EL PASO BEES BOOTLEGGERS
Forced to Smuggle Nectar Across Border
Formerly Made Haven of Alfalfa Fields
Now Destroyed, They Fly to Mexico Mesquite Groves
BY NORMAN WALKER
[EXCLUSIVE DISPATCH]
EL PASO (Tex.) June 22.— Even the bees are bootleggers on the Mexican border. Millions of honey bees cross the International border here daily to return to the American side with a supply of contraband nectar which they cache in the El Paso Valley.
These bee bootleggers fell into bad habits of smuggling because of the big cotton crop which is grown in the El Paso Valley each year. In the past this valley has produced alfalfa as its staple crop. Alfalfa is the ham-and-eggs of the honey bee's daily diet. They flew to all parts of the valley, sipping the alfalfa nectar which they carried back to their hives against the mild winters in the Southwest. Alfalfa honey is premium honey on the market and the farmers of the valley made nice nest eggs from their honey crop as a result.
Then came the cotton farmers from East Texas and Louisiana. They promised the landowners and tennant farmers big returns if they would plow under their alfalfa and plant the fertile, irrigated land to cotton. And they made good in the valley last year by producing a bumper cotton crop which sold at a premium on the cotton market. Result: everyone is planting cotton this year and a crop of 70,000 bales is expected.
Which leaves Mr. Honey Bee out of a place to feed. With the passing of the alfalfa fields his favorite diet is missing this year and he must fish or cut bait for something to eat and to save up against a rainy day in a land where it rarely rains. So an exploration committee was appointed by the bee chamber of commerce in the El Paso Valley and a general survey made of the surrounding country with a view to gettlng feeding grounds for the busy little bees.
Violating all neutrality laws and international covenants against crossing the Mexican border except at a designated port, the bees went exploring in the Juarez Valley, opposite the El Paso Valley, and discovered some mesquite bushes which bear fragrant and sweet flowers. The bees returned and reported their discovery with the result that most of the bees in the El Paso Valley now fly to Mexico each morning to return in the evening loaded down wlth bootleg honey to store in their hives.
Old bee growers declare that the mesquite honey is stronger and not so finely flavored as the alfalfa honey which the bees produced in this valley when alfalfa was grown in quantities. Necessity is the mother of more than invention for the bees have spread the information about the Mexican mesquite bushes in the bosques on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, and these groves are now rich feeding grounds for the little insects. The only complaint of the Mexican invasion which the bee owners in this valley have is the fact that the bees have to cover so much distance to get their supplies of honey.
There are 11,000 stands of bees in the El Paso Valley and each stand is estimated to produce fifty pounds, or a total of 550,000 pounds of honey. The bee must make thousands of trips for a pound of honey and the distance of the mesquite groves keeps him pretty busy.