May, 192-J 



G L K A N T N G S T N B K, I-: C U L T U R V. 



307 



.^ FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 



Vast Expanse of Virgin Beekeeping Territory in the 

 Great Star Thistle Region 



When one exists but is not on the map, 

 how does lie proceed to put himself on the 

 map? Or, more properly speaking, when 

 one is on the map and everyone, including 

 the map, is unaware of the fact, what then? 



Chico, Butte County, Calif., is in that 

 fantastic predicament. Bee journals and 

 writers generally appear to have formed a 

 soviet to locate northern California between 

 Sacramento County and the Tehachapi, a 

 range of mountains crossing the state from 

 east to west, fully 300 miles south of its 

 geographical center. Everything below the 

 Tehachapi is southern California, and the 

 restricted territory above the Tehachapi, by 

 the same token, northern California. 



Before our government acquired this stat'e 

 there were two Californias, Alta and Baja, 

 upper and lower, the dividing line being 

 along the southern boundary of San Diego 

 County, about where it is today. Later, 

 when a sleepy little Mexican village vaguely 

 known as Los Angeles, assumed municipal 

 proportions, she staked out the country be- 

 tween Baja California and the Tehachapi 

 into city lots, virtually seceded from the 

 state and named her pre-emption, southern 

 California. 



Los Angeles' first claim to supremacy was 

 rlimate. Her next, the production of fabu- 

 lous quantities of sage honey, the possibili- 

 ties of which were first demonstrated by 

 John S. Harbison who, back in the sixties, 

 moved his bees south from the Sacramento 

 Valley in central California. Then came the 

 Los Angeles citrus groves and a second de- 

 licious honey to enhance her fame. 



But unlike tl:e sage, citrus groves proved 

 of a migratory nature and refused to be cor- 

 ralled south of the Tehachapi. They have 

 worked their way steadily northward until 

 thousands of acres flourish at the very door 

 of Chico, and many fine groves as far north 

 as 30 miles. And, oddly, the northern fruit 

 is usually marketed by the time the south- 

 ern harvest begins. So, although the Te- 

 hachapi may be claimed as the beginning of 

 northern California, its further end reaches 

 fully 700 miles bevond this arbitrary line. 



And now one-half the length of the state 

 from the Tehachapi, comes Chico featuring 

 California's third A-1 honey, star thistle, 

 as an exclusive product of northern Califor- 

 nia. Eeference to the map will show that 

 Chico bears practicallv the same relation to 

 northern California as Los Angeles to south- 

 ern California. Each is the logical center 

 of a wonderfully productive honey district, 

 and each is about the same distance from 

 its respective state lines, Oregon and Ari- 

 zona. Thus, geographically, the one is 



s()\ithcrn California; the other, northern, 

 and both with oodles of climate peculiarly 

 their own. 



Three-fourths of tlie state lies between 

 these two centers. Since southern Califor- 

 nia has never laid claim to this territory, 

 and Chico has no immediate intention of ex- 

 tending its suburbs by annexing Marysville, 

 Sacramento and other middle California 

 towns, why not designate these cities and 

 their counties, middle California, with 

 Berkeley and the State University as their 

 center? This middle section also has its 

 distinctive honey, the main flow being from 

 irrigated alfalfa, though there is consider- 

 able sage and orange honey produced in ad- 

 dition. 



We now come to a marked apicultural dif- 

 ference between Chico and Los Angeles. The 

 beekeeping part of Chico 's population has 

 an aversion to staking off surrounding coun- 

 ties into town lots. Indeed that would be 

 most disastrous, for star thistle is a rene- 

 gade that flourishes best on large ranches, 

 which, subjected to subdivision and conse- 

 quent intensive cultivation, would soon 

 cause that intruder to disappear and star 

 thistle honey to become but a fragrant mem- 

 ory. Again, while Los Angeles has for 50 

 years or more been the center of extreme 

 activity in apiculture, the counties that 

 surround Chico are virgin territory, so far 

 as honey production on the scale practiced 

 in southern California is concerned. The 

 one has arrived at its zenith; the other has 

 barelv discovered its own existence. 



This self-discovery was aided and abetted 

 by the attendance of five members of the 

 Butte County Bee Association at the Berke- 

 lev School for beekeepers held in December, 

 ]921. It is the first time since these exten- 

 sion courses were inaugurated on the coast 

 four years asro that representatives from 

 northern California beekeepers have been 

 present. D. Stuart. 



Chico, Cal. 



ao^ctc 



GRABBING THE HONEY FLOW 



How to Have Colonies Ready on Short Notice 

 When Honey Flow Comes Unexpectedly 



A generation ago the burden of instruc- 

 tions to beekeepers was on buildiiifr up colo- 

 nies in the spring, pulling from the strong 

 colonies to strengthen the weaker, in effect 

 averaging downward. In the hands of the 

 novice or person of poor judgment the re- 

 sults were often disastrous. In the hands of 

 such experts as Dr. C. C. Miller, where clover 

 was the main flow, the practice was excel- 

 lent; but here in southern New England 

 where a clover flow seldom occurs, it was 

 more often than otherwise that the practice 

 was not good. So some other plan had to be 

 evolved. , 



