1897 



(;iJ';a\in(;s i\ wkk cn/rrRi-:. 



CAW 



iiuist say thai douhliiii^ uji ,i;iv(.'s nio inorc 

 satisfaction. 



I will ,^iv<.' ymi a jiliinj^so of oiil' end of my 

 Crescent Apiary, situated away over on this 

 side of the Rockies, on the hordi r of the 

 desert. Von will notice at my hack, out 

 throuij^h the timher, a growth ahout as high as 

 a man's shoulders, and in full bloom. It is 

 cleome, or the so-called Rocky IMountain bee- 

 platit, of which there are acres and acres made 

 to grow by the sub-irrigation from Grand 

 River, that flows only al)out '20 rods to the 

 right of the picture. 



On the left, out through the opening in the 

 timber, commencing within a quarter of a 

 mile, are the farming and fruit lands, under a 

 fine system of irrigation, among which are 

 hundreds — yes. thousands — of acres of alfalfa! 



The bees shown in the picture are doing 

 finely. Another apiary, in the direction of 

 the opening in the timber, and only four miles 

 away, is doing and has done poorly during 

 the entire season, while my other apiary, 117 

 colonies, out in the foot-hills, 1-") miles from 

 here, have increased from oS to 117, and will 

 give '200 24-lb. cases of comb honey this season. 

 I bought them just at the close of the swarm- 

 ing season, or perhaps there w-ould not have 

 been so many. 



To give you an idea of the resources of this 

 valley that has been redeemed from the desert 

 in the last 14 years, I will say that the rail- 

 roads estimate that there will be shipped from 

 this county IdOO carloads of fruit this season. 



While I shall always have a kindly remem- 

 brance for old Wisconsin, I have no desire to 

 exchange this glorious climate and my wife's 

 health for the rigors of a Wisconsin winter. 



Grand Junction, Colo., Aug. 12. 



[I indorse so thoroughly every thing that is 

 said by friend Cxill that there is really nothing 

 that I can say by way of comment except to 

 add that the time is coming when honey- 

 producers will soon cr}- for larger entrances to 

 their hives. We expect to make our hives 

 next year so that the entrances will be an 

 inch deep, and the full width of the hive. A 

 small entrance can't be enlarged ; but a large 

 one can be contracted if necessary. Large 

 hives and large entrances capable of contrac- 

 tion will do much to solve the problem of 

 swarming for the future, I believe. — Ed.] 



AMONG THE MICHIGAN BEE-KEEPERS. 



S(iuarc Bottom-bars; Producers SeUing Their 

 Own Honey; Large Hives. 



BV A. L. BOVDEN. 



While looking over Mr. Morrison's yard I 

 noticed that he used bottom-bars ^' inch 

 square ; but instead of nailing them in in the 

 usual way with a flat side down he places 

 them in with the angle or corner down, giving 

 as his reasons that the bees attach the combs 

 better, and it leaves no space underneath, in 

 case a bar should sag, for moths to hide. It 

 seems to me the 3^-inch bottom-bars should 

 have a more extended trial, and I am inclined 



to think the manner of nailing them in, as 

 used by Mr. Morrison, may be an advantage. 



BACK TO MR. WINC'S AI'IARV. 



Early next morning Mr. H. S. Wheeler 

 drove down to Mr. Morri.son's yard, having 

 learned that I was down there. I had planned 

 to go back by Mr. Wing's apiary, and so, bid- 

 ding adieu to friend Morrison, I loaded my 

 wheel into Mr. W.'s buggy, and started liack 

 with him. Not being able then to go to 

 his yard our visit was made mostly as we drove 

 back to Mr. Wing's. Mr. Wheeler uses the 

 Gallup frame, I believe, working entirely for 

 comb honey. Knowing of a sale he made of 

 part of his crop in August, 189(), at 12>^ cents 

 per lb., I mentioned that it was a fortunate 

 deal, for many sold at much less only a few- 

 weeks later. He surprised me by saying he 

 received more for the rest of his crop than he 

 did for the lot I spoke of. Instead of selling 

 his hone}' outright to some large concern, or 

 sending to a commission house, Mr. Wheeler 

 has sold largely to grocers and large consum- 

 ers direct, or through some one employed bj' 

 him, mainly in cities outside of the great hon- 

 ey-producing district. It certainly would pay 

 the average bee-keeper to spend more of his 

 own time in selling direct to grocers and con- 

 sumers. ' 



Before reaching i\Ir. Wing's yard we met 

 Mr. Wing himself. Turning about he drove 

 back with us to his yard. Mr. Wheeler soon 

 left us, and then we went out to examine some 

 of the supers. No doubt, to the bee-keepers 

 of that section the season has seemed a failure 

 when compared with previous years ; but by 

 the appearance of the supers in Mr. Wing's 

 yard I should sa}- he has taken a better crop 

 this year than the average bee-keeper of 

 Southern Michigan has for a number of years. 

 To one who has ever had the " bee fever " the 

 incidents related by these men regarding the 

 wonderful flow from willow-herb in former 

 years are ver}- interesting indeed. While they 

 were somewhat discouraged, I felt much of my 

 former enthusiasm coming back. 



Near by is the yard of E. S. Frost, where I 

 also stopped ; but I failed to see him there or 

 at his home, some six miles south. 



I next wheeled over to Breckenridge, where 

 a number of bee-keepers are located, and was 

 soon at the home of N. E. Doane. Not many 

 years ago Sir. Doane located here with a small 

 apiary. His remarkable success led a good 

 many to enter the field, so large numbers of 

 bees are kept in that section. Very naturally, 

 his neighbors have come to him for hives, and 

 this year he has handled nearly a carload of 

 supplies. 



Readers of Gleanings will remember that 

 The A. I. Root Co. has been, the past year, . 

 supplying foundation wnthout paper, when de- 

 sired. IVIr. Doane, as well as his wife, who 

 assists him a great deal in his work, verynuich 

 prefers foundation without paper, as it saves so 

 much time, and the foundation has invariably- 

 reached them in good order w-ithout pajjer. 

 LARGE HIVES. 



Mr. Doane is amused by any discussion as 

 to the merits of eight-frame versus ten-frame 



