440 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



Ij-rigatioii water is reported scarce in the 

 Arkansas Valley ; but sweet clover is abun- 

 dant, and the bees wintered well, although 

 grasshoppers are coming in fast. So far, 

 grasshoppers are not much in evidence in 

 Northern Colorado. A number of our Ar- 

 kansas Valley beekeepers are replenishing 

 their depleted colonies by shipping in from 

 the South and Southeast. 



THE HONEY MARKET. 



The comb-hoiney market is practically 

 bare. Prices range from $3.25 to $3.75 for 

 clear white stock. While honey that is 

 more or less granulated brings less, extract- 

 ed honey in sixty-pound eases is worth 

 about $4.50 per can. There is a consider- 

 able supply of honey on hand, but in com- 

 parison with the total production it is rel- 

 atively small. 



m * * 



BEHAVIOR OF BEES AROUND A RCfeBER TENT. 



Right after fruit and dandelion bloom 

 closed it was difficult to work with bees. 

 We had to use a tent 4 by 7 feet, without a 

 top, and with mosquito-netting walls about 

 6 feet high. It is of just the right size to 

 set over two hives so that two men can work 

 in it together. It is amusing to see the 

 robbers go around that tent looking for a 

 place toi get in. They will fly around two 

 or three times in a regular swarm about 

 two feet from the ground, and then rise in 

 a body to the top of the tent, and some (not 

 many) come over. They soon learn to at- 

 tack the colonies after you have taken the 

 tent away, so it is well to contract the en- 

 trances of the hives that you have looked at. 

 After you have worked for several hours in 

 a tent, the robbers will even attack the colo- 

 nies ahead of where you are working; but 

 by using caution we have not had any rob- 

 bed out. 



* * * 



HONEY-CROP CONDITIONS. 



Alfalfa began blooming in Oregon and 

 Idaho the latter part of May. It is con- 

 siderably earlier there on account of the 

 low altitude. Throughout the inter-moun- 

 tain West where the altitude is 4000 feet 

 or more, alfalfa does not bloom before 

 June, but from the first to the twentieth. 

 A wet or a dry season affects this consid- 

 erably. The wetter the season, the more 

 luxuriant growth it makes, and the later it 

 blooms. The price of hay is considerably 

 lower at the present time than it has been 

 for one or two years, and we are hoping 

 this will have its effect on the farmers not 



being in such a huiTy to make the first cut- 

 ting. However, I saw a mower being taken 

 past our place the other day, so cutting the 

 alfalfa is in the mind of some of the farm- 

 ers any way. We are earnestly hoping for 

 the time when nothing but the Grimm alfal- 

 fa will be sown. It blooms much more pro- 

 fusely than any other variety, and the great 

 feature about it is that it begins blooming 

 two weeks before it attains full growth. 



June. came in as a dry month. We had 

 plenty of moisture early; but alfalfa that 

 has not been irrigated begins to show the 

 effects of drouth, and the sweet clover that 

 does not have a supply of moisture at its 

 roots is suffering. 



Bees are reported in rather poor condi- 

 tion in the western slope. In Northern 

 Colorado, especially around Denver, there 

 has been less early swarming than last sea- 

 son ; and, as compared with last year, there 

 is much less honey in the hives June 1. In 

 my own immediate vicinity I believe the 

 colonies are stronger than at this time last 

 year. White clover and what wild bloom 

 grows on the mesas and dry land are noAv 

 furnishing about enough nectar for the bees 

 to live on. However, I am giving each new 

 swarm a comb of honey to make sure that 

 they will not starve. 



CONCERNING HIVE-RECORDS AND EFFICIENCY. 



A beekeeper was telling me one day about 

 his elaborate hive-record system. He had 

 all his colonies marked so that he could tell 

 upon coming into his apiary which were 

 queenless, short of honey, weak, which had 

 young queens, etc. It looked good, and was 

 quite satisfactory, but there is another point 

 to tliis. System gets in the way of efficien- 

 cy if you get too much of it. Some of 

 our largest beemen don't want a record 

 system to last from one week's visit to the 

 next. They want a clean slate every week. 

 In other words, when a queenless colony is 

 found, instead of marking it queenless, set 

 it on top of another hive and be done with 

 it. When a hive is weak, do the same or 

 exchange places with a stronger one or give 

 some hatching brood from another. Carry 

 out this " do it now " principle and you 

 will be surprised how little record system 

 you will need in honey-producing apiaries. 

 There is a difference, you know, between 

 keeping bees and producing honey. If you 

 are a honey-producer you do not have much 

 time for record svstems. 



