The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1921-01-13
NEED OF BEES in
ORCHARDS CITED

Why is it that, when travelinJ
through the farming sections of tn
northwest, one so seldom sees in or
chard or dooryard the neatly painte,
and arranged little rows of beehive
which are 50 common through tn
eastern states and in many sections O
the middle west? Is it because tn,
western farmers do not recognize tn,
value of bees in their relation to thu
fruit crops and in their equally import
ant function of furnishing delicious
and healthful item for the table, or il
it because they are under the impres
sion that there is something compli
Gated and mysterious connected will
the handling and care of the bees? We
venture to believe that if the average
farmer could once be introduced to the
delightful pastime of beekeeping, coulC
be shown how easily they are handled
and could be convinced that thev are
not vicious little Williams. always ready
and anxious to puncture the innocent
! bystander, the number of beehives
| throughout the country would be mul.
! tiplied past counting, the quantity OF
! fruit marketed from year to year enor-
mously increased and the annual gro
cery bill materially reduced by the
amount Of honey to be sold or con-
sumed.
Experiments conducted by the Ma
tional Department of Agriculture have
demonstrated the fact that if bees are
excluded from the blooms of nearly all
kinds of tree fruits there will be no
crop, the distribution of the pollen by
the wind and through the activity of
other insects being of such limited ex-
tent as to have little appreciable eff
feet. On the other hand, orchardists
and farmers who have a reasonable
number of colonies of bees located in,
or near. the orchard find their trees
loaded to the breaking point nearly
every season, and they also find that,
in addition to the increased quantity,
the quality is greatly improved.
The writer once visited prune
grower of the Upper Willamette Val
ley who had about twenty colonies of
bees on a long bench, about the mid
die of his l9 acre-orchard. This grow
er stated that his tonnage per acre was
about one-third greater than that of
any other growers in his section, part
ly because of the better pollenization
of the blossoms and partly because of
the larger size Of the prunes, and that
he considered the work of the bees in
the orchard to be much more valuable
than the crop Of honey which he har-
vested every fall.
Many of the best professional bee
keepers of the country got their start
from studying and manipulating the
few colonies inherited or bought on the
farm, practical experience proving to
them that, taking into account the
time. the space occupied and the in
vestment, the bees were the most
profitable single item on the place. To
double the number of colonies, spring
count, and at the same time secure a
crop of honey equal to the value of
the entire plant, bees and equipment,
is not at all an unusal experience.
At the present time, due probably to
the high prices of honey, there is an
unusual demand for bees and queens,
and the farmer beekeeper who finds
his colonies increasing to a point
where he finds himself unable to give
up the necessary time to their care
will find no difficulty in disposing of
his surplus at prices which will com
pare favorably with those Of the best
product of pasture or stable. Due to
this almost unlimited and at the pres
snt time wholly unsatisfed demand for |
bees, comparatively new line of bus
ness has been developed in the south, |
hat of supplying bees by the pound,
hipment being made by express or
parcel post. The bees are shaken into
| small compact shipping case lined
With wire cloth. in which a sufficient
mount of food has been placed to last
hem through to destination, safe ar
lval being usually guaranteed
To such an extent has the business
( furnishing queen bees grown that
hey now pass through the mails in
uch numbers as to require special
ules for their handling and they are
nailed not only to all parts of the
United States, but to foreign countries
s well, shipments having been made
o Australia and the Philippines.
outhern California is developing this
ranch of the bee business for the
enetit of the coast, single breeders
lrning out many thousands during
ach season. These are sold either
irect TO the individual beekeeper or
trough a dealer. the Portland Seed
ompany. of Portland, having handled
lore than $50 queens the past season
] supplying their territory. While
lere are number of breeds, or |
rains, of bees to be found throughout
he northwest, the breeding of queens
confined almost exclusively to the &
.alians. !
1t is not likely that the farmer who !
as decided to make a side line of bee ]
llture will find it necessary or desir- \
Die to undertake the somewhat COM !
Heated work of raising queens. either y
'r his own use or for market, hut he i
Ill find 1t TO his advantage to acquire
working knowledge of the various n
ethOds by which queens are intro h
iced to colonies which have become /
leenless from any cause and of the n
latOn of the activities Of the queen I,
those of the workers and the drones. a
ne queen is not, as is generally be- I,
sved. the ruler of the colony. She .,
'parently has no authority whatever n
the hive and her tenure Of office, as n
ELL as her life, is apt to be terminated n,
the workers at any time necessity I
whim appears TO make it necessary. tI
Dparently the queen lives for no o.
her purpose than to lay eggs, and III
is she does increasingly, night and Il
" during the entire summer, and if =,
e is of prolific strain she will de- :,
sit in the cells from 5000 to 1000 n
gs each "a hours. The usual life Of n
queen is two to three years. of a h,
)ne three 10 six months, and of
'rker, IN summer. thirty six to forty
VS.. Workers hatched late in the
ison, after the honey period has hs
ssed, live through the winter and for n
hort time the following spring. b,
The present Importance and success ds
the bee business is due to a large ne