750 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 1 



Bee-keeping Among The 

 Rockies 



By Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colo. 



Comb honey, even though firmly attach- 

 ed to the wood on all four sides, will break 

 out considerably in shipment unless the 

 cells next the wood are all filled with honey. 

 It is not necessary that the cells be sealed, 

 which would, however, give added strength; 

 but it is important that sections shipped in 

 cold weather should have honey in the out- 

 side cells. I have had a good many combs 

 break out that were attached to all four sides, 

 some of it when being shipped less than 

 fifty miles, and packed in carriers with straw 

 beneath and all around. Comb honey cer- 

 tainly breaks out easily in cold weather, or 

 the freight-handlers drop the crates very 

 heavily. Both conditions are doubtless 

 true. 



WAENING TO FREIGHT-HANDLERS. 



I have just barely noticed the small stamp- 

 ed words on the top of cases of comb and 

 extracted honey, " Fragile, handle with care 

 — this side up." Now, these words should 

 be printed on papers about six by eight 

 inches, with a red border, and in red ink; 

 then when these are pasted on the top of a 

 case of comb or extracted honey the freight- 

 handlers will see it any way, and will be 

 more apt to think they are handling glass- 

 ware, nitro-glycerine, giant powder, or some 

 such article that has to be carefully dealt 

 with. Honey in 60-lb. cans should have 

 the cases bound with strap iron if the hon- 

 ey is liquid. This will prevent the mash- 

 ing of the case and consequent bursting of 

 the can. A cleat on the ends of the 60-lb. 

 can-cases gives a much better hold than the 

 sawed-in hand-hole. The case is not so li- 

 able to be dropped because of the fingers los- 

 ing their grip on the case. 



AMOUNT OF HONEY SOLD IN BOULDER. 



One grocer in Boulder in the past two 

 months has sold one case of comb honey 

 and one dozen pint jars of extracted; this is 

 the lowest record for Boulder that I know 

 of. The largest sale in the same time was 

 about fifteen cases of comb and 400 pounds 

 of extracted put up in pint, quart, and two- 

 quart Mason jars. Boulder has about 25 

 stores, and these have used between 150 and 

 200 cases of comb honey, and perhaps a ton 

 of extracted. This is between six and seven 

 thousand pounds of honey for a city of twelve 

 thousand people in two months — half a 

 pound for each person in two months. This 

 seems low, but I doubt whether there are 

 many cities the size of Boulder, or any size 

 for that matter, that can show such a rec- 

 ord, especially when comb honey retails 

 from llyi to 25 cts. per section, and pint 

 Jars of extracted bring 25 to .'>0 cts. each. 



When we have a good crop, and the quality i| 

 is fine, the stores have handled two and ^ 

 three times this amount in the same time. 

 At such times comb honey sells for 12>^ to 

 15 cts. retail. 



BEE-KEEPING AND HOMESTEADING. 



Several bee-keepers in the East and mid- 

 dle-western States have written me asking 

 if homestead land might be secured in lo- 

 calities where bees could be profitably kept. 

 Their idea was to have the bees make honey 

 and pay expenses while they were getting 

 the new land in a crop-bearing condition. 

 There are several ways of securing govern- 

 ment land. It may be had under the desert- 

 land act, which does not require residence 

 upon the land, but requires $1.25 per acre of 

 improvement each year: 320 acres may be 

 taken under this act, and the final proof 

 may be made and a deed secured as soon 

 as water is placed on the land for irrigation. 

 Twenty per cent of the land must be irri- 

 gated before the final proof may be made. 

 There is considerable of this land still to be 

 had, but the chances for getting water on it 

 are rather slim in many of the districts where 

 there is land still untaken. On all such 

 land, even where water is put on soon after 

 filing, several years will pass before sufficient 

 alfalfa is in bloom to furnish the bees any 

 forage. However, one might hold this des- 

 ert land and live in the older-settled irrigat- 

 ed districts ten, fifteen, or twenty miles dis- 

 tant from the desert claim. 



One could doubtless get homestead land 

 within ten or fifteen miles of good bee loca- 

 tions, and live on the homestead and drive 

 that distance to care for the bees. But I 

 would not encourage any one to look for a 

 homestead where bees could not be kept from 

 the start. The land to be taken under the 

 homestead and desert-claim acts is worth 

 taking up, I feel sure, for land is rising in 

 value, and the progress of irrigation is rap- 

 id. Furthermore, dry farming is making 

 rapid strides; it makes one wonder why any 

 one irrigates at all to see some of the dry- 

 farm crops exhibited at the fairs. 



I would never discourage any one from 

 coming into any of the Western States and 

 getting land; but good judgment is needed 

 here as well as in any place, as we have our 

 full quota of worthless tracts, and sharks 

 who are willing to sell them at a fancy price. 



The Slate maintains an immigration bu- 

 reau that will gladly furnish reliable infor- 

 mation on any i^art of Colorado. If any 

 one intends to move or is interested in the 

 West he should write to the Colorado Immi- 

 gration Bureau, State Capitol, Denver, Col- 

 orado. 



will salt air affect the bees? There are no bees 

 on this island (Martha's Vineyard). I do not know 

 why. The island has 30,000 acres, 



North Tisbury, Mass. F. B. Fenner. 



[It has never been observed that salt air, so call- 

 ed, in the vicinity of salt water, has had any delete- 

 rious effect upon bees. We know of no reason why 

 it should.— Ed.] 



