1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



125 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 

 THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster. 



IMPORTATION OF HONEY (tHOMAS' WEEKLY RE- 

 VIEW'). 



From Dec. 17 to Jan. 21 honey came in at New 

 York to the extent of 2520 barrels, 236 casks, 

 and 290 tierces, amounting in all to over 1,500,000 

 pounds in seven weeks — an average of over a car- 

 load a day. This honey came from Cuba, Porto 

 Rico, and Mexico. Such importations certainly 

 affect the sale of honey from the Southern States 

 very much, and, to a considerable degree, the 

 honey market of the whole country. 



STIMULATION BY MOVING. 



I believe that bees are stimulated to work with 

 more energy, and raise more bees by being mov- 

 ed in the spring, for I have observed it in several 

 cases. 



In May, 1908, my' brother and I moved 103 

 colonies of bees about ten miles; and although 

 these particular bees were not above the others 

 in strength or stores they made almost twice the 

 surplus (which was not much) that our other yards 

 did. They got into the supers before the others 

 had commenced to cap any honey in the brood- 

 chambers. 



PURE-FOOD EXPOSITION. 



The Denver Retail Grocers' Association is en- 

 gineering a pure-food exposition to be held in 

 the Auditorium, the largest hall under roof in 

 the West. There are over one hundred exhibit- 

 ors, and great success is assured. The fair opens 

 Feb. 22, and continues for two weeks. There 

 are liberal rates on all the railroads. 



The Colorado Honey-producers' Association 

 has one of the best booths to be had; and if any 

 one wants to see honey given the advertising it 

 deserves, he'd better come and see what bee-keep- 

 ers can do in the way of an exhibit. 



A remark was made by Mr. Dyer, at the Col- 

 orada State bee convention that the work of the 

 Colorado Honey-producers' Association comes 

 out wherever bee-keepers get together. There is 

 not a doubt that the business done by the associ- 

 ation touches the bee-keepers more vitally, wheth- 

 er members or not, than any bee organization in 

 • the West. The association now has members 

 and customers in every western State where hon- 

 ey is produced. Five people are employed at the 

 store and office. Any one coming to Denver to 

 see the food show and exposition should drop in 

 and see them. 



HERMAN RAUCHFUSS. 



Herman Rauchfuss and I ate at the Manhattan 

 restaurant last night. Herman is my senior by 

 25 years, but for the sake of space and friendship 

 I will call him Herman. I want to show a little 

 of his personality, and also give some of his views 

 and experience along the bee-line. " Genial " is 

 the word that fits him best. He is a good friend 

 in that he likes to hear what you have to say, and 

 he is not holding his sleeves for fear some secret 

 will slip out. 



EARLY SPRING MANIPULATION NOT NECESSARY. 



Herman says a good hive of bees with plenty 

 of stores does not need to be looked at till the 

 first of June. That, if correct, would eliminate 

 artificial stimulation of brood in ihe spring, any 

 way. It has been his experience, within the last 

 few years, that a nucleus with a vigorous queen 

 is more valuable on the first of June than a hive 

 full of bees and honey. The surplus is gathered 

 here between July 10 and August 20, and for this 

 flow the nucleus will be in better condition than 

 the full colony which has filled up with honey in- 

 stead of bees. 



CAUCASIANS AVERAGE BETTER THAN THE ITAL- 

 IANS. 



He says that the Caucasian bee, without the 

 benefits of scientific culture and breeding, is su- 

 perior to any known race of bees, the Italians 

 not excepted. He has kept them since 1900, and 

 their record is a delight to hear. The first queens 

 that he received from Mr. Frank Benton were 

 not the equal of the Italians; but a little later he 

 got some more from him which have made good 

 records. These are the ones he now has. In the 

 spring of 1907 the bees were starving in several of 

 his yards, and he was feeding sugar. When he 

 came to the Caucasians, however, he found that 

 they were sealing honey in the brood-chambers. 

 The honey was of a reddish color — a honey he 

 had never seen before — and the source he does 

 not know. The Caucasians were storing this 

 honey in four yards where the other bees requir- 

 ed feed. 



The vitality of the bees and queens is remark- 

 able. Shipping through the mail, or confinement 

 in an observatory hive, seems to affect them very 

 little. An observatory hive was kept at the State 

 fair for two weeks, and not a dozen bees were 

 lost. He has kept virgin queens in mating-cages 

 for three weeks, and then had them fertilized. 



This can be partly explained by the fact that 

 they are not excitable, and are very quiet on the 

 combs. During manipulation they will not run 

 over the combs or out of the hive, and the loss 

 of honey from opening bees on a good honey day 

 is not noticeable with the Caucasians. 



The objection has been made that they collect 

 so much propolis. This is true; but the propolis 

 is not sticky, but more like putty, and is easily 

 scraped out of the way. In color it is a grayish 

 green. 



For winter these bees build an ingenious storm- 

 door of propolis. It is like a drift, shutting the 

 entrance and slopes back two or three inches 

 toward the center of the hive, extending up above 

 the ends of the frames. Through this drift are 

 small round holes for entrances. This scheme 

 keeps out mice and wind and snow. 



Caucasians do not soil the comb cappingswith 

 propolis, although they do use old comb in their 

 new work somewhat. These Caucasians are the 

 ones whose tongues Prof. Gillette measured, and 

 found longer than any he had ever before seen. 



In 1907 the Caucasians gave Herman an average 

 of seven supers of comb honey to the hive while 

 his others averaged only half as much. 



[Our experience with Caucasians, as has been 

 reported ift these columns, has not been very sat- 

 isfactory. — Ed.] 



