1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



21 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 

 THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster. 



Every one just now is preparing for a merry 

 Christmas and a new year of happiness. What 

 we prepare for we get, especially if we prepare it 

 for another's benefit, and so millions of us will 

 find this holiday season the richest of the year. 

 The only trouble is we think of the new year as 

 being only one day instead of 365. Let's plan 

 for a happy new year clear up to December 31, 

 1909, and by that time we shall have acquired 

 the habit of happiness and helpfulne s which 

 will qualify us for A. L Root's Century Club. 



THE ST.ATE CONVENTION. 



The convention of the State Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation provided a rich harvest for the many who 

 attended, and the friendship of the craft was once 

 more in evidence. I shall have a little to say of 

 some of the discussions in later issues as well as 

 in this paper. 



WINTERING CONDITIONS. 



Northern Colorado apiaries are going to re- 

 cord considerable loss this winter, caused by the 

 poor quality of the stores in the hives The pro- 

 longed cold weather has also made it hard for the 

 bees to hold up. 



The snowfall in the mountains has been plenti- 

 ful, and water for the coming season is practical- 

 ly assured. 



* 



OVERSTOCKING OR UNDERSTOCKING. 



At the State convention Mr. W. C. Dyer said 

 that he believed there was as much danger from 

 understocking a location as from overstocking. 

 He claims that, if the nectar remains in the flow- 

 er, and is not gathered by the bees or other in- 

 sects, it will dry down to a hard scale, and so 

 stop further secretion in the blossom; but if there 

 are sufficient bees, the flower secretes nectar for 

 several days. 



Mr. Frank Rauchfuss corroborated Mr. Dyer 

 by saying that the fuchsia, when kept in the 

 house, will show the scales of the dried-up nec- 

 tar. The trouble from overstocking in the West 

 seems to be more a lack of pollen than of nectar; 

 and in many localities it is a very serious prob- 

 lem; so, after all, we can not cover the earth with 

 bees as some of us would like. 



A GOOD DISPLAY-CASE FOR COMB-HONEY. 



A grocer who buys honey in double-tier cases 

 showed me a glass front or glass back which he 

 puts on each one of his cases of comb honey. 

 Instead of removing the top he takes off the back 

 and tacks his glass door on in its place. This 

 door is fitted with two spring hinges at the bot- 

 tom so that it will close itself when let go. 

 There are three very great advantages in this dis- 

 play-case. First, by placing the case in the 

 show-window the original face shows on the out- 

 side, while the new face or rear displays the honey 

 to the customers in the store. Second, every 

 grocer who is doing a good business has need of 



all available space; and in half of the stores I vis- 

 it, some other goods, usually jars of extracted 

 honey, are piled on the lid of the case of comb 

 honey. This glass door on the back leaves the 

 top unmolested. Third, the door closes itself, 

 and so keeps out all dust and dirt. The idea was 

 copied from the glass face which is used on 

 boxes of crackers. 



« 



AGE DETERIORATES HONEY. 



Mr. Frank Rauchfuss showed some comb 

 honey at the bee convention, which was three 

 years old. It had candied and liquefied several 

 times, and the comb was but slightly cracked. 

 The honey was liquid, but it had lost all of its 

 original honey flavor, and was thick like taffy. 

 Mr. Rauchfuss said that it could no longer be 

 considered as honey. All the water, apparently, 

 had left the honey, and nothing but a sticky 

 syrup was left. A brick of candied honey also 

 was shown which had shrunk considerably, but 

 was still in the candied form. 



The editor says the honey illustrated on page 

 1437, Dec. 1, Gleanings, is in a remarkable state 

 of preservation. The wax may still be as pretty 

 as ever, but the honey, if twelve years old, cer- 

 tainly would never be recognized as honey if it 

 could be tasted separately from the comb. Do 

 you know for sure, Bro. Root, that the honey 

 possesses the qualities of a fresh well-ripened 

 article.? 



A year ago I experimented somewhat with 

 liquefying candied comb honey. I used the 

 warming oven of the kitchen-range, and I not on- 

 ly liquefied the comb honey without melting the 

 comb, but in addition 1 got the honey rather 

 thick and sticky. More of the water was driven 

 off than was good for the honey. The prolonged 

 heat does this, and for this reason the liquefying 

 of candied comb honey will never be a very great 

 success. Evaporated or condensed honey in 

 comb is what you will get. 



[Honey would evaporate more in a Colorado 

 climate than in the East, generally. The pre- 

 sumption is that a twelve- year-old Colorado 

 honey would be very different from an Eastern 

 twelve-year-old honey. With regard to the hon- 

 ey spoken of on p. 1437, we know no more than 

 is there stated. — Ed.] 



FARMERS'-INSTITUTE LECTURES. 



Mr. W. P. Collins, in his lecture on " Bees 

 for Profit," takes up and covers briefly all the 

 points in scientific bee culture, such as, hive to 

 use, best breeds of bees, location of apiaries, bee- 

 diseases, production of comb and extracted honey, 

 packing and grading honey, selling and market- 

 ing honey, the value of co-operation in buying 

 supplies and selling honey. 



Mr. Collins lectures at the following institutes 

 conducted by the Agricultural College. Any 

 one within hearing distance will profit by listen- 

 ing to Brother Collins and talking with him per- 

 sonally: 



Rifle and Coburn, Dec. 14-19; Delta and 

 Hotchkiss, Jan. 4-9; Montrose and Oloathe, 

 Jan. 11-16; Grand Junction and New Castle, 

 Jan. 25-30; Rocky Ford and Canon City, Feb. 

 1-6. 



