Feb. 1, 1912 



71 



fecBcg^Brng] /am^DDg] UDd© [S(d®Dsd( 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colo. 



Just take this pointer, all you contribu- 

 tors to Gleanings, including myself: Tell 

 your little story as simply and naturally 

 as does Miss Lucille Johnson, page 754, 

 Dec. 15. 



ABUNDANT SNOWS. 



^^'e are having an abundance of snow and 

 cold weather in Colorado at the present 

 time. The snowfall on the ranges has been 

 heavier than for several years, and an abun- 

 dant supply of irrigation water is practically 

 assured. 



AUTOS FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



The automobile is about the livest sub- 

 ject among the bee-keepers at the present 

 time. It seemed that, before and after ev- 

 ery session of our Colorado State conven- 

 tion, the members would be discussing 

 autos and their use for out-apiary work. 

 Autos that will last for several years for 

 bee-keepers' use are now so moderate in 

 jirice that it is a question whether a pro- 

 gressive bee-keeper can afTord to be without 

 one. They have come to stay, and those 

 most loud in their praise are those who are 

 using them. Several machines will proba- 

 bly be purchased as the result of the infor- 

 mal experiences given at the convention. 

 The machines most generally in use in Col- 

 orado are light runabouts or auto wagons, 

 the latter similar to the International auto 

 wagon which will carry one thousand 

 pounds. Motor cycles are quite popular 

 with some bee-keepers for use in getting to 

 their out-apiaries. [See editorial. — Ed.] 



Mr. F. Rauchfuss, manager of the Colo- 

 rado Honey-producers' Association, recent- 

 ly told me a few things about the honey 

 situation in the West, which would do ev- 

 ery Western bee-keeper good to know. Ex- 

 tracted honey, over and above that which 

 can be sold in the local markets, has to be 

 sold in the East in competition with South- 

 ern and far Western honey. Comb-honey 

 markets have been developed which de- 

 mand Western honey, and pay a good fig- 

 ure. The Pacific coast has a more favorable 

 freight rate on the shipment of extracted 

 lioney than has Colorado and the inter- 

 mountain region. Comb honey, the past 

 season, brought $2.75 to $8.25, while the 

 very best extracted water-white alfalfa hon- 

 ey sells slowly at not over 7 cents in large 

 quantities. Under present conditions there 

 is no doubt whatever that comb-honey pro- 

 duction pays far better than extracted hon- 

 ey. In making these statements I am 

 speaking of Colorado and the inter-moun- 

 tain regions only. The average bee-keeper 

 finds that he can sell a few cans of honey 

 around home for 10 or 15 cts. per pound, 

 and straightway figures that he can make 

 more money with extracted at this price 



than with comb honey at 11)4 to 12>^ cts., 

 when he has to buy sections, foundation, 

 shipping-cases, etc., and so he goes and 

 changes from comb to extracted honey, 

 soon finding that he can not market liis in- 

 creased i)roduct around home, and has to 

 put his nice alfalfa stock on the market in 

 competition with honeys of cracker-factory 

 grade. Extracted-honey i)roducers in Colo- 

 rado, within the last few years, have had to 

 accept 6 cts. for white alfalfa honey to be 

 used by cracker-factories because they could 

 not find a market for this table honey. At 

 the present time there are five or six car- 

 loads of extracted honey in Colorado, and 

 probably not one carload of comb could be 

 found if the whole State were carefully 

 gone over. 



BEE-KEEPING EXTENSION. 



There are several problems before Western 

 bee-keei)ers that may not affect those in the 

 East. Here there are many specialists who 

 do not look with favor on bee-inspection. 

 They hope that foul brood will soon clean 

 out the little fellow and leave the field to 

 himself. Is he right? He figures that he 

 can keep foul brood from gaining a foothold 

 in his own apiaries while it is destroying 

 the bees of his less watchful neighbors, and 

 he does not want the inspector to come 

 around and show them how to get rid of 

 the disease. What is the course to pursue 

 for the best interests of the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry as a whole ? 



A few have spoken to me that were doubt- 

 ful of the good of having bee-keeping repre- 

 sented on the farmers'-institute courses. 

 They take the stand that it encourages 

 many to take up bee-keeping only to be- 

 come discouraged later on and lose money 

 by the operation. Then it tends to over- 

 stock the field, they claim. 



What is the best course to pursue? Stop 

 all bee-inspection and bee keeping exten- 

 sion, and let the industry go as it has, or 

 try to educate the beginners in the best 

 methods ? Th is subject arouses bitter argu- 

 ment in some places in Colorado and the 

 West. 



The whole tendency of the times is toward 

 specialization, and the specialist feels that 

 the ignorant amateur or careless box-hive 

 bee-keeper is a thorn in the fiesh. He does 

 not believe such men can be taught; he 

 thinks the only way is for him to become 

 discouraged and sell out to the specialist. 

 There are fewer bee-keepers in Colorado 

 than ten years ago, but more good ones, 

 and there are a goodly number of first-class 

 small bee-keepers. I know some farmers 

 who are really good bee-keepers, and who 

 welcome suggestions and help through 

 farmers' institutes and farm papers, bee- 

 inspection, etc. Let's hear from others on 

 this question. 



