GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1920 



Cruz valleys of southern Arizona. The bus- 

 iness of raising cotton is spreading over 

 into Tucson; for at the possible price of 

 $1.00 a pound it is better than a gold mine, 

 because it is a sure thing, or, at least, it 

 looks that way now. In Arizona on the 

 desert there are thousands of acres that will 

 grow cotton. All that is needed is water. 

 Desert lands that were supposed to be worth 

 practically nothing are now being redeem- 

 ed, and in some cases good cotton land is 

 bringing as high as $1000 an acre. In- 

 deed, I am told it will earn annually a net 

 profit of $200 to $300. 



What is occurring in the Salt River Val- 

 ley is also taking place in the Santa Cruz 



Mi's. il- ti. l."\rtt ;iiiil her foreman at one of her 

 yards of 290 colonies on the Indian reservation. 

 Unlike most apiaries in Arizona, this had no shed 

 over it, because she had been expecting to keep 

 them there only during the winter. 



Valley, with Nogales as the center. On 

 both sides of the international boundary, 

 cotton is raised more than around the 

 region of Tucson. Cotton must have a 

 warm or hot climate, and the probability 

 is that it would not thrive very far north- 

 ward in Arizona, perhaps not more than 50 

 or 60 miles beyond Phoenix. 



While cotton is not as heavy a yielder of 

 honey per acre as alfalfa, and while it does 

 not yield nectar in all localities, yet where 

 the soil is good and cotton thrives we may 

 expect that there will be also bees and bee- 

 keepers. The result of this wonderful 

 transformation of alfalfa to cotton, instead 

 of killing the industry of honey-production 

 ill Arizona, will,in the end, build it up, 

 and, in those parts of the State where cot- 

 ton does not grow, there will still be found 

 the alfalfa, sweet clover, and the desert 

 plants. Alfalfa can be grown on lands 

 that are supplied with water' that comes 

 from a high elevation. Cotton, however, is 

 so profitable a crop that in some sections 

 of Arizona it pays to pump the water by 

 hydro-electric pumps from wells onto lands 

 too high to be reached by water that is con- 

 veyed from point to point by gravity. 



We have a remarkable case of this on the 

 Goodyear Rubber Company 's 12,000 - acre 

 tract that is irrigated with water solely 

 from wells. These wells are placed from 

 one to two miles apart and are about 200 



feet deep. The Roosevelt dam, further 

 north, is opening up to irrigation immense 

 areas that can be reached by gravity. 



In addition, this remarkable dam is sup- 

 plying hydro - electric power for pumping 

 water from wells for irrigation, as in the 

 case of the 12,000 acres of cotton land 

 owned by the Goodrich Company. In this 

 connection, it is well to remember that 

 thousands of other acres also can be irri- 

 gated by hydro-electric pumps whenever 

 the value of the crop is great enougli to 

 warrant the expense. 



Beekeeping on the Desert. 



So far I have said absolutely nothing 

 about beekeeping on the desert in southern 

 Arizona. One would naturally think that 

 men and animals on lands where there is 

 very little rainfall would die, but this is 

 far from the truth. Thousands of cattle 

 and sheep can be and will be raised on 

 desert land without any cultivation or cari> 

 wliatsoever. In and near Phoenix, on the 

 Indian Reservation, for example, cattle and 

 sheep are grown in immense numbers on 

 the virgin deserts. There are many plants 

 that can be eaten, chief of which is wild 

 Indian wheat. It is a little shrub, or rath- 

 er, a grass, that looks somewhat like wheat, 

 only it is very small. It seldom grows 

 higher than five or six inches; but the cat- 

 tle eat this so-called wheat and seem to 

 thrive on it. It is a native product, grow- 

 ing wild. On account of Government re- 

 strictions, it is probable that it will be a 

 long time before the white man gets these 

 Indian lands. While the Caucausian would 

 jjrobably be able to get out of these same 

 lands a hundred dollars where the Indian 

 gets one, that will make no difference. 



On these reservations bees can very often 

 be kept to advantage. Indeed, those grow- 



Mrs. I>ovett's apiary out on tlir Indian Koser- 

 vation. 



ers of cotton who keep bees could, during 

 the winter, move them to the desert. The 

 Indian wheat of which I have been speaking 

 is valuable for both pollen and honey. 

 Then there are a great many other plants, 

 such as wild hollyhocks, that yield some 

 honey. These hollyhocks are very showy, 

 having reddish - purple blossoms. The ar- 

 row-weed is another brood-booster. The 

 water mota, or bottom willow, has a small 

 composite yellow llowcr. This plant is 



