GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



59 



are ready for any kind of rough handling, and 

 for almost any distance by rail. 



It developed in the discussion that very many 

 vi^ere fond of candied honey; and Mr. Aikin 

 had no doubt been responsible for educating 

 consumers in his locality to the palatability of 

 honey in that form. 



THE ECCENTRICITIES OF CANDIED HONEV. 



Following this little talk of Mr. Aikin on 

 develop'ng the home market, there was a dis- 

 cussion on the subject of candied honey. Mr. 

 W. L- Porter, a resident of Denver, one of the 

 most extensive bee-keepers in Colorado, said 

 that his honey, after candying solid, would 

 sometimes return to a semi-liquid form. In- 

 deed, quite a number reported that their honey 

 behaved in this manner. Both Mr. Aikin and 

 Mr. Porter, as well as some others, reported 

 that, out of several cans filled out of the same 

 lot of honey, and at the same time, some would 

 candy solid and others remain liquid. Mr. 

 Aikin reported that he had some honey that 

 was exhibited at the World's Fair. It candied 

 solid, and was now apparently going back to 

 the liquid condition. From year to year it 

 seemed to change in its general character, and 

 the granules to assume a different color. 



After the convention Mr. Aikin showed me 

 some of this honey. It looked like any old 

 candied honey ; but it was interesting to see 

 how different it looked from that which had 

 been candied for only a few months. 



As we learned later in the convention from 

 Dr. Hedden, of the Colorado Agricultural Col- 

 lege, of Fort Collins, there is only a certain 

 portion of honey that reall)' candies or assumes 

 the granular form. Honey is made up of two 

 elements besides water — levulose and dextrose. 

 The latter candies, and the former remains a 

 liquid. When one looks at a jar or pail of 

 candied honey it seems almost impossible to 

 believe that every particle of it has not can- 

 died. But the professor explained that, if the 

 mass were subjected to a heavy pressure, the 

 liquid portion (the levulose and water) would 

 be squeezed out. 



OVERSTOCKING IN COLORADO. 



On Tuesday morning, the second day of the 

 convention, the subject of overstocking a lo- 

 cality was assigned by the program committee 

 to J. E. Lyon, of Longmont, a bee-keeper 

 who owns and takes care of something like 500 

 colonies 30 miles from Denver. Longmont is 

 a good locality for bees, and there are close 

 on to 2000 colonies within five miles of Mr. 

 Lyon's home, and, naturally enough, it was 

 supposed that Mr. Lyon would have some 

 grievance to present ; but he had nothing of 

 the kind. He went on to explain that a given 

 area in some portions of Colorado would sup- 

 port many more colonies than an equal area in 

 the East ; but, notwithstanding, he believed 

 there was a good deal of overstocking in Col- 

 orado. Apiaries would increase in size and 

 increase in number ; and he and his friends 

 had noticed that the average annual yield de- 

 creased somewhat in proportion to the increase 

 in the number of colonies in his immediate vi- 

 cinity. Some winter bees died off very badly 

 because Colorado winters are exceptionally 

 hard on bees, and last winter was one of them. 



The many warm days they had in winter 

 drew the bees out, causing the clusters to 

 expand and make general preparations for 

 brood-rearing. A sudden drop in temperature 

 caused many bees to die. The result of this 

 was, that the question of overstocking was, to 

 a certain extent, taking care of itself, because 

 the large increase was pulled down largely by 

 winter losses ; but he could see a slight in- 

 crease in the number of bees, in spite of such 

 losses, and that consequently there was a 

 slight decrease in the amount of honey per 

 colony. vSome localities for an apiary might 

 support 50 colonies, and make a nice little 

 profit for their owner, when, if he were to place 

 in that spot 150, they would starve ; yet some 

 localities he knew would support for a single 

 apiary 300 colonies. For example, Mr. D. 

 Moon, of Golden, Colo., had 330 in one place, 

 but he said there were immense quantities of 

 sweet clover and alfalfa there. Where there 

 is nothing but alfalfa to depend on, so large a 

 number in one apiary would prove too many. 

 Mr. Lyon believed emphatically in the prin- 

 ciple of the largest amount of returns for the 

 least amount of labor ; and that one should be 

 careful not to get more colonies in an apiary 

 than one's particular locality will support to 

 advantage. A locality having both alfalfa and 

 sweet clover will stand more than when it de- 

 pends on alfalfa alone. The former will not 

 jield honey invariably every year, while the 

 latter will. 



In the discus.sion that followed, it was some- 

 what a matter of surprise to a tenderfoot like 

 me to learn how many colonies could be sup- 

 ported on a given area in Colorado. Notwith- 

 standing only a tenth of the State is under 

 cultivation, or ever likely to be, and that bees 

 can be kept only in these cultivated areas, the 

 average annual output from these limited por- 

 tions of the State in honey is simply enormous, 

 in spite of the fact that bees are packed in 

 these localities so thickly that one would 

 think there were would be no chance for any 

 one to make a living. 



SHOULD BEE-KEEPERS EMIGRATE TO COLO- 

 RADO? 

 Now let me give a word of caution to the 

 tenderfoot of the East who may look with 

 longing eyes over toward Colorado. Take my 

 advice. Keep out of it. The good bee locali- 

 ties are already overstocked, and I did not 

 learn of a single place where an Easterner or 

 anybody else could locate and go into bee- 

 keeping profitably, or, perhaps I might better 

 say, honorably, because the localities have 

 been so thoroughly taken up that it should be 

 a matter of honor for others to keep out. I 

 know of no way in which one can go into 

 these fields without buying some one out. It 

 is true, that certain portions of Colorado that 

 are now barren deserts may some day, when 

 hydraulics is a little better understood than 

 now, be made veritable little gardens of Eden ; 

 but until some method or plan is discovered 

 whereby water can be elevated 500 or perhaps 

 1000 feet, some of the best agricultural lands, 

 now deserted and dry, simply for want of 

 water, will continue to remain so. 



I know I am digressing somewhat from the 



