SEPTEMBER 1, 1912 



543 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Fosteb, Boulder, Colo. 



The shipment of Western comb honey 

 will begin before this item apjjears, the 

 bulk of the crop moving this month and 

 next. The early i:)ackers will get the best 

 price, as has been the rule for several 

 years. The quality of the honey will be 

 good ; but Colorado will, as usual, ship out 

 considerable slightly yellow honey. 

 * » * 



A rei^ort comes from Twin Falls, Idaho, 

 that the bees are not doing as well as last 

 year. Alfalfa was cut much earlier tliis 

 year than has been the custom in that dis- 

 trict. Reports from Eastern Oregon and 

 Southern Idaho are favorable, and honey 

 of fine quality will be shipped. Loss from 

 fruit-tree spray is also reported, the loss 

 being a serious one. 



There was much swarming this season 

 among the bees near Denver. Although 

 the increase has been large, many more 

 swarms would have been saved if liives 

 had been available. Taking Colorado as a 

 whole, little fault can be found with the 

 honey flora and crop conditions; but we 

 have had so many troubles with the bees 

 themselves that the shipping crop will not 

 be even as large as that of last year, which 

 was below the normal. Spraying fruit- 

 trees while in bloom, and sj^raying the 

 trees, the spray falling on the blooming 

 clover beneath them, has destroyed many 

 colonies in Fremont, Mesa, and Delta 

 counties. The condition is becoming so 

 serious that vigorous steps must be taken 

 to avoid the danger another year. The 

 fruitmen and the beemen must get together 

 and know what is to be done under the 



circumstances. 



* * * 



THE SUMMER BEE-MEETING. 



A most enjoyable event to a beekeeper 

 is attending a summer field meeting where 

 bee men and women can talk over their 

 work, eat a picnic lunch together, exchange 

 experiences, and go back home to apjDly the 

 new ideas gained. Such a meeting was held 

 in Cortez, Colorado, July 29, and about 

 twenty were at the noood^y lunch, while 

 over forty attended the afternoon session 

 of the meeting when Mr. Frank Rauchfuss 

 gave a talk and demonstration in grading 

 comb honey. The morning session was a 

 short one, as so much visiting had to be 

 done, and the beekeepers who had to come 

 long distances were late in aiTiving. Foul 

 brood, its symptoms and treatment, was the 

 morning topic; and after we had feasted 



on the lunch-picnic dinner we had some 

 demonstration work in putting up sections, 

 before Mr. Rauchfuss took the floor. 



A county association with about twenty 

 members was formed, and the members 

 plan to order bee-supplies in a body, sell 

 their honey at a uniform price, and aid 

 the bee inspector in controlling foul brood 

 and in exliibiting honey at the county and 

 state fairs. 



Mr. T. G*. Wilkerson was elected presi- 

 dent, and Mrs. Jordan secretary-treasurer. 

 It is hoped that the association will be able 

 to keep together and be of real benefit to 

 the members. A score of such summer meet- 

 ings should be held in Colorado every 

 summer. They would mean much to the 

 beemen of the State. 



* * * 



SPRAYING FOR THE LEAF-ROLLER. 



Fruitmen in the Canon City fruit dis- 

 trict have been up against a hard proposi- 

 tion in fighting the leaf-roller. Spraying 

 with arsenate-of-lead solution has been 

 done, both before and after the opening of 

 the blossoms. Bees began to suffer at once, 

 and the first indications were bees hopping 

 around in front of the hives and dying in 

 large numbers. A little later brood was 

 killed in great quantities, and many queens 

 were lost. Mi'. Brainard writes me that 

 most of the bees in the fruit district have 

 been destroyed, and that he will have to 

 move out if the spraying is continued an- 

 other year. 



It is reported that the spraying has killed 

 the rollers, but no fruit crop will be har- 

 vested tliis year. It will be a very thor- 

 ough test of the value of bees for fruit 

 if the Canon City district is to be destitute 

 of bees altogether. The orchards are tlie 

 most thickly set of any I have seen; and 

 hundreds and thousands of acres of bloom 

 will undoubtedly suffer from lack of pol- 

 lination. It is sincerely hoped that the 

 spraying will not be resorted to another 

 season, and that it will be found unneces- 

 saiy. 



Mr. Harvey, of Montrose, told me that 

 he had lost fully $2000 by fruit-growers 

 spraying for codling moth when the trees 

 were in bloom; but that, during the last 

 few years, the fruitmen were learning bet- 

 ter when to spray. I do not know how 

 well informed beemen are in other places; 

 but the majority of Colorado specialist 

 beekeepers do not blame the fruitmen for 

 killing their bees with arsenical spray when 

 the trouble is foul brood. Our Colorado 

 men are pretty close observers. 



