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Date: | Thu, 31 Aug 2023 20:47:11 -0400 |
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Believe it or not, this is not a recent article. This theme has been in the news a very long time
Death Struggle of Hungry Bees
PAUMA VALLEY
Perhaps you may not see it, but Death is riding the dusty wings of drought in this region and other parts of Southern California where honey bees depend upon wild flower blooms for their sustenance. We hear much these days of the drought and its effects upon crops and trees, but who remembers the bees? Things are so bad in this beautiful valley at the foot of Mt. Palomar that the bees are being shipped to irrigated areas such as Imperial Valley to save their lives. My long-time friend Mark Golsh, who twice was the elected chief of the Rincon Indians here, was telling me about his own experiences with the bees he has owned for many years. They are starving where once the wild buckwheat and other flowers provided rich harvests for the honey-seekers.
Alfalfa Fields Hold the Answer
Mark's bees are among those being sent to Imperial Valley where Colorado River water provides the irrigation which in turn produces alfalfa and other lush green growing things on the flowers of which the bees can thrive. Just a few days ago on the return trip from Texas by automobile I noticed signs in the Imperial Valley about the "renting" of bees. This literally is a new industry which has grown up in the last few years... The additional pollenization provided by the rented bees produces seed crops said to be as much as twice the normal ones. Anybody who thinks raising bees is an easy job, though, is in for disillusionment. Don't start out to make your fortune in honey unless you are prepared to do a lot of hard work and take a lot of risks ...
Fighting Pests All the Time
Honey-producing bees, you know, are not native to California ... All we had out. here when the first Spanish settlers arrived were some little wild critters which didn’t do anybody a bit of good. The enterprising Americans brought sure enough honey-making bees around the Horn on clipper ships and across the plains in wagons to give us our start in the honey business. I've often wondered what it would have been like to be a bee herder on a ship or in a wagon ... It still seems incredible that the pioneers who wanted the comforts of home had the fortitude to do this sort of thing because bees are subject to all sorts of pests and diseases, and have to be pampered continually.
BY ED AINSWORTH
June 11 1961
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