690 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



ber of the high officials as the man who own- 

 ed a million-dollar bee. He expostulated, of 

 course, that the story was slightly exaggerat- 

 ed. Yes, we plead guilty to having a bee 

 once that we valued at $200. When she died 

 we put her up in alcohol and displayed her 

 to the public. The newspapers got hold of 

 it and told about Root's $200 queen-bee with 

 a pedigree having sons and daughters that 

 were celebrated. But the average newspa- 

 per could not be satisfied with such a tame 

 statement, so it kept adding on ciphers ev- 

 ery time the story was repeated until the 

 queen had a value of $1,000,000. The next 

 thing we knew it was repeated in Germany 

 that we had a queen worth $2,000,000. Like 

 the proverbial story of the crows, it kept on 

 growing by repetition. 



Somehow the people at the Jamestown ex- 

 position had heard that we were the owner 

 of that bee, and many were the jibes that we 

 received. The fact that this bee, or "bug," 

 as they called it, even if she were worth only 

 $200, had a ''pedigree,''' " daughters and 

 granddaughters of note,'' was very funny; 

 that a lot of "bugs " could be sick, have dys- 

 entery and contagious diseases, was stranger 

 than fiction itself. 



IRRIGATED LANDS BEING OPENED UP FOR 

 BEE-KEEPERS. 



Most of the regular readers of Gleanings 

 are probably aware that the irrigated regions 

 of this country are admirably suited to bee 

 culture; but probably some are not so famil- 

 iar with the gi'eat work being done by the 

 United States government in reclaiming vast 

 areas of arid land by means of dams and ca- 

 nals. Others are anxious to know just where 

 each particular work is being done, and how 

 large it is; hence a short sketch of what is 

 being accomplished will not come amiss. 



The work of reclaiming is paid for out of 

 the sale of public lands; but in every case the 

 land irrigated pays for its own irrigation, 

 the settlers under each ditch paying ten per 

 cent of the cost each year for ten years. 

 This makes the burden easy, and at the same 

 time makes it possible to get a home. The 

 work of reclaiming is, therefore, revolving, 

 and may go on for ever. In any case it 

 costs the government not a cent. 



In no case is a farmer allowed to own 

 more than 160 acres, and on some of the 

 projects only 40 acres is allowed. This in- 

 sures a square deal to all ; for it prevents 

 the land-agent from buying up all the terri- 

 tory at a low figure and then selling to the 

 settler at exorbitant prices. This system al- 

 lows gbod graded schools, churches, and oth- 

 er social advantages not obtained in sparsely 

 settled commvmities. 



It ought to be noted in this connection 

 that the climate in every case is good, and 

 also that an ample supply of water is secui'ed 

 for all time, for the work is practically im- 

 perishable. The example of the government 

 has in some instances spurred private enter- 

 prise to engage in similar projects. 



As to total cost, which seems large, it has 



been estimated by engineers that one year's 

 crops will pay every cent of the actual cost 

 of the projects now under construction. By 

 the expenditure of about $60,000,000 the na- 

 tional wealth will be increased $230,000,000. 



Fi'om the bee-keeper's point of view, an ir- 

 rigated section is a sort of elysium, from the 

 fact that the weather is always dry, and oft- 

 en warm; besides, there is an abundance of 

 flowers, owing to the greater density of flo- 

 ral vegetation due to a regular supply of wa- 

 ter and absence of washing rains. 



Some of the irrigation work reflects great 

 credit on the engineers engaged. The Engle 

 dam will back the great Rio Grande for 40 

 miles, and control the largest floods on that 

 river of floods. The Tonto dam will use 

 240,000 barrels of fine cement, made right on 

 the spot, and bury the town of Roosevelt 200 

 feet deep with water. The Shoshone dam 

 will be 310 feet high, and the Uncompahgre 

 project involves a tunnel through the moun- 

 tains, six miles long. Verily " Uncle Sam" 

 does things and does them well. 



RECLAMATION PROJECTS NOW IN PROCESS OF 

 CONSTRUCTION. 



Name. 



Salt River. Arizona 



Yuma, Arizona-California 



Uncompahgre, Colorado 



Minidoka, klalio 



Payette- Boise. Idaho 



Garden City, Kansas 



Milk River. Montana 



Huntley Montana 



Sun Ki ver, Montana 



North Platte. Nebraska-Wyoming 



Truckee-Carson. Nevada 



Hondo, New Mexico. 



Carlsbad, New Mexico 



Rio Grande, New Mexico 



Lower Yellowstone, Mont,-Dakota 

 Buford-Trenton. North Dakota. 



Klaniatli, ( iri'j^on-California 



Umatilla, c )rei;on 



Belle Fourche. South Dakota... 



Strawberry Valley, Utah 



Okanogan Valley, Washington 



Tieton, Washington 



Sunnyside, Washington 



Wapato, Washington 



Shoshone, Wyoming 



Irrigable Acres. 



200,000 



100,000 



150,000 



80,000 



120,000 



8,000 



40,000 



33,000 



16,000 



110,000 



200,000 



10,000 



20,000 



15,000 



60,000 



40,000 



50,000 



18,000 



100,000 



35,000 



9,000 



24,000 



40,000 



20,000 



100,000 



Cost, 



«5,300,000 



3,500,000 



6,200,000 



1,800,000 



1.605,000 



260,000 



1,500,000 



900,000 



500,000 



4,100,000 



4,000,000 



336,000 



600,000 



200,000 



2,700,000 



1,270,000 



2,400,000 



1,100,000 



3,000,000 



1.850,000 



500,000 



1,400,000 



2.000,000 



600,000 



3,500,000 



Total— 1,598,000 $50,121,000 



There is also a project at Engle, New Mex- 

 ico, which will be undertaken as soon as the 

 necessary legislation can be obtained, as it 

 involves old Mexico. Congress has provid- 

 ed an appropriation of $1,000,000 to provide 

 for Mexico's share of the cost, but the total 

 cost will be $7,200,000, and the area irrigated 

 will be 180,000 acres in New Mexico, old Mex- 

 ico, and Texas. 



PROJECTS AWAITING FUNDS. 



The Secretary of the Interior, Washington, 

 D. C, has charge of this work, and particu- 

 lars of any of tnese projects may be had by 

 writing to him. 



