isy, 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229 



Proceedings of the Colorado State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Coaveution. 



REPORTED Br F. L. THOMPSON. 



{.Continued from page 215.] 

 COLORADO BEE AND HONEY STATISTICS. 



The Secretary then read statistics of bee-culture in Col- 

 orado for 1896 by counties, so f:ir as reports had been sent 

 in. Twelve counties where bees may be kept have not been 

 heard from. The number of colonies in the 13 counties 

 which have reported is 35,306, which is not more than half 

 the total number in the State. The average value of a colony 

 is $3.36, and the average per cent, of increase about 20. 

 The average yield last season was about 32K pounds in 13 

 counties, with an average price of about 10 cents. The fol- 

 lowing is the average yield by counties : 



Otero, 60 pounds; Montezuma, 10-i comb, 201>.2 ex- 

 tracted; Chaffee, 10; Fremont, almost none ; Montrose, 40; 

 Morgan, 20 ; Pueblo, 20 ; Larimer, 5 ; Huerfano, 6 ; Arapa- 

 hoe, 15 ; Mesa, 40 ; Boulder, 15 ; Weld, 15 ; Las Animas, 30. 



Foul Brood, so far as reported by the persons to whom 

 questions were addrest, exists in Otero, Montezuma, Arapa- 

 hoe, Mesa, Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties, and paralysis 

 in Arapahoe county. Chaffee, Fremont, Montrose, Morgan, 

 Pueblo, Huerfano and Las Animas counties are free from foul 

 brood. The local associations, so far as heard from, are as 

 follows : 



Montrose Co., E D. Nichols, Sec, Montrose ; Arapahoe 

 Co., the Platte Valley Bee-Keepers' Association, Geo. R. Lee, 

 Sec, Brighton; and the Denver Bee-Keepers' Association, F. 

 L. Thompson, Sec, Denver ; Mesa Co., M. A. Gill, Sec, Grand 

 Junction ; Boulder Co., A. M. Preston, Sec, Longmont ; Weld 

 Co., H. E. English, Sec, Greeley. 



Mr. Adams — I have six copies of the Honey Day edition 

 of the Longmont Times, which contains valuable statistics on 

 Colorado bee-keeping. 



Mr. Rhodes suggested that these be given to the Secretary 

 to be placed on file. 



Vice-Pres. Porter spoke as follows on 



THE NEW BEE-DISEASE. 



Last April the bees were all right. The winter had been 

 mild. By the end of April there was something curious in 

 their actions, tho'jgh nothing to be certain of. By the mid- 

 dle of May they had decreast. There were not enough to 

 cover the brood. Many colonies became discouraged and 

 swarmed out. You could often see a little handful of bees 

 hanging on a weed, with a queen among them. Sometimes 

 these little swarms would unite, and there would be several 

 queens. So it kept on until the first of June. The loss was 

 very great. No reason or theory that I could think of seemed 

 to cover the situation. I at first thought that as the winter 

 had been very mild, and the bees had flown vary much, it 

 might have been the ordinary spring dwindling of old age ; 

 but the trouble was not universal. It was only around Den- 

 ver, covering a circle with a radius of about 12 miles. I pro- 

 nounce it not a disease ; but I may find out that I was mis- 

 taken. I lost SO per cent, of my own stock. 



If it was spring dwiadling, the bees would not have 

 swarmed out. 



VicePres. Porter — It has been my experience in Iowa and 

 Wisconsin that bees do become discouraged from spring 

 dwindling and swarm out. 



A Member — Was there any honey left in the hives when 

 your bees swarmed out ? 



Vice-Pres. Porter — Tons of it. 



H. Rauchfuss— Our bees acted similarly, but they did not 

 swarm out. They also acted differently in dying in front of 

 the hives, so that the dead bees could be seen. Our best colo- 

 nies, with young prolific queens, died first. The queenless 

 ones were hardly affected at all. Colonies with little honey 

 also came out well. My theory is as follows: A colony in 

 good condition gathers abundance of pollen ; a weak one docs 



not. There were some heavy fogs last spring, which I believe 

 absorbed poisonous substances from the smelter smoke in the 

 atmosphere, and deposited it on the pollen of the blossoms of 

 the cottonwoods, etc. At one of the smelters in Denver a con- 

 stant spray of water Is kept falling down the smoke-stack, in 

 order to render the smoke less deleterious. That shows that 

 moisture will absord the poison. The disease was only along 

 valleys, where fogs are apt to settle. We lost 300 out of 400 

 colonies. 



