January 



American "Bee Jonrnal 



Far Western <^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. 



Improvement in Bees 



The problem before the queen-breed- 

 er during the ne.xt half century will 

 probably be very similar to that which 

 confronted the inventors of the steam 

 engine. The inventors could not find 

 mechanics skillful enough to grind 

 piston-heads so true that they would 

 not leak steam under great pressure. 

 One of the inventors — I can not recall 

 his name — said that he would have to 

 train men so they could do this most 

 accurate work. This is our great need 

 today in advancing bee-culture, and 

 especially in developing a better race 

 of bees. It is a question, not of 10 

 years or 20 years, but probably of .50 

 years and upward, before any really 

 tangible results can be secured ; and 

 then, again, a great many of the prob- 

 lems to be met may be mastered much 

 sooner. 



What we need is a corps of trained 

 men with all the time they need to 

 carry on these queen-breeding experi- 

 ments. The United States Government 

 at the present time is carrying on 

 horse-breeding experiments, with the 

 view of establishing a standard horse 

 for use in the army. Success has not 

 been fully attained, but a great deal 

 has already been accomplished. I would 

 be glad to see the men interested in 

 the breeding of better bees get together 

 and formulate a systematic campaign. 

 We should be able to get a score of 

 men in the United States to make % 

 thorough study of this question. I feel 

 sure that many isolated locations can 

 be easily found for the experiments. 

 However, this field is so large that no 

 one individual, or probably dozen in- 

 dividuals, could successfully carry on 

 the work for the time necessary with- 

 out the co-operation and assistance of 

 the entire bee-keeping fraternity. We 

 must admit that at the present time 

 our results are practically nt/, and that 

 this question will have to be approached 

 as if nothing had been achieved. 



Do Bees Facilitate the Fertilization of 

 Alfalfa Honey? 



A few days ago I was talking to Mr. 

 P. K. Blin'n, of Rocky Ford, Colo., 

 alfalfa specialist for the Colorado Ex- 

 periment Station. Mr. Blinn told me 

 that he did not think the honey-bee 

 brought about the fertilization of the 

 alfalfa, because he had watched them 

 working on the alfalfa a great deal, 

 and had never seen them spring the 

 trap to the bloom which causes the 

 pollen to be dusted over the insect. 

 Mr. Blinn said that he had seen one 

 kind of wild bee spring these little 

 traps provided by the bloom. 



This is an item that would be inter- 

 esting for the bee-keepers to look out 

 for when alfalfa blooms again. I have 

 taken the blossoms, and with but a 



slight touch of the finger, would re 

 lease the stamens and cause the shower 

 of pollen to be dusted into the flower. 

 The more mature the bloom, the easier 

 the trap is sprung, and I am of the 

 opinion that when the blossom be- 

 comes sufficiently matured the honey- 

 bee will spring these traps, though I 

 have never seen this done while tlie 

 bee was sucking nectar. 



The Italians' Resistance to Foul Brood 



The statement is made (page 320, 

 November, 1911) that the Italian bees 

 resist foul brood because they are vig- 

 orous. I should like to know in what 

 manner the disease is resisted. Are the 

 young larvae so vigorous that they can 

 be fed infected honey without harm ? 

 Or is it because of the vigorous Ital- 

 ians cleaning out the dead larvae as 

 soon as they die ? Here in our coun- 

 try we rarely see any black bees — our 

 bees are mostly pure Italian. We have 

 some Caucasians and some Carniolans, 

 but so far as one race of bees being 

 more resistant to foul brood than an- 

 other, I have never observed it. If 

 Italians are less liable to contract foul 

 brood than black bees, it might be be- 

 cause they are less disposed to rob. I 

 can not bring myself to believe that 

 the larvae of Italian bees are more vig- 

 orous and can be fed infected honey 

 without disastrous results. 



