1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



725 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 



THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



prices of honey. 



Since the bulk of the comb-honey crop has 

 been shipped out of the West, there has 

 been a pronounced advance in price. The 

 demand for white comb honey in car lots 

 can not be supplied, as there are no locali- 

 ties now where as much as a car can be got 

 together. The small amounts of honey scat- 

 tered throughout the honey districts will 

 soon be absorbed by the local markets or by 

 local shipments to eastern and middle-west 

 points. Comb-honey brings around $3.00 

 per case; somewhat above for choice stock, 

 and under $3 00 for second grade. These 

 are the prices grocers pay, while jobbers 

 are not buying any to speak of unless at 

 about §2.25 to §2.50 per case. The market 

 in many Colorado towns has been hurt by 

 farmer bee-keepers bringing their honey to 

 the grocers and taking whatever they will 

 give. One man sold ten cases of nice white 

 comb honey at §1.75 per case because he had 

 hauled it around town all day and did not 

 want to haul it home His price when he 

 came into town was §2.75. 



Extracted honey is in good demand, and 

 brings 7 to 8 cts. if white and in new cans-. 

 Dealers do not pay this, however. 



COLORADO BEE CONVENTION. 



•There are two things wrong with our State 

 association — oi', at any rate, two that can be 

 changed. First, the membership is away 

 below what it was several years ago, caused 

 by the loss of interest through poor seasons. 

 By effort and personal solicitation we can 

 again have several hundred live members 

 pushing the association's work, and attend- 

 ing the conventions. The second fault in 

 in our association work is that bee-keepers 

 who join get nothing except the satisfaction 

 of knowing they are helping to keep the as- 

 sociation alive. The association should car- 

 ry on a campaign of education along honey 

 and bee lines through the papers of the 

 State and by lectures and addresses by com- 

 petent men. What is encouraging to many 

 members is that what is hoped for does not 

 lie beyond reason. We can do a great ser- 

 vice to our State work with what we already 

 have. There are many members who are 

 anxious to see more done; and if a large at- 

 tendance can be secured at the convention 

 the start will be all the better. The time is 

 Dec. 7 and 8, and the place is the Senate 

 Chamber, State Capitol, Denver. 



IN THE SHOP. 



Our shop is now nearly empty of honey, 

 only a few culls remaining that are still un- 

 sold. The last of the No. 1 and 2 grades was 

 shipped early in October. The most of the 

 honey was No. 2 on account of color and fin- 



ish. The season was unsatisfactory, and 

 our crop was about one super to the hive. 

 There are, perhaps, sixty cases of culls or 

 No. 3 honey in double-tier cases that weigh 

 17 to 19 lbs. net. They bring $2.00 and $2,25 

 a case. I have not figured in cents; but 

 $2.75 would be close to the average price of 

 the No. 1 and 2 grades. One who has had 

 experience in grading honey and selling it 

 soon sees the advantage in grading close. 

 The regular grades are sold at a good price 

 without any quibble, and the culls find a 

 ready sale for as much per pound of honey 

 as the No. 1 and 2. 



We had about 900 cases of honey from a 

 little over 800 hives. The increase was 

 about 150, but that will not much more than 

 make up for the previous winter loss. 



Now that the bees are all prepared for 

 winter, the entrances contracted, covers 

 and bottom-boards fastened on, each yard 

 fenced off from cattle, there is no need to 

 visit the out-apiaries more than once a 

 month. 



With a good fire in the shop, supers can be 

 overhauled, separators and section-holders 

 scraped, sections folded and startered, and 

 any other work for next year's crop can be 

 done when it is disagreeable outside. The 

 foundation-starters work much better if the 

 room is warm; and then if the shop is a com- 

 fortable place to work there will be no good 

 excuse for loafing around the house. 



With twenty to thirty thousand sections to 

 fold and starter, and 1500 supers to be clean- 

 ed, filled, and repaired it will use up five or 

 six weeks very easily. There will be broken 

 tins, weak joints in supers, broken and 

 cracked section -holders and separators. 



Many of the supers are shallow on the bee- 

 space over the sections, caused by shrinkage 

 of the lumber in our climate. Several hun- 

 dred supers have an eighth-inch strip around 

 the top edge of the super to make a proper 

 bee-space. These supers were all right 

 when new. This is the best way we know 

 to make these shallow supers usable at all. 

 The strips have a tendency to split off when 

 prying the super loose from the cover. We 

 nail them on with a liberal supply of cement- 

 coated nails. 



The past season more supers were put on 

 the hives than got filled, so we have many 

 supers that are daubed, some with propolis, 

 and the section foundation gnawed by the 

 bees. The question often comes up as to 

 the amount of stain that will disqualify a sec- 

 tion for use a second season. When the sec- 

 tion is stained or mildewed enough to be 

 recognized as an old section after the honey 

 is finished, that section should have been 

 discarded. A few streaks along the edge 

 where the section and section-holder jom 

 will not matter much; but if the stain is 

 spread over the surface, or the section shows 

 mildew, the best mission for it is to kindle 

 the fire. A section may not seem badly 

 stained; but the bees will have another 

 chance to daub it next season, and the dis- 

 coloration from weathering is something also 

 to be considered. 



