GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



Mr. Chadwick says, p. 47, Jan. 15, that 

 Colorado claims 27,000 colonies of bees. I 

 wonder where he got that information. The 

 1910 census gives Colorado 70,000, and that 

 is verj' probably below the figure, as bees 

 in towns were not counted. I do not care 

 to guess, but I am of the opinion that, if 

 ever}' hive containing bees were counted, 

 the number would be over 100,000. Mesa 

 County has over 14,000 colonies, according 

 to Ml'- Harkleroad, the inspector; and of 

 this number over 11,000 were inspected 

 during 1912. 



California is, without doubt, a much heav- 

 ier honey-producer than Colorado. We are 

 willing to grant that ; but we have some 

 of the best beekeepers to be found any- 

 where, and the homes of our beemen are a 

 credit to the State. I have a collection of 

 photos that attest it, and some of these days 

 I am going to show them. The homes of a 

 nation are its stronghold. The past fall, 

 Mrs. Foster took nearly a thousand-mile 

 trip with me, and she visited in the homes 

 of beekeepers for about a month. She 

 formerly harbored the idea that beemen 

 were mostly eccentric, a little off in the up- 

 per story, so to speak. When she reached 

 home she had changed her mind, and ex- 

 pressed herself to the effect that beemen 

 know how to share the conveniences of mod- 

 ern life with their wives, and how to enjoy 

 life. They struck her as being a live, alert 

 class with a business requiring training and 

 mental alertness. So there you have the 

 opinion of a college girl, newspaper woman, 

 etc., who happens now to be Mrs. Foster. 

 * * * 



ALFALFA NOT BEING CUT AS EARLY AS 

 FORMERLY. 



While on the Colorado Agiicultural Col- 

 lege demonstration train I had several very 

 enjoyable visits with Mr. P. K. Blinn, al- 

 falfa specialist for the Colorado Experi- 

 ment Station at Rocky Ford. There is no 

 man in the United States who knows more 

 about alfalfa than Mr. Blinn. He has ex- 

 l^erimental plots of man_y varieties of alfal- 

 fa, testing seed production. The nectar 

 production in relation to seed production is 

 one of interest to him, and some tests ai'e 

 contemplated to find out, if possible, wheth- 

 er the heavy seeding alfalfa is also heavy 

 in nectar production. The Grimm alfalfa 

 is in the lead at present, as regards tonnage 

 and hardiness. It is much more profuse in 

 its blooming than any other varieties — all 

 colors of bloom from white, pink, blue, and 

 purple shades. If, as is likely, it is as heavy 



a honey-producer as it is a blooming crop 

 it will be a winner for the beeman. And 

 here is another point — it begins blooming 

 before its gets its growth. The farmers 

 will not cut it until after it has bloomed 

 for some time. The seed is from fifty cents 

 to a dollar a jjound as yet ; but the price 

 will come down when it is produced in 

 greater quantities. Mr. Blinn also brings 

 this good news to the beemen — that there is 

 a change of opinion regarding the cutting 

 of alfalfa before it blooms. Alfalfa is not 

 being cut as early as it was five years ago. 

 * » * 



SEASON^ PROSPECTS. 



Early in March, breeding was going on 

 freely in normal colonies, only the weakest 

 ones being without brood. But March went 

 out like a lion, and considerable brood was 

 chilled. Many colonies will need feeding 

 in northern Colorado before the honey-flow 

 begins. Better lay in a supply of sugar. 

 It is cheaper now, March 26, than it has 

 been for a long time — $5.00 per hundred, 

 and less for beet sugar. 



A snowfall of 191/^ inches fell March 

 25th, nearly half the whole winter's fall. 

 There is an abundance of snow in the 

 mountains, and the bees are in fine order. 

 The only thing we fear is the late frost that 

 blights the alfalfa and destroys the nectar 

 secretion of the first growth, and lessens 

 the secretion of the second and third bloom. 



The beekeeper in the exclusive alfalfa 

 districts has troubles altogether different 

 from those of the man in the fruit areas. 

 The alfalfa-district man is annoyed by 

 spring winds that retard early breeding. 

 There is also a very marked lack of early 

 pollen. These conditions obtain in the Ar- 

 kansas Valley in Eastern Colorado, and the 

 Platte Valley in Northern Colorado. Some 

 beemen move their bees near the river in 

 the valley for the winter and spring, mov- 

 ing back to the alfalfa fields about the time 

 for the bloom on the alfalfa to open. 



In the fruit districts bees build up with 

 remarkable rapidity, and swarm and swarm 

 just as they do where they wish for a non- 

 swarming strain of bees. It is easy to keep 

 up one's numbers in the fruit district if 

 you are not wiped out by spraying. Which 

 "location will you take? The beemen feel 

 that they are between the devil and the 

 deep sea. Some say that they believe they 

 will move back east and live with Avife's 

 folks — take up cellar or clamp wintering, 

 and put up with cold winters, and floods 

 in the spring. 



