Florence, and there are also a few beekeepers at Winkleman, on the east border. At Casa Grande, in the desert, mesquite and catsclaw are the chief dependence of the beekeeper. If the spring is late, not much honey is gathered. Apiaries range from 25 to 100 colonies.
In Cochise County in the southeast corner of the state large apiaries near Benson contain 558, 505, and 87 colonies of bees. At St. David, a few miles distant, there are 10 yards ranging from 20 to 90 colonies. At Bisbee there is a yard with 105 colonies. A large area is irrigated from artesian wells, of which there are over 200 ranging from 125 to 800 feet on depth. At Bowie there is an apiary containing 315 colonies. A beekeeper writes from Dos Cabezos that in this locality there are four apiaries containing 700 colonies. There has been only one failure in 12 years. The average surplus is 120 pounds, gathered principally from mesquite and catsclaw. In 1920 rain cheeked the flow from mesquite.
In Pima County the Santa Cruz River supplies irrigation water for about 16,000 acres. This stream flows northward through the broad valley of Tucson toward the Gila River, but sinks in the sand before reaching it. In dry years it is insignificant in size, but it is subject to great floods in rainy seasons. Fifty miles north of Tucson a reservoir has been constructed. Near Tucson there are several apiaries which contain about 100 colonies each. From Wrightstown J. B. Douglas writes: “There are seven apiaries in this locality which contain a total of 1000 colonies. There has been but one failure in 14 years. The average in a good year is 150 pounds of extracted honey. There are no yards run for comb honey. The honey plants are mesquite and catsclaw and other desert plants. We have a long spring with a little honey coming in all the time. The main flow begins about May 20.”
In the southwest corner of Arizona, in Yuma County, the rainfall is less than five inches annually. It is largely a region of hot, dry, nearly lifeless, sandy or gravelly plains lying between steep, low mountain ranges. The scanty vegetation consists of cresote bushes, mesquite, octillo, joint-pine, cactus, and yucca, with salt bushes and salt grass in the alkaline areas. The soils range from heavy adobe to light sands, the lighter soils predominating. In the vicinity of Yuma there are 49,800 acres under irrigation and 128,000 acres included in enterprises. The alluvial lands of this county are destined to become one of the richest agricultural regions in the state. The winters are mild, and the summers nearly rainless. The main crop is alfalfa, of which seven cuttings are harvested. On the bench or mesa land citrus fruits can be planted. Date palms also thrive in this section, but it is not adapted to tropical fruits like the pineapple and banana.
There are many opportunities for commercial beekeeping in Yuma County, as the area under irrigation can be greatly enlarged. Twenty-five apiaries reported more than 4000 colonies of bees, and three apiaries at Yuma numbered 614, 1050, and 1150 colonies. At Somerton there are yards containing 60, 145, and 200 colonies respectively. From Wellton a beekeeper writes: “I have 140 colonies, and have never averaged less than 60 pounds of extracted honey per colony. Our surplus is gathered from alfalfa and mesquite; and during the last two years cotton has been of value. The bees build up in the spring from willow and arrow-weed. Extracting begins about April 20, and lasts until June 15. Very little honey is gathered after August. There is room here for thousands of colonies.” At Palomas, in the eastern part of Yuma County, there is an apiary of 65 colonies which stores about a can of honey per colony from mesquite. In 1919 this yard yielded a profit of $1200.
The honey flora of Arizona consists chiefly of cultivated crops, as alfalfa, cotton, fruit trees, melons, and the desert plants, which have, however, decreased