Mr. McLain — We at Fort Collins have had the same con- 

 dition of bees Mr. Rauchfuss described, from spraying. The 

 explanation is ultimately the same — the bees died from pois- 

 oning. A neighbor lost 26 out of 75 colonies from spraying, 

 and the rest were decimated. My colonies were weaker in 

 May than in April, and one-third of the queens were missing. 

 A neighbor half a mile away had sprayed his trees, and the 

 next day our bees died. 



Mr. Rhodes— I sold an apiary 10 or 12 years ago, and 

 was to attend it until it was a success. It was moved to Argo 

 (a smelter). The bees went back just as has been described. 

 I then claimed it was the smelter smoke. That was before 

 the days of spraying, and the bees were otherwise all right. 



H. Rauchfuss — No spraying was done within four miles of 

 our apiary. I do not say it was the smoke, but what the 

 moisture collected from it. 



Vice-Pres. Porter — ITive years ago, in Highlands, my bees 

 were poisoned from spraying. I saw them at work on the 

 sprayed trees. They shortly died in the way Mr. Rauchfuss' 

 bees died. I have had nothing similar to that since. 



The Question-Box was then taken up. The first question 

 (sent from Mesa Co.) was, 



BEST METHOD OF WINTERING IN ALTITUDES OF COLORADO OF 

 4,500 FEET. 



Mrs. Booth — I advise leaving the bees on the summer 

 stand. No more top protection than two thicknesses burlap 

 is necessary. 



Mr. Rhodes — Mr. Dudley is in about that altitude. 



Mr. Dudley — The ma.)ority of Utah bee-keepers winter 

 their bees out-of-doors. They usually run the hives together, 

 with leaves or chaff between, and a sawdust bag in the super, 

 with an inch between it and the cover. Some pack separately. 

 Many have double-walled hives, packt the year round. 



Vice-Pres. Porter — I am of the opinion that in that alti- 

 tude and temperature the least expensive way would be to 

 pack on top. Two sacks doubled, making four thickness, 

 keep off the cold and let out the moisture, and make a very 

 complete condition. I have always had good success with this 

 plan. My only trouble was with tight-fitting covers and a 

 propolized cloth. The combs became moist all over. The 

 bees became moist and sweated, and dwindled. 



Mr. McLain — The best packing is to pack full of bees. I 

 bought bees in cracker-boxes, with big cracks in them. They 

 were the best and strongest colonies I ever had. If the colo- 

 nies are weak, then I should advise packing. 



H. Rauchfuss — I think bees ought to be packt. Mrs. 

 Booth packs on top only, but her location is sheltered. In 

 box-hives, the combs may be built crosswise, and the bees 

 may winter well. But on frames, the outside bees get chilled. 

 After a cold spell, the bees bring out a handful of dead ones. 

 This is repeated every time theweathr-r is cold. We have some 

 packt in cork-dust. The bees in these hives do not get chilled, 

 and the colonies come out strong in the spring, unless they 

 dwindle for other reasons. 



Mr. McLain — I do not pack with bees only, but pack with 

 leaves on top and straw between in rows, with the fronts 

 open. But my strong colonies come out the best. 



Mr. Adams — I usually pack. My best colonies are packt 

 in chaff all around. 



Mrs. Booth — I had 6 colonies packt together in straw 

 some years ago, but the mice got in and ate them all up. 



BEST METHOD OF KEEPING CO.MB HONEY FROM GRANULATING. 



Mr. Adams — Shove it on the market as quickly as possible. 



Mr. Sylvester— Have thoroughly cured honey, gathered 

 from the best honey-plants, and keep it in a warm place 

 through the winter. Once I heated some extracted honey so 

 as not to iD.iure the flavor, and stored it In .lugs sealed with 

 rosin. By mistake, one jug was leftover, and remained liquid 

 five or six years. 



Mr. Booth — Mrs. Booth stored some extracted honey in 

 crocks. When it granulated, the crocks were burst by the 

 expansion. 



Mr. Rhodes — Some honey will not granulate. 



Vice-Pres. Porter — I have never found any honey that will 

 not granulate. 