Bee-Inspection 



Colorado, at the present time, has 15 

 or 1(3 county bee-inspectors. During 

 1911 about 20,000 colonies of bees were 

 inspected at a cost to the counties and 

 State of nearly $2500. About 1.500 colo- 

 nies were found diseased, 300 of which 

 were destroyed. Mesa county has had 

 the most inspection work done, 240 

 apiaries being inspected, and almost 

 8000 colonies were in these apiaries, all 

 of which were inspected twice, and 

 some three times. 



Four years ago. when Mr. Harkle- 

 road, the inspector, began work 14 per- 

 cent of the bees were found diseased. 

 Last year less than 4 percent were 

 found diseased, and this year less than 

 2 percent. There is no other county 

 in the State where foul brood exists 

 where the disease is so well under con- 

 trol. 



I will have more to say about this 

 inspection when the reports are all in 

 for the year's work. 



A Fremont County Bee-Meeting 



Monday morning, Sept. 11, Dr. Phil- 

 lips and the writer reached Canon City, 

 in Fremont county. A week of bee- 

 meetings on the Western Slope had 

 just ended ; Canon City was to be the 

 last on Dr. Phillips Colorado itinerary. 



Mr. F. W. Brainard, the County Inspec 

 tor, met us at the train, and although 

 he had never met either of us, he said 

 that he had studied my photo in Ranch 

 and Range, and felt safe in picking out 

 the blackest headed man who stepped 

 off the train. Mr. Brainard is a bee- 

 keeper and fruit-grower. He owns and 

 operates between 100 and 200 colonies, 

 and has done excellent work as an in- 

 spector. He considers it an inspec- 

 tor's duty to instruct the bee-keepers 

 in the care of foul brood, and also to 

 bring the fruit-men to a realization of 

 the bees' mission to the fruit industry. 



Mr. Brainard has had some very in- 

 teresting experiences in stopping 

 spraying during fruit-bloom. He has 

 taken the agitation up on the floor of 

 the fruit-growers' meetings, and has 

 also gone out in the orchards when he 

 heard that any one was spraying before 

 the falling of the petals. 



Fremont county is one of the largest 

 fruit counties of the State, having 

 shipped over 1000 cars of apples during 

 the past season. The bee-keepers of 

 the county are a most enthusiastic lot — 

 keenness for the most modern methods 

 of production being shown by the 

 larger number. There are in the neigh- 

 borhood of 150 bee-keepers in the 

 county. 



Our visit happened to be right in the 

 rush season of the year, so that only 

 about 15 were out to the meeting. We 

 met in Mr. Babberger's photograph 

 studio, Mr. Babberger being also a 

 most enthusiastic owner of about 70 

 colonies of bees. This combination of 

 "artistic" pursuits was the cause of an 

 amusing incident which occurred dur- 

 ing the greetings and introductions of 

 the gathering brother bee-keepers. One 

 gentleman appearing at the door who 

 was seized and introduced to the com- 

 pany, bore a slightly puzzled expres- 

 sion, and when asked where his bees 

 were located, replied that he kept no 

 bees, but had come in to see about 

 photographs I 



Mr. Babberger had a beautiful display 

 of comb honey in tall plain sections, 

 arranged as indicative of his twin pur- 

 suits, though the other bee-keepers did 

 not seem to favor the preference shown 

 for the Danzenbaker hive and tall sec- 

 tion. 



Dr. Phillips told of the methods of 

 treating foul brood, and discussion of 

 the various phases of the foul-brood 

 situation was continued for over an 

 hour. 



The price of honey in Fremont 

 county has not been good on account 

 of the large number of small producers 

 who bring in the honey in almost any 

 shape and accept in trade what the 

 grocer will allow. Those present dis- 

 cussed the price situation, and came to 

 a better understanding of \vhat should 

 be a uniform price. Several had re- 

 ceived very satisfactory returns from 

 honey consigned to Denver commis- 

 sion houses. 



The foul brood situation in Fremont 

 county is in rather poor shape. Mr. 

 Brainard has inspected something over 

 a hundred apiaries, and has found over 

 200 colonies diseased out of about 1000 

 inspected. Jf Mr. Brainard had been 

 inspector there for several years past, 

 conditions would be different. 



