1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



ers are obliged to place their extractors in 

 warm rooms, and even warm the combs some- 

 times before extracting, so thick is the honey. 

 And then to do any thing like a good job of 

 extracting, one must give the extractor-baskets 

 a high rotative speed, and this necessarily puts 

 a great strain on the wire cloth and the brac- 

 ing of the extractor. 



I have already spoken of the superb quality 

 of alfalfa honey. If every one takes a liking 

 to it as I have done, he will be almost spoiled 

 for eating any other honey. Some of it is so 

 thick and fine that it can be almost chewed 

 like so much delicious wax candy. The flavor 

 is a little like that of white clover, with a 

 slight trace of mint that is very pleasant. In 

 color it is quite equal to it, and in every other 

 way it has no superior. 



The nectar from alfalfa is secreted so abun- 

 dantly during the time it is in bloom that any- 

 where from 100 to 500 colonies can be support- 

 ed in a given location. In Colorado, however, 

 it is found more profitable to have apiaries 

 containing no more than from 100 to 150 colo- 

 nies, owing to the verv great overstocking in 

 many of the best localities. Bee-keepers have 

 rushed to this land of gold and golden honey 

 in such numbers that in the great alfalfa-grow- 

 ing regions apiaries are stuck in very closely, 

 from a half to a mile apart, so that it is not 

 now profitable to have more than 100 colonies 

 to the yard. In other localities not so much 

 overstocked, from 200 to 300 colonies can be 

 kept in a single apiary. 



For a given acreage there is no plant or tree, 

 unless it is basswood, that will support as 

 many colonies. In several localities in Colo- 

 rado, within a radius of five miles, there will 

 be anywhere from two to seven thousand col- 

 onies, the like of which can not be found any- 

 where else in the world, probably. 



There is scarcely a prettier sight than alfal- 

 fa when in bloom. The beautiful bluish or 

 violet tinted flowers present a mass of color 

 that is truly striking to one who has never 

 seen the like of it before ; and the fields are 

 measured, not by the acre, but by the square 

 mile. Indeed, I rode through one ranch in 

 a Pullman car, going probably 50 miles an 

 hour, that seemed all of 40 minutes in going 

 through it — not acres, but miles and miles of 

 it as far as the eye could reach on each side of 

 the track ; and stacks and stacks of it, aggre- 

 gating 100 tons to the pile, more than one 

 could count, if he were to try. Imagine, if 

 you please, the effect of seeing such a field all 

 in bloom, and mowing-machines going through 

 it cutting it down. Imagine, too, the happy 

 hum of the bees going to and from these im- 

 mense fields. Then, truly, is the harvest of 

 the rancher and the bee-keeper. 



No time is lost. The rancher is eager to get 

 the whole cut as soon as possible. The bee- 

 keeper, on the other hand, hopes that his 

 rancher co-laborer may make as slozv work as 

 possible ; for as the mowing machines go 

 through the field, the bee-keeper sees a grad- 

 ual decrease in the flow of nectar. At the 

 rate the mowers are progressing he can tell to 

 a day when the hay will all be cut, and when 

 the honey or the nectar will cease to flow. In 



producing comb honey he supplies his colonies 

 with just enough sections so the bees may fill 

 every one of them at the close of the honey- 

 flow which he knows in advance to a day. 

 When the hay is all cut, then he awaits the 

 new growth, the new bloom, and then, again, 

 there is a scramble for honey on the part of 

 the bee keeper and the bees, and another 

 scramble to get the hay down before it grows 

 to be too old or out of bloom. 



Fortunate is that bee-keeper who is located 

 in the vicinity of those alfalfa-fields devoted 

 to the growing of alfalfa seed ; for all such 

 have the benefit of the entire blooming until 

 the flower fades and the seed-pod takes its 

 place. It is in these regions especially that a 

 large number of colonies per yard can be sup- 

 ported. 



Most of the best alfalfa-fields in Colorado 

 have been taken by bee-keepers ; and unless 

 one can take a range vacated by another by 

 death or otherwise, or get it by purchase, it is 

 a matter of common honor that the new comer 

 should keep out, notwithstanding there are 

 some who will squeeze in just a few colonies 

 and gradually encroach upon the territory un- 

 til there is not much in it for any one. 



APPEARANCE OF THE AI,FAI,FA. 



To a tenderfoot, or one from the East, alfal- 

 fa looks a good deal like sweet clover ; and 

 when the two plants are young it takes even 

 an expert to detect the difference ; but as they 

 grow older the alfalfa assumes more of a heavy 

 bushy character ; and the other, sweet clover, 

 takes on more the appearance of a treelike 

 weed. 



CULTIVATION OF ALFALFA. 



While it seems to grow best in the arid re- 

 gions watered by irrigation-ditches, it also 

 grows in localities where there is not too much 

 rainfall or the soil is not too wet. It seems to 

 do best on a light sandy soil with a loose or 

 porous subsoil, and the roots run for 4 to 12 

 feet down — on the average perhaps 5 or 6 feet. 

 The seed may be sown broadcast or in drills 

 about 12 inches apart. The amount per acre 

 varies greatly. Some think that 10 lbs. is 

 sufficient, while others argue in favor of 30 lbs. 

 The average amount seems to be from 15 to 20 

 lbs. If too small an amount of seed is sown, 

 the plants grow large and coarse ; whereas if 

 a larger amount be used, a larger number of 

 plants result in smaller stems and better 

 hay. 



Alfalfa is what is called a perennial — that 

 is. it lives on from year to year, and the great 

 difficulty of growing it in the East is to get it 

 to make a stand. If it can be once started it 

 will grow on from year to year with very little 

 trouble. 



The average life of the plants under ordina- 

 ry conditions seems to be about twelve years, 

 although some claim they will live as long as 

 fifty years ; but good authorities seem to 

 doubt the statement. 



For some of the data just given, and for the 

 half-tone illustrations here shown, I am in- 

 debted to Bulletin No. 35, entitled "Alfalfa," 

 from the State Agricultural College, Fort Col- 

 ins, Col., by Dr. W. P. Headden, Chemist. 



