128 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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Wesley Fostkb, Boulder, Colo. 



Twenty-five days' work for each one hun- 

 dred colonies should be all that is required 

 during the year. A careful system is neces- 

 sary to accomplish this, but there are men 

 who are doing it. With the aid of autos the 

 number of working days may be reduced, 

 no doubt. One of the chief causes of lost 

 time is unfavorable weather just when out- 

 apiary work is to be done; for if a rain starts 

 in while at the outyard all one can do is to 

 rest and wait, or go home, unless there is a 

 shop where beework can be done. 



CLIPPING QUEENS — DOES IT PAY? 



Here is a point worthy of thought: The 

 largest and most successful honey-producers 

 do not clip their queens. These are the 

 men who sell from one to two carloads of 

 honey a year, and have the largest bank 

 accounts. You will notice that I have said 

 producers. The men would probably not 

 claim to be the best beekeepers, but they 

 carry on their operations on such a large 

 scale that they do not have time to hunt 

 up queens and clip them. They claim that 

 it does not pay them with conditions as 

 they are in Colorado. 



BEEKEEPING IN COLLEGE COURSES. 



Agriculture is fast being introduced into 

 our schools, and nearly every high school 

 now has domestic-science and manual- 

 training courses with a fine equipment. 

 There is a dearth of scientific beekeepers; 

 and if we could get courses introduced into 

 our schools of agriculture it would advance 

 the industry very much. What would it 

 be worth to the State if in every agricultu- 

 ral short course the principles of beekeep- 

 ing could be taught ? It would raise the 

 status of the average beekeeper very much. 



It is simply up to the beekeepers in every 

 State to take up this matter. We are going 

 to have something very soon now in Col- 

 orado, and we shall be able to train our 

 young people — some of them at least — to 

 keep bees right. Colorado is a ripe field for 

 better beemen, and we must have them to 

 do our industry justice. 



THE CENSUS AND COLORADO BEEKEEPING. 



Colorado lost 20 per cent of her beekeepers 

 (about a thousand) in the ten years from 

 1900 to 1910. During that time, however, 

 she gained 20 per cent in bees, or about 

 11,000 colonies. The value of bees increased 

 from $195,000 to over $300,000. Foul brood 

 has to take most of the blame for the loss of 

 beekeepers, although the specialists have 

 been buying the small beekeeper out in 

 many instances. I doubtvery much wheth- 

 er the figures given are very accurate, as 



there are many bees kept in towns, and 

 then some beemen would be slow about giv- 

 ing in the full number of their colonies for 

 fear the assessor would get hold of the list; 

 for many a farmer would be suspicious as to 

 whether it was merely for the federal census 

 or not. The census, nevertheless, has given 

 the general trend of Colorado beekeeping 

 in a satisfactory way. 



"THE CHANGING ORDER." 



The expensive methods of distribution 

 are not going to last much longer. There is 

 a determination on the part of the consum- 

 ers to deal as directly as possible with the 

 producers. Witness the work of Mayor 

 Shank, of Indianapolis, and hundreds of 

 others scattered over the country\ Many 

 cities are establishing or have established 

 municipal markets where the producers can 

 take their produce and sell directly to the 

 people. Whatever plans the National As- 

 sociation undertakes, it will be well to adapt 

 the jirocedure to the marketing movements 

 of the times. An economical method must 

 be devised to supply each market with the 

 honey it demands, and to keep all supplied 

 and none overstocked. The method of con- 

 sumers in going to the markets with their 

 baskets is too wasteful of effort. Buying 

 clubs or associations will work better. There 

 are buying associations already in operation, 

 and it would joay some of the beekeepers to 

 get in touch with them to reach these con- 

 sumers. 



GARDEN, ORCHARD, POULTRY, AND BEES. 



When is a beekeeper not a beekeeper? 

 AVhen he allows the bees to work for nothing 

 and board themselves, while he farms, gar- 

 dens, and raises stock. This need not be, 

 for some of our very^ best beekeepers raise 

 poultry and have a profitable garden, and 

 some of the largest producers of honey^ raise, 

 in addition, apples, potatoes, or onions by 

 the carload. Colorado has lumbermen, 

 stockmen, farmers, fruit men, and business 

 men all successfully interested in bees. Sev- 

 eral bank presidents got their start with 

 bees, and there are several bank directors 

 who are keeping bees for the money there is 

 in them. I like to see a man, though a bee- 

 keeper, who is alive to the possibilities about 

 him. I would just as soon work in my acre 

 orchard as with the bees, and sometimes I 

 like it a little better. The principal part of 

 one's living will come from the garden vege- 

 tables, apples, plums, and strawberries. 

 The cow and chickens help out, so that, 

 with the cull honey^ that is not fit to ship, 

 we find that the grocery bill is easily cared 

 for. The main honey crop and the ship- 

 ments of apples will be used to build the 

 new house or to extend the business. 



