autumn a dark honey-dew is often gathered from the foliage. In the San Francisco Bay region southward there is a dense area of pears, plums, and prunes; but the largest area of prunes is in Santa Clara County. The almond-producing counties are Butte, Sutter, Yolo, Sacramento, and San Joqauin. Fiddleneck, or sheep’s tansy (Phacelia tanacetifolia), blooms for about six weeks, beginning in April, and yields an amber-colored honey having an aromatic flavor. Alfilerilla, or filaree (Erodium cicutarium), is common everywhere on the dry plains and barren hillsides, and blooms for several months. Bur clover (Medicago hispida) is also very common, and is excellent to stimulate brood-rearing after a wet winter. With the passing of the spring flowers there comes a barren interval of several weeks until the second crop of alfalfa blooms about the first of June. In the Sacramento Valley, Yolo County has the largest acreage; but Tehama, Butte, and Sacramento counties also have large acreages. In the San Joaquin Valley, Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, Tulare, and King counties have many thousand acres of alfalfa.

Carpet grass (Lippia nodiflora) is very abundant on the banks of the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. It blooms from May until frost. The larger part of the surplus in Sutter County formerly came from carpet grass, but much of the basin land has been reclaimed. The blooming, of blue curls (Trichostema lanceolatum) in August marks the advent of the fall honey plants. It yields a surplus in Fresno County, and is abundant on the plains. Jackass clover or stink-weed (Wislizenia refracta) grows well in an alkaline soil. It is spreading widely over the poor lands of the San Joaquin Valley, and blooms throughout the autumn months. On the alkaline plains of the upper San Joaquin, spikeweed (Centromedia pungens) covers tens of thousands of acres; and in Fresno County spikeweed honey is produced by the carload. It is also abundant on the alkaline land of Solano County. This plant often forms thickets four or five feet tall. In late fall, after the spring vegetation has crumbled to dust, tarweed (Hemizonia virgata) may extend for miles, a single plant sometimes bearing 3000 flowers. It is common in both river valleys and on hills. It is a very reliable source of honey at Elk Grove, Sacramento County. Another species of tarweed blooms in the spring. Star thistle in the Sacramento Valley yields a heavy, white, mild honey, known commercially as Shasta honey. It is very abundant in grain fields, blooming from June until frost. The valley is carpeted with a great variety of grasses and beautiful flowers, such as lupines, Gilias, Godetias, poppies, buttercups, and clovers, few of which add much to the surplus.

The Sacramento River Valley is a fair location for beekeeping, and some counties have a large number of colonies of bees, especially Butte and Tehama. In Lake County fruit-growers employ 300 or more colonies for the pollination of prune and pear orchards. Commercial beekeeping in the past has received very little attention in Glenn, Yuba, Amador, Napa, and Solano counties; but Glenn and Yuba now have much alfalfa and star thistle, and bee culture is increasing in importance. At Willows, in Glenn County, there are numerous apiaries, the number varying greatly in different years. Migratory beekeeping is practiced, and the crop comes chiefly from alfalfa and star thistle. A beekeeper reports that from 1912 to 1920 he has had four years in which a surplus of 100 or more pounds per colony was secured. During three years it averaged only 45 pounds per colony. At Chico, in Butte County, there are numerous apiaries varying in size from 50 to 1500 colonies, which depend on alfalfa, star thistle, and mustard for a surplus.

The San Francisco Bay region includes, either in whole or in part, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties, which border on Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco bays. The honey plants are essentially the same as those of the Great Valley. Early brood-rearing is stimulated by Eucalyptus, mustard, and wild radish, and by large areas of decid-