1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



333 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 

 THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



HIVE-SIDES OF TWO PIECES. 



I notice the business manager says that, in fu- 

 ture, hive-sides will be of two pieces to get clear 

 lumber. With the sun as it shines out here, I 

 am wondering what the effect will be. It is im- 

 possible to keep two boards true with each other, 

 no matter what the joint. A few knots would be 

 preferable to two-piecesides, I should think. We 

 will wait and see. 



4?- 



COVERS. 



Seldom do I see a wood cover that will keep 

 the sections absolutely dry. A new Colorado 

 cover with inner cover will do it, but two or three 

 seasons will loosen things so a driving storm will 

 force enough water through to wet the sections. 

 The honey-board or inner cover with the Colo- 

 rado cover does well; but the only safe cover for 

 comb-honey producers is the tin cover with inner 

 cover. Many times I see berries in mildewed 

 boxes, but I never like to buy them. I am al- 

 ways looking for molded berries in these boxes, 

 and sometimes they are found. A mildewed sec- 

 tion or one badly stained is just as bad, and 

 should never be found in the No. 1 grades. 



The grading of our comb-honey crop begins 

 when we fold and starter the sections, and con- 

 tinues through every operation, from piling in 

 the stack of supers, hauling to the bee-yards, 

 down to nailing on the cover of the finished case 

 of comb honey. 



To insure proper filling, a starter running clear 

 across the top and bottom should be used. The 

 bottom starter should not be over half an inch 

 wide, so as not to bend over. Have the top start- 

 er as wide as can he afforded, and see that the 

 ridge of wax runs along the whole length of the 

 joint of the foundation with the wood. This is 

 the only sure way of knowing that the starter is 

 fastened. 



S.AVING WEAK COLONIES. 



Dandelions are helping out in the way of pol- 

 len very plentifully this year, and we never have 

 too much pollen in this country. 



Old bees have been all our hives afforded, and 

 the cold l:ite spring has retarded brood-rearing so 

 that a high percentage of the bees are yery weak. 

 The lack of a fall flow prevented the bees from 

 breeding late in 1908, and that caused some of 

 the trouble. 



Mr. Harry Crawford, of Broomfield, has suc- 

 ceeded in building up these weak colonies, even 

 when there were but a few hundred bees, by tak- 

 ing frames ef bees from a strong colony and shak- 

 ing at the entrance of the weak one. The young 

 bees run in and are accepted, and do not kill the 

 queen while the old bcs return to their hive. If 

 this is done on a cold or cloudy day the old bees 

 are likely to enter and kill the queen Fifty or 

 more hives were so treated and saved from com- 



plete loss, and Mr. Crawford considers it a very 

 profitable move. This would not work if the 

 queen were inferior; but conditions this spring 

 are not the fault of the queens. 



For the last five years very little honey has 

 been stored from the first bloom of alfalfa. Be- 

 fore that it was common to have the flow begin 

 June 1 to 10. Now it begins from June 15 to 

 July 1. For several seasons our springs have 

 been very backward, and then the alfalfa is not 

 making such a luxuriant growth, and is cut soon- 

 er. If some comb honey can be taken off July 4 

 we are glad. This spring has been very back- 

 ward, and an early surplus is hardly to be expect- 

 ed. 



THE PREMIUM JAR. 



The objection to the Mason jar for honey is 

 that the cap will not hold the honey. When the 

 jar is tipped, some of the honey follows the thread 

 downward and comes out where the cap and rub- 

 ber press against the jar. No matter how tightly 

 the cap is screwed on, the honey will leak out. 



The Premium jar doubtless remedies this fault. 

 There are some objections to it, however. First, 

 the cost is from 75 to 100 per cent higher than 

 the Mason jar. Tke pint Mason jars cost here 

 from 40 to 60 cts. p»r dozen, while the Premium 

 jar (pint) costs 80 cts. per doxen, or 72 in gross 

 lots. Tke glass cap is oot the best thing for 

 shipping, though with a well-made case it would 

 ship safely. 



Another objection is, the jar looks smaller be- 

 cause of the diameter being great and the height 

 small. I do like the straight sides of the jar; and 

 if it were tall and thinner it would sell better 

 with honey in, but would not be so serviceable 

 for fruit. 



PACKING FRUIT AND HONEY. 



Observation of the latest methods of packing 

 fruit will convince one of the benefit of packing 

 honey in the same careful way. Apples are put 

 in boxes lined with paper, and many are wrapped 

 with paper, packed in tiers, and counted. This 

 tiering and counting makes it necessary to sort 

 very carefully as to the size and shape of each 

 apple. This does away with all facing, and is 

 the only just way of packing for the trade. 



Fruit-dealers are the largest handlers of honey, 

 and the honey producer who grades and packs 

 with equal care will not be forgotten when hon- 

 ey is wanted. We will get around to wrapping 

 our comb honey before long, I believe; and by 

 having a definite lim-t to the weight, color, and 

 filling of each comb in a grade we shall get an 

 even pack and put out a product so that the re- 

 tailer can feel assured of a profit. The piling in- 

 to a barrel of all sizes of apples, ill-shaped ones 

 with fine smooth ones, is bound to go, and the 

 same is true of ihe packing of comb honey. 

 There should not be over ten per cent variation 

 in the combs (color, weight, and filling consid- 

 ered) in a given shipping grade. 



If you buy second-hand cases for comb honey, 

 you should sandpaper them thoroughly, and even 

 then they should not be used for No. 1 grades. 

 A second-iiand case of honey looks as if it had 

 been packed a long time, and does not invite the 

 buyer. 



