1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



93 



years before, and in proof referred us to his 

 book, "Facts about Bees;" and now in the 

 January Progressive, this same cover, the one 

 we illustrated in our Nov. 15th issue, is shown ; 

 and of it Mr. Leahy says " we were the first to 

 put it on the market years ago ; " but from a 

 private letter I take it that this does not refer 

 to the hollow batten which he says they first 

 made in December, 1898 ; in proof of which he 

 refers to several parties, among whom maj' be 

 named W. J. Rouse. We have no desire to de- 

 prive the Leahy Co., or any one else, of credit 

 rightly their due ; and if the Higginsville people 

 had described or illustrated this cover, at the 

 time they adopted it in December, 1898, we 

 should have given due acknowledgment. But 

 perhaps then we should have had to square up 

 with Mr. Danzenbaker, whose claim for some- 

 thing the same in metal goes back earlier. 



THE COLORADO STATE BEE-KEEPERS' CON- 

 VENTION, CONTINUED ; ALFALFA AS A 

 HONEY PLANT. 



Let's see. We left off where the bee-keep- 

 ers of Colorado were discussing the effect of 

 overstocking in many localities. Following 

 this there was a good deal said regarding al- 

 falfa ; and in the course of the discussion it 

 developed that this plant, by reason of irriga- 

 tion, although one of the most certain and re- 

 liable sources of honey that there is in the 

 world, does not invariably yield ; but sweet 

 clover had never been known to fail ; and 

 while it is by no means an important honey- 

 plant in the State, yet coming as it did in con- 

 nection with and following alfalfa, it went a 

 long way toward piecing out the honey-flow. 



And speaking of sweet clover, that reminds 

 me that, while in the State, after tasting many 

 samples, I got so I could tell when there was 

 a little of it in alfalfa honey. The flavor of a 

 little sweet clover in alfalfa is not unlike that 

 of the old hoarhound candy that we used to 

 eat in our childhood days, and is very pleas- 

 ant. After eating pure alfalfa, one finds it a 

 pleasure to change over to alfalfa and sweet 

 clover mixed, and vice versa ; but, all things 

 considered, I am of the opinion that pure al- 

 falfa will wear longer than that which has a 

 little of the pleasant flavor of the sweet clover. 



Within seven miles of the bees of the Rauch- 

 fuss brothers there were something like 2000 

 colonies, and this locality as a whole was con- 

 sidered exceptionally good for alfalfa and 

 sweet clover combined. 



Formerly the alfalfa yielded more honey 

 than now. One reason for this was because 

 the ranchers cut their alfalfa earlier, just at a 

 time when the flowers are at their very best. 

 Still another reason, there are more bees to a 

 given acreage of the plants than in former 

 days. Mr. Adams estimated that there are 

 ten bees now where there was one then. Dai- 

 ry interests had so increased that it made it 

 necessary to cut alfalfa earlier than usual ; but 

 grasshoppers, according to Mr. Porter, were 

 very destructive to alfalfa. Take away these 

 pests, and they could double the number of 

 colonies in a locality. Quite a number assent- 

 ed to this statement. 



In the general discussion that fo >wed, it 

 developed that grasshoppers would sometimes 

 clean every thing up. l%ven corn four feet 

 high has been eaten down clear to the roots ; 

 then when alfalfa was in bloom the hoppers 

 had a fashion of eating the bloom itself, let- 

 ting the rest go 



Prof. C. P. Gillette, entomologist for the 

 Colorado Kxperiment Station, whose picture is 

 here given, was of the opinion that the^^bee- 



PROF. C. p. GILLETTE. 



keepers of the convention were overestimat- 

 ing the damage done by the.=e insect enemies. 

 Their destructive work could be greatly re- 

 duced by plowing the eggs under the sod at 

 certain seasons of the > ear ; but when the 

 pests are at work they can be destroyed by what 

 is known as "bran mash " distributed along 

 the outside of the field. The question was 

 asked how to make the mash. The professor 

 said that the formula usually given was one 

 part of Paris green to six of good sharp 

 bran and some cheap molasses. Some thought 

 this too strong, and that less of the Paris green 

 would do just as well. Sometimes a little 

 white arsenic to two pounds of mash with mo- 

 lasses was used. 



And speaking of Prof. Gillette, he is one of 

 the most approachable and genial of men one 

 often meets. He takes an unusual interest in 

 bees, and at the experiment station at Fort Col- 

 lins has conducted a variety of experiments in 

 apiculture, the results of which he has given at 

 the regular meetings of the Colorado State Con- 

 vention. It is with no little pleasure that I 

 introduce one of whom I feel we shall hear 

 more of in the future. 



separators vs. no separators for COL- 

 ORADO. 



On the afternoon of the second day a very 

 spirited discussion arose over whether it was 

 necessary or advisable to use separators in the 

 production of comb honey. J. E. Lyon took 



