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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Poster, Boulder, CoL 



CHICO OR GKEASEWOOD. 



I am glad to have the correction of Mr. 

 J. Al Green regarding my description of 

 chieo instead of greasewood. I took the 

 word of the beemen with whom I talked 

 about it, and I should like to hear definitely 

 from some authority. I have just received 

 a letter from a western-slope beekeeper who 

 says the chico is in bloom (June 1), and is 

 furnisliing i^ollen in excessive quantities. 

 Is it chico or gi'easewood ? 



HONEY PROSPECTS. 



Feeding through June was necessary in 

 the lower Platte Valley. Some of the dis- 

 tricts were so burned by the drouth that it 

 was difficult to keep the bees alive without 

 nearly bankrupting the beekeepers. Sweet 

 clover dried up in the sandy river bottom, 

 and the first alfalfa had little nectar in the 

 bloom. 



Prospects do not compare with a year ago 

 in Northern Colorado. We need rain badly ; 

 and at this writing, July 2, none of my colo- 

 nies are working in the supers. We shall 

 have no honey off before July 4, as we gen- 

 erally do. Sweet clover is coming in bloom 

 where it is not already burned by the 

 drouth. We are two inches short of our 

 normal rainfall so far this year. If we 

 could collect the two inches of rainfall be- 

 fore July 10 it would be worth much to the 

 beemen. 



In the Arkansas Valley, conditions are 

 better. While rain would be very welcome, 

 the alfalfa and sweet clover are yielding 

 well, and some few cases of comb honey 

 were taken off before July 1. Swarming 

 was more general in the upper Arkansas 

 Valley than lower down. 



Grasshoppers are reported thick in the 

 \ieinity of Holly, but they are not getting 

 into the fields very far. 



Bees were working well on the alfalfa 

 first crop in places heard from in Western 

 Colorado, so conditions are probably fairly 

 well up to normal. 



In Southwestern Colorado the season is 

 generally slower in beginning, probably on 

 account of the June freeze that visits that 

 section almost every year. The colonies, 

 however, are in fair shape, and prospects 

 seem to be good for a July and Aug-ust 

 flow, and perhaps one will materialize in 

 Sei^tember. 



* • * 



CREDIT FOR THE BEEKEEPER. 



Throughout the great West the propor- 

 tion of specialists to amateurs and small 



beekeepers is large. A consideral)le pro- 

 portion of the smaller beekeepers plan upon 

 taking ny) beekeeping as a specialty. 



In buying bees, cash sales are the rule, 

 or at least a large initial payment is re- 

 quired. The reason for this is the rapidity 

 with which an apiary may decrease in value 

 and numbers. The value of bees depends 

 much upon the ability and skill of the bee- 

 keeper; and, added to this, an apiary is 

 much subject to conditions of season and 

 climate. 



Many apiaries are bought with a down 

 payment of one-third to one-half, and tke 

 remainder at the end of one year, or possi- 

 bly two. When such a large amount of the 

 princij^al is required the first year, the bees 

 have to do exceptionally well the first sea- 

 son in order to enable the beekeeper to hold 

 his own and to meet the expense for sup- 

 plies, location rent, horse and wagon, or 

 auto, living expenses for several months till 

 honey can be sold, in addition to the inter- 

 est on principal and the principal, which is 

 soon due. Interest rates are from 8 to 15 

 per cent in the West, and in many cases 

 there is a two-per-cent commission besides. 

 I am fairly conversant with beekeepers', 

 farmers', and gardeners' conditions; and 

 the bane of them all is insufficient capital 

 and excessive interest rates on short-time 

 loans. If the avei'age beekeeper could bor- 

 row according to his credit at 4 to 5 per 

 cent, with ten to twenty years to pay, in- 

 stead of at 10 to 12 per cent with one or 

 two years' time the prosperity of the indus- 

 try would be wonderfully increased. There 

 are hundreds of apiaries that have dwindled 

 through winter losses that could be built up 

 with a supply of low-priced money so that 

 bees could be bought and shipped in to fill 

 these hives. 



Why the Bees Ballecf their Queens 



Can you tell me where my trouble lies with my 

 bees? I have two small out-apiaries. I clip the 

 queens' wings, and cut out cells to prevent swarm- 

 ing. Now, I found in going through them at differ- 

 ent times that they had the queen balled, and, later 

 on, the colony would be queenless. They are the 

 Italians. 



Caldwell, Ida., June 21. Cecil Leppin. 



[We hardly know what should cause your bees to 

 ball the queen unless the disturbance in opening the 

 hive in cutting out the cells should cause them to 

 become dissatisfied. Sometimes when the normal 

 conditions of a colony are disturbed the bees will 

 ball their queen, apparently thinking she is to blame 

 for it. It is not an uncommon occurrence, when a 

 swarm tries to leave with a clipped queen, for the 

 bees to ball and kill her on the second or third fruit- 

 less attempt. Possibly this is the real cause of your 

 trouble. — Ed.] 



