The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-27
ALFALFA WEEYn
: THREATENS BEE
: INDUSTRY IN WEST
= Blight Forces Thousands
49, OF Farmers to Raise
9 : Other Crops.

CHICAGO. Dec. 2s.-Carloads of
Alfalfa honey that roll into Chicago
very fall from the West may soon
b seriously cut short unless some
thing IL done to stop ravages of
the alfalfa weevil and blight and
Apsrican foul brood. -Chicago's
sEeee tooth has depended on the
honey-producing States of the West
for many years for most of its sup
ply of alfalfa honey. with the flu
!. tpre Of the alfalfa fields threatened
N Idaho Utah. Colorado. Oregon
and Montana, Western ranchmen
may have to change to other crops
vblch win automatically drive hum
drvds Of beekeepers out OF busi-
ness and cut down the production
OF many hundred tons of honey
every year. according to Grove A.
Roger, a beekeeper near Meridian.
I@aho.
For twenty years Western bee
men have depended on alfalfa to
furnish most OF the nectar for their
bees, producing from sixty to 100
pounds to the colony. While the
rhuney fow was abundant in the
Middle West this season, the honey
ferop in the Western States was
generally short Idaho beekeepers
dropped to an average of thirty
pounds to the colony this year. the
shortest crop they have had In
fifteen years.
Advance of the weevil.
feeding their bees in July. Ordi-
narily they would have had half
Of the crop gathered by that time
In the honey-producing district of
Idaho around Meridian there Is a
strip fifty or sixty miles wide where
the alfalfa weevil has not yet
caused any serious trouble. 1t is
on both sides of this region, and Is
advancing rapidly from the east
and west. Mr.. Roger predicts that
within three or four years the al
falfa fields in the bee districts of
the West will be covered with the
weevil unless more strenuous eff
forts are made to keep It in check.
Blight of the alfalfa blossoms
was NhC NduSC VI lilt ShoTN
honey crop in Idaho this year. With
blight and alfalfa weevil and diff
ficulty in fighting the American
foul brood. beekeepers in Idaho are
becoming discouraged. and some are
going out of the business. They
are not allowed to move their bees
from States or districts infested
with the weevil to other parts OF
~. xuA h. "a
not troubled with this pest It Is
estimated that Idaho produced only
about ten carloads of honey this
year. while more than forty cars
were gathered in that State last
season.
Beekeeping has been a profitable
men began growing alfalfa extern
SIYely. Like mushrooms bee yards
sprang up all over the honey-pro-
dncing States. keeping pace with al
sa1fa. as more and more acres were
seeded every year
49,. Had Modest Beginning.
= Ten years ago Mr.. Roger Dor
rowed enough money to pay his
way from Rogersville, Tenn, to
Meridian, Idaho. where he started
into the beekeeping business with
six swarms of bees given to him
by one OF his new neighbors. To-
sday he has 525 colonies of italian
bees and ranks as one of the big
gest beekeepers in the West. Last
year he produced twenty-four tons
T. Of honey. but this year his crop
was cut to about seven and a half
a tons as a result OF the blight. He
is not troubled with the alfalfa
{ 'weevil IN his particular section. but
expects to find the pest in the al
fa1fa fields around his bee yards
next year
This master aplarist keeps abou,
? 10000 bees in a hive, or a total of
36.750.o00 bees in the 525 colonies
Some of his hives were seven stories
Nigh last year. filled from top TO
bottom with honey. 4 few of hi,
hives yielded as much as 400
pounds. He has thirty acres of
= land but never keeps more than
100 to 125 colonies in one location.
One hundred colonies are kept in
D his home yard and from fifty to
seventy-five in each one of his
outer yards. located Ave to sixteen
miles from home. This allows
plenty OF territory for the bees.
One Of the most important tasks
Of, the beekeeper. Mr.. Roger thinks.
fshto see that the bees are in good
condition and are supplied with
plenty Of feed before they go into
the winter. II go around to all of
my hives and make my last ex-
traction about the first OF Septem-
Der. and leave enough 10 feed the
. bees all winter. In my district.
where the temperature drops sew
.eral degrees below zero. I find that
from forty to fifty pounds Of honey
are needed to carry the bees
through the winter. always try
10 leave enough so I will not have
TO feed them in the spring. I do
hut little feeding. About the only
,.tirns is during the period after the
fruit blossoms fall and the alfalfa
blooms. This does not last more
!, than four OF Eve weeks. We feed
mostly to stimulate brood raising"