ALFALFA 
22 
granulate at all, and that when it solidifies 
early it is mixed with honey from wild 
flowers. In view, however, of the uniform 
granulation of samples of known purity 
tested by the government, this statement 
is apparently not generally true. Moreover, 
tests made by the Bureau with other honeys 
show that impure samples, those with a 
high percentage of dextrose and undeter¬ 
mined matter, do not candy readily. A 
hard white lard-like solid seems to be the 
ultimate state of even the best of alfalfa 
honey. 
The color of alfalfa honey varies from 
so-called “water-white” to light amber, 
according to the humidity, the season, and 
the character of the soil. In localities of 
little rainfall or where the soil is sandy the 
color is white. In alluvial soils where the 
water is close to the surface the honey is 
amber and even darker after extracting. 
To the percentage of water in the honey 
itself is largely due directly the shade of 
color, as shown in the government tests 
alluded to above. Parts of California and 
Arizona produce a darker alfalfa honey. 
Alfalfa honey from Inyo County, Calif., 
east of the Sierra Nevadas, and from coun¬ 
try around Reno, Nev., both very dry re¬ 
gions, is water-white. Imperial County, 
Calif., and Yuma County, Ariz., yield a 
darker honey. Usually honey from the 
second and third crops of alfalfa is lighter 
in color than that from the first crop, the 
reason, of course, being the greater amount 
of water present in the plants at the open¬ 
ing of the season. 
The content of nitrogen, protein, dex¬ 
trine, and undetermined matter in alfalfa 
honey is low. Conversely, the sucrose con¬ 
tent is higher than in most other honeys. 
See Honeys. 
BEE PASTURAGE. 
The striking and beautiful appearance 
displayed by the great fields of alfalfa in 
the West, when in bloom, can hardly be 
realized by one who has not 6een them. 
The lilac-purple flowers present a mass of 
color which is measured, not by the acre 
but by the square mile. Such a landscape 
of purple coloring can be found nowhere 
else in the world. One may ride for miles 
and miles thru fields of alfalfa stretching 
away on either side as far as the eye can 
reach. While alfalfa is grown in every 
State in the Union,, less than 6 per cent 
of the acreage in 1910 was east of the Mis¬ 
souri River. New England reported only 
1,255 acres, but in New York there were 
35,343 acres. Near East Syracuse during 
the past dozen years the bloom is reported 
to have yielded from 10 to 30 pounds of 
surplus every other year. Unless the 
weather is very dry and hot little nectar is 
gathered; and it is, therefore, from the 
second bloom in July and August that 
most of the surplus is secured. The fields 
are usually mowed in this State before 
alfalfa begins to bloom. In Ohio there 
were 29,000 acres, and Indiana and Illi¬ 
nois contained about 18,000 acres each. At 
Peru, Tnd., honeybees were observed gath¬ 
ering nectar from the bloom, and it was 
estimated that there* were about ten bees 
to the square rod. But, in general, alfalfa 
rarely secretes nectar east of the Mississippi 
River; it is a good honey plant only in 
arid or semiarid regions under irrigation. 
Pennsylvania, New, Jersey, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia re¬ 
ported 35,000 acres; Kentucky, which has 
a large area of limestone soils, contained 
20,000 acres, and Tennessee 5,000 acres. 
In North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor¬ 
gia, and Florida, where the soils are large¬ 
ly acid, the total acreage was only 1,467 
acres. In the Black Prairie of Alabama 
and Mississippi there were 16,000 acres, 
in Louisiana 12,000, and in Arkansas 16,- 
000 acres. There is a heavy rainfull in 
these States, exceeding 50 inches, and no 
honey is secured from the bloom. There 
were 29,000 acres of alfalfa in Iowa; but, 
according to Pammel, it is of no import¬ 
ance in that State as a honey plant. Many 
beekeepers in Missouri, which has 39,000 
acres of alfalfa, report the bloom as nec¬ 
tarless. 
In the semiarid tier of States west of 
the Missouri River the acreage of alfalfa 
shows an enormous increase; but, as it is 
largely grown by dry farming methods, 
the yield of honey is very variable. In 
South Dakota there were 66,000 acres. In 
the valleys of the Black Hills, as in Belle 
Fourche Valley, a crop of alfalfa honey 
ranging from 100 to 200 pounds per colony 
is obtained nearly every year. There are 
at least 100,000 acres of irrigable land in 
