GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping Among the Kockie: 



"esley Foster, Boulder, Colorado. 



1 mentioned in a former issue 

 that bees should winter well. This 

 is rather too optimistic a view, 

 although the winter so far has 

 been very favorable. The bees 

 throughout the state did not breed 

 very well in the fall. Some are 

 rather short of stores; and in Boulder Co. 

 the honey from the horsemint has apparent- 

 ly not helped wintering conditions in the 

 least. The loss in some districts is likely to 

 run up to 25 per cent. I expect a loss of 

 15 per cent any way. 



The beekeepers of Colorado are going to 

 turn out in force for the National conven- 

 tion. The committees working on local ar- 

 rangements are meeting with gratifying 

 success. When you come to Denver you will 

 be surprised at the size, enthusiasm, and 

 hospitality of this convention. You will be 

 met at Union station by autos and taken to 

 convention headquarters in the Auditorium 

 Hotel. You will be greeted by specialists, 

 amateurs, and enthusiasts alike. You will 

 be banqueted, lunched, and entertained. 

 You will gain ideas worth dollars, gauged 

 either in hundreds or thousands according 

 to the size of your beekeeping operations. 



SUGAR BEETS AND SUGAR. 



The editor says on p. 965, Dec. 15, 1914, 

 that sugar is almost sure to remain high in 

 price. This will doubtless be the case; but 

 he goes on to say that there will be no beet 

 sugar raised for two or three years. As 

 Colorado is the largest producer of beet 

 sugar of any of the states, I think that 

 statement is entirely too strong. The sugar 

 companies are making plans for this year, 

 any way, and the farmers seem to be far 

 more exei'cised over a desire for a higher 

 price for their beets than from a fear for 

 lack of seed. I understand that there is 

 seed enough on hand for this year already 

 for planting. 



XET-WEIGHT STAMP FOR SECTION HONEY. 



A rubber stamp, much more attractive for 

 stamping comb honey, can be made by 

 having the lettering placed within an oval 

 border. The words " Net weight not less 

 than " should run around the inner border 

 at the top, the weight in ounces spelled out, 

 running through the center, and the bee- 



keeper's name and address or number 

 around the lower side of the oval border. 

 I have seen stamps made on this design, and 

 they are a great improvement over the 

 ordinary stamp now in use. 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN OP INCREASE. 



It is not always safe for a man as young 

 as I am to call in question statements made 

 by a man of the experience of Dr. Miller; 

 but I cannot refrain from protesting the 

 accuracy of his statements regarding the 

 Alexander plan of increase. 



I will not trespass on Dr. Miller's white- 

 clover territory, for he knows more i^bout 

 that than I do ; but when he states that he 

 does not believe the surplus crop of honey 

 can be increased in one place in a thousand 

 he invades my territory. If he will make 

 his question to read, " What honey-producer 

 increases his crop of white sweet clover and 

 alfalfa each year by dividing liis colonies 

 before the white-honey harvest"? " I will give 

 my name as doing it four times out of five; 

 and I will state that I believe seven out of 

 every ten honey-producers of the alfalfa- 

 sweet-clover districts of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain region who practice the Alexander 

 method or modification of it have profitable 

 results. The percentage of successes would 

 be larger if it were not for the fact that so 

 many of our alfalfa locations are destitute 

 of early pollen sources so that it is simply 

 impossible to breed up much until June. 



This matter of dividing in early June or 

 late May, according to the season and loca- 

 tion, is one of the points that should be 

 pushed among western beemen, although 

 they are learning very fast. If increase is 

 not desired, the bees may be united in the 

 fall, and the united colonies wintered in 

 two-story hives. 



Dr. Miller has, however, defined the limits 

 of the use of the Alexander plan very well. 

 Here in the West we have an early flow 

 from wild flowers, fruit-bloom, etc., that 

 prepares the bees for swarming in many 

 instances before alfalfa blooms in June. By 

 dividing the force of bees each colony may 

 be steadily built up during June; and in 

 July and August, when the main surplus 

 comes from sweet clover and alfalfa, the 

 two colonies made from one, a la Alexander, 

 are both ready to store surplus, and they do 

 too. J. C^. Brown has also called in ques- 

 tion Dr. jMiller's two statements. But then, 

 we are both young men. 



