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I^EBRUABT, li2i 



THE CALIFORNIA ORANGE FLOW 



Great Colony Strength, the Mainte- 

 tenance Thereof and Abundant Stor- 

 ing Space Are ^ital Factors 



By M. C. Richter 



Out in California when weather conditions are 

 favorable at the time of the bloom of the orange 

 trees, thousands upon thousands of these beauti- 

 ful trees, laden with their fragrant blossoms, 

 ijour out literally tons of nectar daily. At such 

 times the nectar is often so abundant in the or- 

 ange blossoms that men working among the trees 

 sometimes find their clothing sticky with nectar 

 that has dropped on them when the branches 

 were shaken. If all of this nectar could be gath- 

 ered and made Into honey, it wimld require 

 scores of trains to haul it to market. In this 

 the first of a series of articles dealing with Cal- 

 ifornia conditions, Mr. Richter tells how to get 

 the most out of an orange-blossom honey flow. 

 This series of articles will be invaluable to 

 ('alifornia beekeepers as well as others. East- 

 ern beekeepers who are located in the clover 

 region will note the similarity of the problems 

 involved in securing a crop of orange-blossom 

 honey and clover honey, the problems of secur- 

 ing a large force of bees early in the spring, 

 the control of swarming and the supering being 

 almost identical in the two regions. — Editor. 



THE fact that 

 orange bloom 



fan produce 

 nectar in com- 

 mercial quanti- 

 ties was hardly 

 r e c g n ized 15 

 years ago. Here- 

 tofore the sole 

 usefulness of the 

 orange as a 

 source of nectar 

 was, supposedly, 

 that of stimulat- 

 ing the bees to 

 breeding up and 

 becoming strong. 

 Its potential 

 power as a nec- 

 tar-secreter was 

 lost sight of, ow- 

 ing to the fact 

 that its bloom- 

 ing period was 

 early and at a 

 time when most 

 colonies were 

 too weak to 

 store much sur- 

 plus. During the past decade good beekeep- 

 ing has demonstrated that colonies can be 

 made strong enough to gather orange honey 

 in commercial quantities. At the present 

 time, according to the character of the flow 

 and the skill of the beekeeper, average col- 

 ony productions usually amount to from 40 

 to 2.'50 pounds, and orange-blossom honey 

 ranks among the three main honey sources 

 of the state. 



The Orange Locations of the State. 

 Southern California produces nearly three- 

 fifths of the state's orange crops; but central 



and n o T t li e r n 

 California are 

 rajiidly increas- 

 ing their produc- 

 tion, and today 

 Tulare is the 

 banner orange 

 county, leading 

 Riverside by 

 more than 200,- 

 000 bearing 

 trees. The five 

 leading localities 

 are as follows: 

 (1) The area en- 

 closed in and ad- 

 jacent to a tri- 

 angle drawn 

 thru Pasadena, 

 R e d 1 a nds and 

 Santa Ana; (2) 

 the eastern foot- 

 hills of Tulare 

 County (Lind- 

 say, Porterville 

 and a new sec- 

 tion known as 

 the Terra Bella 

 District; (3) 

 Ventura and Santa Barbara counties; (4) 

 San Diego County, (5) Butte County. There 

 are many other small, but promising dis- 

 tricts in central and northern California, 

 notably in Kern, Sacramento (Fair Oaks) 

 and Placer Counties. 



Conditions Under Which Nectar Is Secreted. 



The period of nectar-secretion is most 

 variable and dependent upon several fac- 

 tors, especially climatic ones over which the 

 beekeeper has practically no control. It 

 should be mentioned, however, that the best 

 cultural conditions under which an orange 



At times there is so m,uch swarming during the orange flow that some beekeepers find it profitable to get 



increase by means of decoy hives. 



