JANUARY 15, 1913 



49 



'^^.he^J&kS£ 



'*" fMw'i 



Fig. 1. — Robert Stites, of Colorado, preparing his winter cases. 



SOME BEEKEEPERS OF COLORADO 



BY WESLEY FO.STER 



Mr. Robert Stites is one of our newer 

 beekeepers in Colorado; but lie is going at 

 the business right, and we expect him to 

 make a success of it, as he already has in 

 the arrangement of a very neat apiary. He 

 lives but one or two miles from ]\Iontrose, 

 and liis apiaiy overlooks the Uncompahgre 

 Valley, gi^^ng• a beautiful view of this rich 

 agricultural and finiit section. We found 

 Mr. Stites at work upon his winter cases, 

 one of which is shown over the first hive in 

 Fig. 1. He lost most of his bees the winter 

 of 1911, and he does not expect to have 

 another like experience if i^reparation will 

 avoid it. The space between the hive and 

 the outer case he will pack with leaves, 

 chaff, etc. This winter he has packed them 



with dried horse manure. An empty super 

 filled with chaff goes on top, and an outside 

 strip goes around the super to cover up the 

 space at the top of the winter case. The 

 bottom-boards are made several inches larg- 

 er than the hive, so that the winter case will 

 just fit. I do not know whether Mr. Stites 

 plans to bank up around the bottom-board, 

 but I should think that space would be cold 

 for the bees during very cold weather, with 

 only the inch board between them and the 

 outside. 



Fig. 2 was taken near Mr. Robert E. 

 Foster's apiaiw in Montrose County, Colo- 

 rado. Mr. Foster is standing beside a clump 

 of greasewood. Greasewood is a native of 

 the desert, growing, however, on the lower 

 levels, but rarely found upon the well- 

 drained mesas. It is quite a favorite ^vith 

 the bees, the large yellow clusters of bloom 



