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Show HOW THE LITTLE BUSY BEE MAKES' MONEY Perhaps tho writers In biblical doys had California In mind when Ihoy wroto of a "land flowing with milk and honey." If not, the description descrip-tion well fits this State, which today has about 7000 apiarists, who bandlo some COO.OOO colonics of bees. Tho State's output of honey of all kinds runs from 500 to 900 carloads Dor jear. Tho nvcrago Is twenty tons to the car, and fully 90 per cent, of tho total Is tho extracted product. Much of the California honey has In other ears been exported to Europe. For Instance, up to August 1, of last year (1915) about 250 carlords was sent to sweeten tho lands "that oro now aflame, whereas from that dato to this tlmo only about eight carloads hnvo found their way ncross the sea. In California tho wild sago and alfalfa al-falfa sections aro tho most rellablo and extensive producers with tho citrus cit-rus districts occupying second place. Thero is also a lima bean honey belt. Euca'yptus groes aro coming to bo recognized as valuable bee pastures. Thero nro bo many varlotlcs of theso trees that It Is posslblo to select' a group that will furnish bloom for tho bees to work on tho year round. Bee culturo is an established Indus-cry Indus-cry in tho chaparral region, and thero is senrcely a tlmo of tho year when some of tho species do not furnish nectar for bees. Along tho river bottoms bot-toms It Is tho willow and cottonwood that ptovldo tho first bloom to stimulate stimu-late bees to breeding, and on tho hlghor foothills sagebrush and man-znnlta man-znnlta aro tho first to start tho nctlv-ty. nctlv-ty. Th acacia, wherovcr grown, also furnishes somo of tho first pollen. Then follow tho oak, buckthorn, wild blackberry, bur clover, mustard, nage, n'falfa, harehqund, pepper tree, whlto clover, Ice plant, etc. Bees visit tho palm blooms In great profusion and find tho loquat an excellent honey plant. Tho penr Is said to bo among tho best honoy producers among tho deciduous fruits. Tho npplo blossom Is also a good ylclder of nectar, and In this connection tho question Is frequently fre-quently asked as to how many colonies colon-ies of bees aro required to fertlllzo ni orchard. A University of California professor contends that one colony is sufficient to fertlllzo eighty acres of applo bloom. Another "authority" believes that ten colonies might pol-Ionize pol-Ionize n ten-acro orchard, but adds that "probably fifty to ono hundred would bo much better." Speaking on this samo subject, J. D. Blxby, ed-ltor ed-ltor of tho California Honey Bee, says there Is no rulo as to tho number of colonics per acre, owing to tho variation vari-ation of yield, ago, location and at-mosphorlc at-mosphorlc conditions. Ho ndds, however, how-ever, ono colony per aero of orango grovo might be a safo maximum." Questioned as to yield and profits, ho said: "If a given area Is not overstocked, over-stocked, the yield of honey per colony will not vary greatoly In large and small apiaries. Much depends on management. Twenty-flvo per cent, variation would be" a largo cstlmato. Our most skillful apiarists figures on an average net profit per colony o'. from $3 to $4, or say 75 per cent, on tho capital Invested." Pressed with inquiries for further Information, Mr. Blxby said 'There is no agricultural occupation In which tho goneral pub. He Is so greatly Interested nor of which it has so little nctual know-ledge, know-ledge, as beokoeplng whllo tho aver-ago aver-ago newspaper writer seems to have acquired all the fallacies, folklore and fairy tales of tho past, to tho entire neglect of fundamental facts." Atmospheric conditions piny nn important im-portant pan In tho qunntity of nectnr sccroted by tho different plants. A good honoy plant in ono locnllty may prove worthless n another, but overytthero tho blackberry is much prized, ns It secretes nectar nt a tlmo when other berries nro on the wane. Whllo in bloom, llppln is continually con-tinually visited by bees, but tho ollvo tree seems not to attract them at all Apiculture is n fasclnatlang ocatlon, and secuies for man's use valuable stores of wholesome and nutrition food clement which otherwise would bo wholly lost to tho world. Yet, worthy ns It Is In this respect says Horticultural Commissioner A. J. Wood, it serves a far more Important Import-ant purpose in tho Invaluable aid it renders to the Kre.u Held of ngrl-culturo ngrl-culturo In cross polinnting her products. prod-ucts. And In this connection I.uthor Ilurbank says that among other of nature's schemes, in order to keep I hor kinds within tho limits, sho Iibb I In tho caso of plants, for Instance, mado It a characteristic of tho bee that' in gnthorlng pollen It works on only one dower of a kind at a tlmo. Ages before him, Arlstotlo mado tho observation that n boo in gathering pollen confines herself to tho kind of blossom on which sho begins, tho lnd of ono Insect being red, of another anoth-er yellow, brown, etc., tho color varying vary-ing with lhat or tho plant from which It was obtained. Wi iters agrco that no other branch of rural economy can bo named In which there need be so llttlo loss on tho material that Is employed or which so completely dorlves Its profits prof-its from tho vast and exhaustlcss domain do-main of nature It has been estimated estim-ated that If only ono family In twenty twen-ty had but ono swarm of bees each, tho wealth of tho nation would bo in. eieascd from their product each yrar to tho extent of $5,000,000 . That tho honey beo should bo harm-esscd harm-esscd to do man's bidding In a worthy wor-thy endeavor to rcduco tho high cost, of llvlnp,B obvious, as, according to census figures, only nbout one ranch In nine in tho United States keeps bees. Every additional colony of bees means a rock In tho road of tho sugar trust, for a no less authority auth-ority than nn expert connected with tho Fedoral Department of Agriculture Agricul-ture Is authority for tho statement that honoy Is prized no less for Its sweetening power than for Its dell-cato dell-cato flavor. In this connection it Is related that sovoral persons have within tho year taken In excess of 160 pounds of honoy from slnglo hives and these hives well within tho limits if tbo city. If you do not think It payi, ask the man who has a fow colonies. C. B. Irvine, in Los Angolos Times. |