26 
ALFALFA 
Twin Falls and Idaho Falls. It is an ob¬ 
jection to beekeeping in this section that 
the pasturage in the spring is insufficient 
for building up strong colonies. Many 
commercial beekeepers move their bees to 
California for the flow from orange bloom, 
and later bring them back to Idaho in time 
to secure a crop from alfalfa. In Utah 
there are 284,000 acres of irrigated alfalfa 
in the Uinta Basin south of the Uinta 
Mountains, in Emery County, and in the 
central mountainous strip of land, where 
irrigation is extensively practiced. Seri¬ 
ous losses of bees have been sustained here 
in winter, but the crop of honey is seldom 
an entire failure. Western Nevada pro- 
Method of stacking alfalfa hay. 
duces a white alfalfa honey which is re¬ 
garded as the type of the best alfalfa hon¬ 
ey produced in the United States. In 
Arizona the larger part of the irrigated 
alfalfa is in Maricopa County. 
In Washington alfalfa is grown chiefly 
in the irrigated areas of the Yakima Val¬ 
ley. The larger part of the crop comes 
from the second bloom in July. Commer¬ 
cial beekeeping in Oregon is most success¬ 
fully pursued in Umatilla County on the 
Columbia River and in Malheur County 
along the Malheur and Owyhee rivers. In 
California the largest area of alfalfa is 
grown in the Great Central Valley and in 
Imperial Valley in the southern part of 
the State. According to Richter it yields 
no nectar along the coast. In the San Joa¬ 
quin Valley the second and third crops of 
alfalfa are the source of most of the hon¬ 
ey, while the first and last crops yield little 
nectar. The honey is usually more or less 
amber-colored, but in Inyo County it is 
white, similar to that of Nevada. In dry 
seasons, when the sages wither on the 
Coast Range, alfalfa, of which there are 
484,000 acres, becomes the chief depend¬ 
ence of the California beekeeper. 
ACREAGE OF ALFALFA IN THE UNITED STATES 
ACCORDING TO THE 13TH CENSUS. 
Maine . 
174 
Ohio . 
. 29,439 
New Hampshire. 
47 
Michigan . 
, . 6,553 
Vermont . 
252 
Indiana . 
. 17 898 
Massachusetts . . 
232 
Illinois . 
. 18,344 
Rhode Island . . . 
34 
Wisconsin . . . , 
, . 17.986 
Connecticut . . . . 
516 
Minnesota i . . . 
. 2,288 
New York. 
35,343 
Iowa . 
. . 29,143 
Pennsylvania . . . 
4,935 
Missouri . 
, . 35,478 
New Jersey . . . . 
1,386 
North Dakota. 
. . 3,033 
Delaware . 
205 
South Dakota. 
. . 66,183 
Maryland . 
3,188 
Nebraska . 
. 685,282 
Virginia . 
3,126 
Kansas . 
956,962 
West Virginia. . 
696 
Oklahoma. 
, .206,823 
Kentucky . 
20,229 
Montana. 
. .224,226 
Tennessee . 
5,323 
Wyoming . 
, . 170,431 
North Carolina . . 
735 
Colorado . 
, . 508,882 
South Carolina . . 
138 
New Mexico. . 
..102.650 
Georgia . 
545 
308 892 
Florida . 
49 
Utah . 
.284,182 
Alabama. 
6,987 
. 90151 
Mississippi. 
9^245 
Arizona . 
. . 66,102 
Arkansas . 
15,929 
Washington . . 
. . 94,900 
Louisiana. 
12,073 
Oregon . 
..120,427 
Texas . 
55,332 
California . . . 
. .484.134 
The largest surplus of honey is obtained 
from alfalfa in arid or semiarid regions 
where irrigation is practiced. Conditions 
which favor a large crop of seed, will also 
produce a large yield of honey. But irri¬ 
gation alone does not ensure a bountiful 
flow of nectar, for in both Nebraska and 
Kansas there are great fields of irrigated 
alfalfa which are the source of very little 
honey. There must be proper soil and 
climatic conditions as well as irrigation. 
The largest surplus of alfalfa honey is ob¬ 
tained during very warm seasons. With 
ample moisture in the soil, a succession of 
hot days with little wind will cause an 
astonishing flow of nectar. Fields which 
are allowed to go to seed will yield nectar 
abundantly for weeks. In a given acreage 
there is no plant, unless it is basswood, 
tupelo, or logwood, that will support so 
many colonies of bees. In several localities 
in Colorado within a radius of five miles 
