526 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 1 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 

 THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



Cleome has been more plentiful this year 

 than for several seasons, and the bees have 

 secured quite a little honey from it. 

 4?- 



THE HONEY CROP. 



The second growth of alfalfa has not yield- 

 ed nectar as was expected, and the crop in 

 many districts will not be very satisfactory. 

 Cool weather in July shut down work for a 

 week or two, and the flow has not started to 

 any great extent since. The grasshoppers 

 have cut into the alfalfa-fields in many places; 

 but the principal trouble is that there is 

 nothing m the bloom. The weather has 

 been favorable for several weeks, but with 

 indifferent results. One super to the hive, 

 I think, is a fair estimate for Northern Colo- 

 rado. There are a few places that have done 

 better than that, however. 



Comb honey is in fair demand when it is 

 remembered that this is a flush year for 

 fruit. Comb honey brings $2.75 to $3.50 in a 

 retail way. 



PROPOLIS IN SUPERS. 



I have often wondered why two bee-keep- 

 ers in the same locality have such different- 

 appearing lots of honey. One will be v/hite, 

 and sections almost unspotted, while the 

 other will be yellow and all varnished over 

 with propolis. Keeping the hives and frames 

 well scraped of propolis, and keeping this 

 propolis out of the reach of the bees is one 

 essential. Leaving the scrapings beside or 

 in front of the hive is almost as bad as leav- 

 ing them in the hive, for the bees will be 

 found working on those little bits, carrying 

 them back into the hives. The use of bur- 

 lap over the sections is another cause of yel- 

 low finish in the sections, and any propolis- 

 clogged burlap left in the apiary is worked 

 on hy the bees, and the propolis carried back 

 to discolor the comb. 



BAITS— WHERE SHOULD THEY BE IN THE SU- 

 PER? 



A bait is to coax the bees to store honey 

 in the super before the lower hive is so 

 crowded that they are forced to move up- 

 ward. The thing desired is to get the bees 

 at work carrying the honey in the brood-nest 

 upstairs. The baits placed in the center of 

 the super are more quickly occupied by a 

 good force of bees than those placed in the 

 corners. If the bees start with a rush, the 

 speed with which they carry in the honey 

 will fill the super clear to the edges and cor- 

 ners before they think of finding a place for 

 the honey more nearly over the brood. If 

 the flow is good, bees are not in a mood to 

 leave the corners unfinished. But the flow 

 in the best of seasons is not good all the 

 time; and if one has enough baits it is well 

 to put one in each corner with one or two in 

 the center. 



Baits — that is, empty sections of comb from 

 the previous year — should be used only the 

 first of the season; for if coaxing is needed 

 later with some hives, unfinished sections 

 can be taken from others. In taking off hon- 

 ey one always has some that are not finish- 

 ed; and it is folly to have a super on till ev- 

 ery cell clear to the corners is capped if the 

 flow is at all slow. In a fast flow the bees 

 will finish it complete, any way. 



I would say, put what few baits are to be 

 used in the center, unless you are convinced 

 that they will be occupied just as quickly if 

 put in the corners. 



CHEAP SHIPPING-CASES WITHOUT GLASS. 



I agree with Mr. Crane, page 467, that a 

 shipping-case is to carry honey safely to the 

 retailer; and I also think it is asking too much 

 to require the bee-keeper to furnish a show- 

 case with every two or three dollars' worth 

 of honey. 



The original incentive to put up comb hon- 

 ey in glass cases came, I suppose, from the 

 fact that dealers were slow in stocking their 

 stores with honey, for they said, and still 

 say, "Oh! I have no place to put|it, and it 

 leaks, sticking every thing up, and the ants 

 can not be kept out of it." 



For this reason the producer had to put his 

 honey in a case where it would be protected 

 from dust, ants, etc., and be tight, so no drip 

 would leak out. By doing this the retailer 

 was willing to carry honey in stock, so now 

 it has become a habit with most of us. If 

 Mr. Cranecan sell more honey without glass 

 in his cases, I say "Good!" If I could sell 

 mine as well I would not use glass either. 



I know that a pyramid of comb honey on 

 the counter, with attractive pricemarks, will 

 outsell any glass-front case, single or double 

 tier, of wood or corrugated board. Comb 

 honey put up in transparent paper wrappers 

 would sell almost as fast, for the honey would 

 be quite visible. Pasteboard cartons do not 

 go in this market at all. They might if peo- 

 ple were accustomed to them. 



A rough board case could be made of cheap 

 lumber for 8 or 10 cts. that would carry the 

 honey just as well as the planed wood cases. 

 Large display labels could be pasted on the 

 outside to make for attractiveness and adver- 

 tise the goods. These cases would have to 

 be crated for express or local freight ship- 

 ments, but I think they would cost about 

 half what the corrugated-paper cases do, and 

 would look better and make a safer pile in 

 the warehouse. 



Say, Mr. Crane, if we can get comb honey 

 to the retailer in good shape, and then per- 

 suade him to display it in a prominent place, 

 we can dispense with glass-front cases; but 

 till we can interest the grocer in the goods 

 he will expect us to do all the advertising 

 and display, and he will take the profit. I 

 believe a case costing not over ten cents can 

 be made that will carry honey as safely as 

 any now in use. When a market is develop- 

 ed that will pay as well for the unglassed 

 honey as for that with glass we shall be ef- 

 fecting a big saving for ihe producer. 



