1566 



CLEANINGS IN BKE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



plant, but no satisfactory data to that effect 

 in Texas have been obtainetl. Jnvestigations 

 on this su))ject would, therefore, be very val- 

 uable, because, as irrigation and the growing 

 of alfalfa in the State advance, the honey- 

 yield is relatively increased: it means that 

 many new^ localities for the location of api- 

 aries wnmld be opened, increasing tlie honey 

 output to the amount of thousands of dollars. 

 If alfalfa does not yield then, it will l>e well 

 for 1)ee-keepers to know it. There are those 

 who contemplate locating in the coming al- 

 falfa districts; but if alfalfa does not yield 

 honey it would cause disappointment. For 

 a number of years this has been a subject to 

 which I gave close study. I have two api- 

 aries near alfalfa, but as yet have failed to 

 obtain any honey from this source during 

 three years. 



ent kinds of weather conditions. The same 

 result followed — no honey-bees on the profu- 

 sion of liloom, although small apiaries abound 

 in immediate proximity. When there was 

 nothing else in bloom, the bees idled, although 

 the alfalfa was loaded wath bloom, and it 

 was not cut for several weeks. At one time 

 a small yellow oxalis, growing in amid the 

 alfalfa, was much visited by the bees, and the 

 profusion of alfalfa bloom left unnoticed. 



At the A. and M. College Experimental 

 Apiai-y, small plots of alfalfa, planted for 

 testing as a honey-plant, were visited by the 

 bees, and is the only rec^oi'd I have been able 

 to get to this effect. In 1902 a second growth, 

 after cutting in July, came into bloom, and 

 was also visited by the bees in great numbers. 

 The soil is very pooi', and of a sandy clay 

 mixture. Here the bees worked vigorously 



A TEXAS APIAKY; ALFALFA TO THE RIGHT AND COW-PEAS TO THE LEFT. 



The apiary here shown is located at the 

 edge of an alfalfa-field, with others all around 

 it, and close ol)servation has lieen made at 

 many different times, and in all kinds of 

 weather conditions, but n<>t a honey-bee was 

 ever seen on the bloom while it stood in full 

 bloom for several weeks sometimes. The 

 same results were obtained at another of my 

 apiaries seven miles from this one. These 

 fields are in the rich Brazos River Valley, 

 where alfalfa grows wonderfully without ir- 

 rigation, producing a luxuriant growth and 

 a profusion of large healthy l)loom. The 

 bees did not visit the alfalfa, even though 

 there was no other bloom, and at the apiary 

 shown here the cow-peas wei'e visited as soon 

 as they came into bloom. C'otton is the main 

 source at these apiaries. 



Here at New Braunfels alfalfa is grown 

 under irrigation only a few hundred yards 

 from our back door, and I visited the fields 

 many times, making it a rule to go during 

 different times of ihe dav. and durmg dilTer- 



on the blooms, however, but the plots were 

 only a few feet square. 



POSTAL-CARD REPORTS ON ALFALFA WANT- 

 ED. 



I should like to have reports from as many 

 bee-keepers as possible who have any infor- 

 mation about alfalfa as a honey-plant, not 

 only from Texas Ijut from all parts of the 

 South and Southwest. Postal-card reports, 

 in brief, will be all right, just so the impor- 

 tant matters are mentioned. It would be 

 well to answer the following questions: 

 Have you ever seen honey-bees work on al- 

 falfa? Was any surplus honey obtained 

 from that source ? Irrigated or not irrigated ? 

 What kind of land".' Weather conditions, 

 rain, etc.? 



All such information will be greatly ap- 

 preciated, and w^e may arrive at the truth 

 whether alfalfa may prove a good honey- 

 producer for Texas. My present address is 

 New Braunfels, Texas. 



