 

 one blanket, stretched myself out on the bare 

 dry gi'ound, and slept, though I had no idea as 

 to whei-e I was noi- how fai' I was from human 

 habitation. I only knew that I was on the road 

 from Prescott to Fort Verde, and to what I 

 hoped and expected \\ould be a good honey 

 country. I slept soundly till midnight, when I 

 awoke with the cold: for the nights in the 

 mountains of Central Arizona are rather cool 

 for slf>eping out in only one blanket. I " turned 



out" and walked a few miles until I got warm- 

 ed up again, then stopped and caught about an 

 hour of sleep, and concluded I had slept enough 

 to carry me the remainder of the distance. 

 Even though I was a "tender-foot," I rather 

 enjoyed the novelty of the situation. There 

 was a romance about the awful stillness of the 

 wilderness, broken occasionally by the startling 

 yell of coyotes, which I suppose just suited 

 young blood, for I did actually enjoy it. 



As I had walked through that wilderness 

 during that long day, seeing nothing growing 

 on the barren rocky ground which I thought 

 could possibly yield honey (though I afterward 

 found I was mistaken) I had consoled myself 

 with the thotight that I should see a different- 

 looking country when. I came in sight of the 

 valley, for "verde" cei'tainly means green. 

 But i must confess that I felt green — or, rather, 

 blue — as I sat there on that rock, weary and 

 footsore from a tramp of 40 miles through a 

 wilderness where neighbors and water were 

 from eight to ten miles apart. The river, which 

 lay about 1000 feet below me, and about three 

 miles away, could be seen occasionally through 

 openings in the narrow belt of cottonwoods 

 growing along its banks. The sight of these 

 green trees and the water did look good; but 

 still my eyes ached for the sight of some green 

 grass; for from that point I could not see the 

 alfalfa ranches, though I afterward climbed to 

 a point of about the same elevation, and looked 

 down upon another part of the valley. I think 

 I never saw a more beautiful sight than that 

 presented by the bright green fields of alfalfa, 

 and the cottonwoods, with the river shining 

 thi'ough them in places, as contrasted with the 

 barren hills and mountains which hemmed in 

 the little valley. 



The valley is about thirty miles long, and 

 from one to five wide. From the point of which 

 I speak I had a fine view of the surrounding 

 country. Away to the northward, about 80 

 miles, could be seen the San Francisco Peaks, 

 the highest points in the Territory, of which 

 one or two are extinct volcano-craters. These 

 peaks are often snow-capped for nine months 

 in the year. Further to the west of these can 

 be seen iSitgreave's Peak and Mt. Bill Williams. 

 In the east rise the Mongollon range into the 

 timber line, and there, within 100 miles of 

 Phcpnix, are hundreds of square miles of the 

 finest pine timber I ever saw. rotting and going 

 to waste for the lack of proper shipping facili- 

 ties, while the bee-men of the Gait River Valley, 

 I suppose, are shipping their lumber for hives 

 from Michigan via Bro. Root's factory. 



As the remainder of my journey was not 

 eventful enough to warrant my occupying any 

 more space, I will begin upon my subject; that 

 is. the honey resources of the country, which, I 

 will say to begin with, proved much better than 

 my first impression led me to expect; for, after 

 becoming better acquainted with the peculiari- 

 ties of the country, I learned to like it, and 

 shall count my two years' sojourn there as two 

 pleasant and profitable years of my life. 



I went there to tak(^ charge of an apiary own- 

 ed by- Mr. F.E.Jordan, an enterprising man 

 from New England, who has made Arizona his 

 home for the past fourteen years. Although 

 he was but a novice in apiculture, he yet saw 

 an opportunity for making an apiary a source 

 of profit to him if run in connection with his 

 other business (fruit culture, milling, and stock 

 raising). Wishing to adopt the Heddon hive 

 and system of management, he wrote to Mr. H. 

 to send him a man who had been in his employ, 

 and one who understood the system of manage- 

 ment which is such a necessary accompani- 

 ment to this hive. Having a desire to see some- 

 thing of the West before locating permanently 



