July, 1914. 



231 



American Hee Journal 



shows so plainly that this strongly 

 built western made case is well pic- 

 tured. 



Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. 



Buckwheat in Colorado— Mr. F. W. Brainard, of Canon City, and Wesley Foster. 

 State Inspector, admiring the patch. 



Shipping Bees in Combless Packages 

 from Southern New Mexico to Colorado 



I told in the June number of the 

 American Bee Journal of the results of 

 shipping bees in combless packages 

 from southern New Mexico to Colo- 

 rado. Since writing that I have had 

 some experience. The weather was 

 warmer, and some shipments came 

 through in very bad order. I had lUO 

 2-pound packages sent to my apiaries 

 in southwestern Colorado, and there 

 are, out of the 100, 65 good ones and 11 

 weak ones, making 7t3 in all. There 

 was a total loss of 24, and a partial loss 

 in 11. One shipment of 27 had 20 pack- 

 ages entirely lost. 



In a shipment of two packages to 

 Boulder during some of the hot 

 weather, one of them was almost a total 

 loss. It will be seen that the loss has 

 averaged one-fourth, and that is heav- 

 ier than should be had to make a real 

 success of the venture. By perfecting 

 the watering can, and having the feed 

 can better protected the loss may be 

 cut down considerably. The feed cans 

 being tacked on get knocked off easily. 

 ■♦ • » 



Post Cards Showing Different Grades of 

 Comb Honey 



The Colorado Honey-Producers' As- 

 sociation has put out one of the neat- 

 est post cards I have seen, quality of 

 work considered. It shows three cases 

 of comb honey graded according to the 

 Colorado rules. The shading and color 

 work is about all that could be desired 



White, Choice, and No. 2 are each rep- 

 resented in their characteristic quali- 

 ties of finish, color and filling. The 

 grain of the sugar pine shipping cases 

 in a color printing job. The No. 1 



Crop Prospects 



Crop prospects still are favorable, 

 although severe hailstorms have visited 

 the district around Windsor in north- 

 ern Colorado, and also in the Arkansas 

 valley between Fowler and Lamar. 

 The loss of bees from smelter smoke 

 (some think the city smoke may have 

 something to do with it) has weakened 

 hundreds of colonies in and about 

 Denver. Several hundred colonies 

 were weakened from the effects of 

 spraying in the Cedaredge district of 

 Delta county. There was a slight loss 

 from spray poisoning in and about 

 Boulder. One or two parties who did 

 custom spraying for their neighbors 

 wanted as long a season as possible 

 and began before the petals had fallen. 



Bees bred up so rapidly that miny 

 colonies became short of honey about 

 the first of June, and the first week in 

 June was a busy time for so.Tie of us 

 who had to feed promptly to save the 

 bees and brood. As it was some colo- 

 nies were lost in spite of what we 

 could do. Alfalfa has begun blooming 

 and yielding nectar so that the danger 

 of starvation is probably past. 



Bees near the foothills have been 

 swarming for three weeks, and when 

 they are haule 1 to the alfalfa districts 

 should do good work. 



Take it all together there is little yet 

 to change in regard to prospects-— we 

 should have a crop of fair proportions 

 in Colorado this year; alfalfa and sweet 

 clover are showing a very luxurious 

 growth, and sweet clover will bloom 

 this year about July 1. The rainfall is 

 now over 3 inches above normal for 

 this year. We have had over 10 inches 

 since Jan. 1, which is doing very well 

 for Colorado. 



Trout Lake, Colo., between Montrose and the Montezuma Valley. 



