664 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



Rocky Ford is becoming famous for its mel- 

 ons, both cantaloups and watermelons. This 

 year's crop was estimated at about 250 car- 

 loads of each. It requires about twelve car- 

 loads of crates, besides man}- thousands of 

 baskets, to put up the crop for shipment. 



Quite a start has been made in fruit-grow- 

 ing, and this pursuit gives promise of develop- 

 ing to large proportions, and will become a 

 source of large revenue to the district. I tast- 

 ed some plums and peaches which were as fine 

 as any I have ever seen. The climate of this 

 section of Colorado is delightful, and much 

 more beneficial to people with pulmonary ail- 

 ments than the higher altiiude further west. 

 On the western horizon, a little to the north, 

 Pike's Peak may be clearl}' seen, eighty-five 

 miles distant, with its snow-clad summit 14,017 

 feet above sea-level. Thither I made my way 

 after stopping a few hotirs in Pueblo, and 

 making a call on A. R. Pierce, who furnishes 

 a good many bee-keepers tributary to Pueblo 

 with their supplies. 



I stopped 24 hours in Manitou, and enjoyed 

 to the full this brief stay amid its natural 

 wonders. One who has never seen the moun- 

 tains can form no idea, from description, of 

 their sublime and stately grandeur. After 

 partaking freely of the water from the soda 

 springs for which Manitou is famous, I pro- 

 ceeded at once to visit the many ' ' points of 

 interest." Beautiful streams of clear water 

 from the mountains, tossing down the canyons 

 over the rocks, make music delightful to the 

 ear, and add to the charm of the wonderful 

 works of God seen on ever)^ hand. One is 

 well repaid for a visit to the Cave of the Winds, 

 or the grand caverns. Temple Drive and the 

 Ute Pass are full of interest. The Garden of 

 the Gods, with its cathedral spires of red rock, 

 balanced rock, and other rocky formations, is 

 worthy of a visit. 



The most thrilling experience is a trip to 

 the summit of Pike's Peak. This we made 

 on what is called the cog railroad. This road 

 is about 9 miles in length, and in that distance 

 rises to an altitude of over 1>4 miles as it 

 winds up the rocky mountain-side. There 

 are various ways of making the ascent. Some 

 walk up, while others ride the little mountain 

 burros. There is also a carriage-drive of over 

 thirty miles, reaching to the summit. All of 

 these take more time ; and as my time was 

 limited I chose the quickest route. Unfor- 

 tunately it was a cloudy day, and the view 

 from the summit was thereby much obscured. 

 It was a magnificent view, nevertheless. To 

 get a bird's-eye view of the country for hun- 

 dreds of miles in every direction is an experi- 

 ence rarely enjoyed. The Cripple Creek gold- 

 mines could be' distinctly seen to the south- 

 west, only about thirty miles away on an air- 

 line. There is a U.S. observatory on the 

 summit, and the thermometer stood at S8 

 degrees when we were up there about noon. 

 The train on the cog road makes two regular 

 trips to the summit each day ; and the Pike's 

 Peak Xeci'S, containing the names and ad- 

 dresses of all on board, is printed at the half- 

 way house while we are up the peak, and sold 

 to the passengers on the return trip. 



My next stop was in Denver, where I spent 

 two days meeting face to face those whom I 

 had long known through correspondence and 

 in a business way. I found that the L. A. 

 Watkins Mdse. Co., who had succeeded Bar- 

 teldes & Co. in handling our supplies, had 

 done a fairl}' good business considering the 

 conditions which existed last season. Frank 

 Rauchfuss, secretary of the Denver Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, and manager of the bee- 

 supply department in Watkins' warehouses I 

 found to be a very pleasant and engaging 

 young man of considerable experience as a 

 bee-keeper. In company with him I visited 

 Mr. W. L. Porter, who has some 900 colonies 

 of bees in various apiaries near Denver. Mr. 

 Porter produces both comb and extracted hon- 

 ey, the larger part, I believe, being extracted. 

 He has a local market for all he secures, much 

 of it put up in glass for retailing. I was 

 agreeabh- surprised to find in the number of 

 places where I stopped throughout the West, 

 so good a home market for choice honey at 

 very fair prices. 



Mr. Porter has been carefully testing hives 

 of 8 and 10 L. frame capacit}', and comparing 

 them. He at one time seemed to be in favor 

 of the 10-frame size ; but this year his prefer- 

 ence is for the 8-frame. His honey is gather- 

 ed chiefl}- from alfalfa, and is beautifull}' 

 heavy, and light-colored. When one works 

 up a trade in such honey, and is always care- 

 ful what he puts up, to see that it is only first 

 class, he may be sure of a permanent and 

 growing demand, and at good prices. 



I spent a number of pleasant hours with J. 

 C. Frisbee, who, in comj^au}- with his father, 

 R. K. Frisbee, is engaged in putting up honey 

 in glass jars and selling to the retail trade 

 both comb and extracted honey. Their honey 

 seems to be lighter in body, and to remain 

 liquid 1 inch longer, than most alfalfa honey 

 whicli I have seen, judging from the samples 

 which 1 examined. 



Many bees in the vicinity of Denver were 

 afflic'.ed last year with a peculiar malady 

 which wasted away some apiaries entire ; and 

 some whose bees were not entirely destroyed 

 were so discouraged by the experience that 

 the}- sold out at a great sacrifice. This dis- 

 ease w-as mentioned by R. C. Aiken in an ar- 

 ticle on p. 479. I found, when I reached 

 Omaha, Neb., and stopped there with R. M. 

 Lew-is, one of the principal bee-keepers of that 

 city, tliat the bees there this year seem to be 

 affected in the same w-ay as those w^ere last 

 year around Denver. The disease seemed to 

 affect the bees in much tUe same way as paral- 

 ysis, and yet it seemed to be more fatal, strong 

 colonies wasting aw-ay in a very short time. 

 It was confined to a limited area about Den- 

 ver last year, and this year in Omaha the bees 

 affected are mostly within a radius of five 

 miles. It has puzzled the bee-keepers, and is 

 puzzling them to this day to know- the cause. 

 There are large lead and silver smelting- works 

 in both territories aff'ected, and some have as- 

 signed the cause to the poisonous gases from 

 the smelting-works. But if that were the 

 cause, why should it not operate every year ? 

 It is surely something that should be thorough- 



