The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1912-07-11
DAKIN'S Be Is
TO MIGRATE
FIREwEED TO FURNISH THE HONEY
Bee Man, who Makes Speciality Of Raising
Queens. Will Take Hives to Burnt
Over District on West Range

"How doth the little busy bee inn
prove each shining hour.
Here in the Hood River valley in the
land of blossoms Of springtime and the
glow of ripening fruit in the fall at
harvest time, those who have expert
mented with the industry declare tnat
great opportunity is offered for bee
culture. No one so far has gone into
the business on a large scale, but many
ranehers have kept few bees, and W.
w. Dakin, who makes specially OF
supplying queens 70 an ever increasing
number of customers has in the neigh
borhood of a hundred hives at his apl.
airy IN the city and al different points
in the country. MIR. Dakiu is making
a success of the business and declares
that no work is more interesting and
at the same time profitable.
The Hood River bee mar has devoted
more Of his time. however, TO raising
of queens than to the production Of
honey, and has sent many Of the royal
Young ladies of the bee family TO his
customers this spring. Each queen is
placed in a small box about two or
three inches long, half inch deep aud
about an inch wide. The cover over
one end is perforated so that the bee
, maiden that is going to rule over some
, distant hive may be able to secure air.
/, The boxes are sent through the mails.
, Bees have been sent in this manner
across the Atlantic ocean and further.
, On each box Mr.. Dakin has to place a
= certificate of health for his bee for the
Legislation of the states has been so
formed that the majestic huzzers are
we'll protected.
i "Bee raising will not only be profit
!. able to the bee man, says Mr.. Dakin,
a "but the valley, from the view point
II of the orchardist, ought to have more
~ bees. Ii would be well if every ranch
ii had lis apiary. The bees would more
! than pay for themselves, even though
" they produced no honey for it is well
known fact that they carry the pollen
0o from tree to tree and are thus of vast
assistance. In districts. where this
10 bumblebees have been exterminated
the growing of red clover for seeI
% purposes has almost been abandoned
The ordinary bee, not being able t.
49, secure the honey from the deep pistil
of the red clover, leave 1t alone, and
10 frightful lack of pollenizatlon results
However, a honey bee has now pee
found that can reach the honey sack
of the red clover.
nv Mr.. Dakin is entering into the bs
industry more from the standpoint
as the production of honey this year th'
ever before. His hives at the heigh
and apiary are now pretty well loaded WI
the appetlzing sweets. however,
Lar flowers of the orchard part OF the v
l.. An mall htAccnnaH
and with the exception of the wh
clover the bees do not have much
work on. They are rather slugg
now and are only working to sect
honey for young bees and for the pi
pose of making the royal jelly to n
ture the queens.
ut In order to give his industrious
sects broader field for their wor
nh MIR. Dakin will take them to the bur
over logged off land on the range
hills west of the valley Here the Il
rn weed grows luxuriously and the be
will produce much honey from this.
''The best Oregon honey. says NJ
Dakin, lis secured from the firewee
:, which grows in large patches after q
Il burn of forest or slashing fire, uni
III the other bushes and undergrowt
after about five years, choke 1t out. :
of The fire weed makes a delicio'
est white, rich and we'll favored hone
at The growth has been seen by all wi
err have journeyed over the roads of Il
G. Upper Valley, where the lands ha'
ep- been logged off and on the road th
ul- leads to the mills of the Stanley-Smi
mt Lumber Co. at Green Point.
mas Mr.. Dakin will first take out the $
Dus perfiuous honey that is now IN b
W. hives and extract 1t and then he W
es, load the hives on wagons and transpo
ss. them to the fields OF iire weed. III
o." will be moved down the ridge iowa
da- the Columbia. as the blossoms of ca
try district are relieved of their honey.