April, 1913. 



American Bge Joarnalj 



greatly affected by the state of the weather. 

 I have noticed that loads of chestnut pollen 

 [Caslancii vuU'iiris) are nearly lemon-yellow 

 on dry days, but distinctly green shortly 

 after rain. A writer in the Bienen-Zeitun? 

 of iHoi. page 171. points out that the color of 

 pollen varies with its age. and also with the 

 weather. He describes the pollen of the 

 opium poppy (Pii/Hrrcr somniffrmu) as green 

 when young, becoming whitish when older. 

 He also states that pollen secretes more oil 

 on its surface on good nectar days; and sug- 

 gests that the bees use this oil to stick the 

 pollen together when collecting it. That 

 they do this consciously is doubtful, espe- 

 cially in the light of Mr. Sladen's observa- 

 tions on how the corbicula is filled, but the 

 more oily pollen would certainly stick to- 

 gether better; and this may partly account 

 foi' the enormous loads carried home on fine 

 days, and the very small ones seen ir. bad 

 weather (though these last are probably 

 also due to the scarcity of pollen on such 

 days). 



Some of the differences of opinion as to 

 the color of pollen have arisen from the cir- 

 cumstance that a load of pollen, if kept, will 

 often, as Mr. Macdonald points out. change 

 color. On one occasion I took from a bee a 

 load of bright red pollen probably from a 

 pcLirsoiiiiiin. though I could not trace it). It 

 was kept in a drop of water on a glass slip 

 covered with a cover glass, and next day 

 was no longer red. but yellow. The sub- 

 stance producing the red color had either 

 evaporated or undergone some chemical 

 change. (The drop of water had naturally 

 dried up in the course of 24 hours.) 



Lost All Her Bees 



The reason you have not heard from 

 " Ima" for some time is that she lost 

 all her bees during the winter of 1911 - 

 12, and was unable to buy any near to 

 start over. However, I think this 

 spring I will buy several colonies, and 

 you will be hearing from me with a 

 tale of my experiences, for I expect 

 caring for the bees, and there is nothing 

 I like better than to write about them. 



John is trying to persuade me not to 

 get any more bees. He is still very 

 much afraid of them. " Im.\." 



I am sorry that you lost all your 

 bees, but glad that you have not lost 

 your interest in them, and hope you 

 may be very successful in getting that 

 new apiary started this spring. 



say I saw hundreds of cells with from 

 two to eight eggs in a cell. 



Later I looked into the hive and 

 those cells had just one grub in 

 a cell, and there were lots of cells 

 with several eggs in a cell ; even 

 the sides of some of the cells had eggs 

 on them. The swarm was very small 

 by this time, so I gave them hatching 

 brood from other hives. That queen 



Experience With Many Eggs in a Cell 



In the February issue of the Arneri- 

 can Bee Journal is an item entitled, 

 "Cause of Many Kggs in a Cell." 



In the spring of 1911 I had a swarm 

 of bees whose queen laid drone eggs. 

 I thought I would requeen the swarm, 

 but could not find the queen. I tore 

 the hive all apart, gave them a new 

 body, looked the frames over very 

 carefully, and shook the bees in front 

 and watched them crawl in. I went 

 back the next day and tried to find her, 

 but could not. 



Thinking that she was dead, I put in 

 a caged queen. After leaving them 

 alone for three days I went back and 

 found the new queen dead. I opened 

 the hive, and on the first frame I took 

 out I found the old queen. I shut the 

 hive up with disgust, and did not go 

 near it for 10 days. I then found sev- 

 eral queen-cells and more started from 

 drone eggs. What became of that old 

 queen I never knew. In another hive 

 I had a good queen-cell. I gave it to 

 them. In two days it hatched, and 10 

 days later I noticed that the queen was 

 fecundated. In due time I saw worker 

 brood capped over, and I can safely 



laid several eggs in each cell until the 

 swarm was strong in bees. That was 

 one of my best swarms in 1912. 



(Mrs.) a. a. Good. 



Lakewood, Wash. 



This is a plain case of plurality of 

 eggs in a cell because there was a pro- 

 lific queen with too few bees to take 

 care of all the eggs she could lay; just 

 what usually happens in such a case. 



Another View of Mrs. S( h.midt's Ai-i.-^rv. 



E^ Western ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by W'ESLEV Foster. Boulder, Colo. 



Bee-Keeping Upon the Divide South of 

 Denver 



There are many more counties in 

 Colorado where bees assume an im- 

 portant role than bee-keepers realize. 

 Upon the divide, south and east of 

 Denver, is a beautiful country (for the 

 plains) at an elevation of from 6000 to 

 7000 feet. This country, slightly roll- 

 ing, has quite a little timber and a more 

 abundant rainfall than the lower plains 

 to the east. The Demonstration train 

 made three stops — Elbert. Elizabeth, 

 and Eastonville. Alfalfa is grown 

 without irrigation, and produces con- 

 siderable white honey. Sweet clover 

 helps out more than it is given credit. 

 The bees undoubtedly gather consider- 

 able honey from the wild-flower bloom 

 in the neighboring hills. 



Swarming is prevalent from May to 

 September, and the farmers get little 

 honey. "The yellow jackets get rid of 

 the bees," they tell me, but I am of the 

 opinion that the yellow jackets get rid 

 of only those colonies that have 

 swarmed themselves to weakness and 

 late swarms that are so weak that they 

 do not get honey in sufficient quantity 



to winter. A handful of bees issuing 

 as a swarm in September is not an un- 

 common occurrence. What can be 

 expected of such a colony ? 



Nearly every farmer has a few hives, 

 and those who give them care are get- 

 ting fair returns. The local market is 

 not supplied except by honey from the 

 heavier producing districts. 



From my present knowledge of the 

 markets, I believe that Colorado could 

 consume a much larger percentage of 

 our total crop than at present. The 

 higher price obtainable in the eastern 

 markets determines where the honey 

 will go. Colorado markets are now 

 comparatively destitute of comb honey. 

 If some of the honey that has been 

 shipped East was now available for the 

 home market, a better price would be 

 realized than was had the past fall. 

 Bee-men want the money for their 

 honey, and the local dealers will not 

 buy the year's supply of honey out- 

 right, so the honey goes East. 



It is possible that I may be a little 

 hasty in saying that the comb-honey 

 market is cleaned up in the West, but 

 I do not know of any quantities at 

 hand, and I do know that some fair 



