NOVEMHER 1, 191^ 



685 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colo. 



Economy in beekeeping is a rare thing 

 to iincl. , We lose here in the West by not 

 making use of the wax, and also the honey 

 suitable for vinegar. Some of us are buy- 

 ing covers and bottom-boards that could be 

 made as well, and for half the cost, at the 

 home planing-mill. I would not advocate 

 any tiling but a dovetailed hive body for 

 the West ; but it is a fact that many beemen 

 are obtaining very satisfactory service from 

 home-made fixtures. The making at home 

 of super bodies, and purchasing only the 

 inside furniture, means a saving of money 

 for many where freight rates are excessive. 

 The manufacture of brood foundation from 

 home-rendered wax is successfully done by 

 an increasing number of apiarists during 

 the winter months. Surplus foundation, as 

 yet, seems to be beyond the ability of the 

 average beeman. 



I have galvanized-iron covers that are the 

 equal of factory-made covers costing 50 

 cents each, that cost me 22 cents — 11 cents 

 for the galvanized iron cut and crimped, 

 and 11 cents for the wood sawed and ready 

 to be nailed together. However, it is not 

 advisable to go into home-hive construction 

 until the comparative costs have been ascer- 

 tained. I would not attemj^t, located as I 

 am, to make my own frames, section-hold- 

 ers, separators, hive bodies, nor shipping 

 cases. Some may be located where it is 

 necessary to make these things or have 

 them made in their home town. 

 * # * 



BAITS AND BULK COMB HONEY IN COLORADO. 



In talking with Mr. A. S. Parsons, of 

 Rocky Ford, the other day, he told me that 

 the complaints of the buyers of bulk comb 

 honey might be partly attributable to the 

 fact that, in selling the honey the chunks 

 (sli,ould I say bulks, Mr. Schollf) were 

 taken out and sold, without a sufficient 

 amount of extracted taken out with 

 each sale. The combs keej) rising to the 

 top ; and when the honey is two-thirds 

 gone from the package, there is nothing left 

 but extracted honey, wliich makes the dealer 

 come to the conclusion that he has been 

 cheated. 



The beemen at Rocky Ford sell all of 

 their bait combs that contain sufficient 

 honey as bulk comb honey, breaking the 

 combs from the sections and packing them 

 in large-mouth sixty-pound cans. Extracted 

 honey, warmed just enough so that it will 

 not melt the combs, is poured over them 

 until the can is filled. A sixty-pound can 

 will hold about 58 jjounds net, and they 

 bring from $5.50 to $6.50 a can. There 



seems to be a good demand for all of this 

 kind of honey the producers have; but of 

 course the amount they have is limited. 

 Kansas takes the most of it, the local mar- 

 ket taking none whatever, or practically 

 none. 



s * * 



GO WEST, YOUNG MAN, GO WEST. 



S. King Clover writes that one should 

 think twice before leaving cozy homes in 

 the East, where society is established on a 

 more or less firm basis, for the undeveloped 

 regions of the West. This is sound wis- 

 dom; and one who has a well-established 

 business in the East would be foolish to 

 pull up and move into a country where con- 

 ditions of life are so different. But the West 

 still holds opportunities for the young man 

 whose habits of life have not been firmly 

 formed, and who can adapt his practice to 

 new conditions such as the West presents. 

 This is a young man's country, and the ob- 

 stacles to be overcome are no more diffi- 

 cult than the pioneers of the middle West 

 had to conquer. The young man who can 

 enter a new country, clear the sage brush, 

 dig ditches, build roads, and jiut irrigating 

 water on his land, is building a rugged 

 worthy character at the same time. He will 

 outdistance the young man who inherits 

 an improved farm in the East, for which 

 his father had to work and struggle. Be- 

 cause the West is hard to win to civiliza- 

 tion and tillage is why the people here 

 think so well of their country. It is said 

 in Oregon that, the further West one goes, 

 the more the people boost their country. 

 I thought that Colorado people boosted 

 things to the limit. What we need is more 

 builders and fewer boosters. The booster 

 is the speculator who buys land at $10.00 

 and sells it for $50.00 or $100.00, while 

 the builder is the one who puts in a crop 

 of potatoes and sells $100.00 worth to the 

 acre or better. 



There are still opportunities in the West 

 for beekeepers; and one contemplating 

 moving would do well to take an extended 

 trip, loking ujd a desirable location. Places 

 can be found where crops of honej^ will be 

 good, and where it will be a long time be- 

 fore there will be any danger of overstock- 

 ing. The part of the West with which I 

 am familiar is distinctive in two ways — 

 the delightful climate and the progressive 

 mental atmosphere that conquer obstacles. 

 The West needs young men, and many of 

 them. Riches may not be found, but a 

 worthy life may be led in the fertile val- 

 leys of the Rocky Mountain region. 



