ALFALFA 
An alfalfa haystack on a 5,000-acre farm assumes enormous proportions. 
there are from 2,000 to 7,000 colonies of 
bees—a larger number, probably, than can 
be found elsewhere in an equal area in 
the world. So many beekeepers, indeed, 
have rushed to the great alfalfa-growing 
regions that the apiaries are often located 
less than a mile apart; and it is not profit¬ 
able for a yard to contain more than 100 
or 150 colonies. Other localities will sup¬ 
port from 200 to 300 colonies in a single 
apiary. In Colorado most of the honey is 
obtained from the first and second crops. 
Honey from the third crop is stored not 
once in 10 years, owing to cold nights. But 
occasionally there is warmer weather dur¬ 
ing the last of » August, and much addi¬ 
tional honey is then brought in by the 
bees. 
Land above 7,000 feet is reported to be 
unsuitable for beekeeping. The high alti¬ 
tude affects the temperature, which in turn 
checks the flow of nectar. The nights are 
often cold and frosty, and in the higher 
valleys the days are never as warm as in 
the lower lands. In the Upper Arkansas 
Valley, around Salida, Colo., in the moun¬ 
tains there are large fields of alfalfa, but 
the apiaries are small. In the San Luis 
Valley at an altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet 
alfalfa grows well, but bee culture receives 
little attention. A moderate increase in 
elevation is, however, reported in both 
Kansas and Colorado to stimulate the flow 
of nectar. A beekeeper at Grand Junc¬ 
tion, Colo., states that three apiaries in 
1019 in that locality were barely self-sup¬ 
porting, while three others 40 miles away. 
1,800 feet higher, had filled the supers and 
produced a good crop. In eastern Kan¬ 
sas, according to A. V. Small, alfalfa yields 
well above 1,000 feet, but below 850 feet 
nectar- secretion ceases. Since alfalfa se¬ 
cretes nectar most freely in the Imperial 
Valley below the level of the sea, the flow 
of nectar is evidently not necessarily de¬ 
pendent on elevation. 
The lower part of the Arkansas Valley 
in Colorado has in recent years become 
less suitable for bee culture. The les¬ 
sened honey production is due to the more 
general cultivation of other crops, to the 
increase of insect pests, and to the ex-, 
haustion of the soil preventing alfalfa 
from making the luxuriant growth of for¬ 
mer times. Other causes injurious to the 
honey flow from alfalfa are freezing 
weather in late spring, too much water, 
the alfalfa butterfly, and a multitude of 
thrips (more than 40 of these little insects 
are sometimes found in a single flower). A 
few years ago many alfalfa ranges were 
largely used for grazing, and made valu¬ 
able apiary sites; but they have disap¬ 
peared as general farming and fruit-grow- 
