No doubt but by this time many of the Eastern bee-keepers
are looking to this far-off “land of milk and honey,” as of
late years it has been called. Perhaps the reason is partly
because here abundant warm rains have fallen all over the
State, and the world-renowned honey region has received its
complement of the down-pour; in fact, the inhabitants hardly
ever saw so much rain visit that section at the right time.
There are now signs, however, that indicate the sun will
shine with its usual brightness; that those delightful spring
days, which are so peculiar to this fair land, are about
to favor us. Let this be the case and the bees will soon
be flying out by thousands, and the willow blossoms will
each and all receive a welcome visit from those industrious
insects. Their journeyings will not be confined to the banks
of the creeks where the willows grow, but the woodland, where
the Australian blue-gum (_Eucalyptus globulus_) has been
planted by the hand of man, and which holds out its bounteous
chalice for the busy bee to come and sip of nectar deep and
sweet.
While the loss in bees will in all probability be great in
the States east of the Rocky Mountains, here the loss, if
any, will not be quite as bad as it has been other years.
Thus it will be seen that our eastern brethren will have to
commence the season with greatly reduced forces, while the
apiarists in this State will commence operations with more
colonies, and, consequently, with more bees. Last season
was a good one, and the bees went into winter quarters with
abundant stores, which have carried them through the mild
winter safely. The bee flora having had ample rains to insure
a most thrifty growth, will bloom for a longer period than it
has heretofore, and, of course, will insure an enormous yield
of honey.
On account of the long continuance of the rain, but few
flowers have commenced to bloom. Still the plants are
growing, and when they do commence, they will be able to do
so in a vigorous manner. A few of those now blooming are
the willows in variety, _Eucalyptus globulus_, and it is
unusually covered with flowers; wild currant, a pretty fair
honey plant, but scarce; wild gooseberry; wild blackberry,
just beginning; raspberry, ditto; almond; pear and peach;
mignonette; horehound, and a few others. All of which give
the bees more than they can do to gather the nectar and
pollen.
North Temescal, Cal., Feb. 17, 1881.
For the American Bee Journal.
Bee-Men to the Front.