June 1. 1911 



323 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colo. 



As soon as any bee-keeper writes of his lo- 

 cation, it seems to be a foregone conclusion 

 on the part of his neighbors that he is boom- 

 ing the country, and that the district will 

 soon be overstocked by in-rushing bee-keep- 

 ers. While some places are surely over- 

 stocked, considering the country as a whole 

 far more is lost from slii)shod methods. Mr. 

 (libson makes one point, page 274, May 1, 

 that is well to keep in mind, and that is, 

 that it is very desirable to have at least a 

 few really up-to-date bee-keei)ers near 

 enough so that sales of honey may be made 

 by the carload every year. It is well to have 

 neighbor bee-men, but we don't want them 

 too close. 



•^ 



Mr. P^ouch mentions, page 278, May 1, 

 having many queens balled Mhen hiving 

 swarms. I have noticed the same thing to 

 a limited extent. Early last September it 

 seemed as though a hive could hanlly be 

 opened without tlie bees immediately ball- 

 ing the queen. No honey was coming in, 

 and it was at the end of a season devoid of 

 a honey-tiow. One day four queens in suc- 

 cession were balled, and the mood for this 

 kind of ])erformance seemed to be so general 

 that work with the bees was discontinued 

 for the day. This, however, was the most 

 noticeable instance of balling which attract- 

 ed my attention during the fall. It looks 

 as though there might be some conditions 

 affecting this that we do not yet understand. 



Mr. Southworth says, page 268, May 1, 

 that all the honey his association puts out 

 goes through a clarifying and refining i)ro- 

 cesswliich removes all the pollen grains and 

 ferment germs. I can see how heating would 

 remove ferment germs, whatever tliey are; 

 but it certainly takes a fine strainer to take 

 out the pollen grains. How are we to test 

 honey to knew its source if the pollen grains 

 have Vjeen separated from it? I do not know 

 what advantage there would be in removing 

 them from honey, any way, unless they 

 were so thick as to affect the taste of it; and 

 I never saw any thing of that kind here. I 

 shall await further enlightenment from Mr. 

 Southworth with interest. 



FAILUBE OF THE COLORADO FOrL-BKOOD 

 BILL. 



Our foul-brood bill did not go through the 

 legislature for a numVjer of reasons. The 

 principal one, no doubt, was that we could 

 not have one or more men camjnng at the 

 capitol all the time, interesting the legisla- 

 tors in the need of its passage. We did not 

 get any of the senators nor rei)resentatives 

 really interested in the bill. Another reason 

 was the fact that this was the most useless ses- 

 sion everheld. Mayor Speer, of Denver, want- 



ed to be Unite<l States 8enator; the Denver 

 machine tried to elect him, and the ojiposi- 

 tion prevented his election. Consequently 

 the energies of the session were expended in 

 the fight, though they did find time to ap- 

 propriate $600,000 more than the State's in- 

 come. One-third of the bills introduced 

 called for appropriations. We shall have to 

 try again. 



-*- 



I have had considerable to say about shij)- 

 ping-cases; and as Mr. Crane has expressed 

 surprise, p. 239, Ai)ril 15, that the subject of 

 corrugated shipi)ing-cases has not been dis- 

 cussed more, I will give some of the reasons 

 why I do not think they will gain an exten- 

 sive hold here in the West. 



The majority of Colorado bee-keepers (and 

 I believe also the majority of Western bee- 

 keepers) have adopted the double-tier woo<l 

 shipping-case with glass front as their stand- 

 ard. The trade tliat we supply want honey 

 in this case, and will pay more for it. Hav- 

 ing admitted that honey will ship better in 

 the corrugated case in local shipments, it 

 still remains that i)robably not over a tenth 

 of Colorado's comb-honey crop ever goes to 

 market other than in car lots, and double- 

 tier wood cases hantUe easier, pack better, 

 and ship as well in car lots as any case made. 

 The double-tier case, when filled with alfal- 

 fa comb honey, is the handsomest one that 

 is on the market. I make tliis statement 

 without a doubt in my own mind. Looks 

 help sell honey, and this will help to keep 

 the double-tier case in the front window. 



Then cost is a mighty consideration. 

 The double-tier glass-front cases with two- 

 inch glass cost us 16>^ cents each here, and 

 1 get them nailed togetlier for one cent each 

 by neighbor boys. Now, if Mr. Crane could 

 supply the corrugated case for the same 

 money would we change? Xot until the 

 buyers demand it. They are the ones to 

 be interested, for they liave to stand the 

 blame in breakage when reshipi)ing, for we 

 ship in car lots. Will comb honey go as 

 well in corrugated cases, uncrated, as will 

 double-tier wood cases sent in carrier crates? 

 If it will, then we shall see the more general 

 use of the corrugated crate where local ship- 

 ments of comb honey are the rule. I do not 

 expect to see the corrugated case sujiplant 

 the wood case here unless it is cheajier or 

 unless our market conditions change. 



There is one more objection to tlie corru- 

 gated-paper case, and that is, that the jiarti- 

 tions make it difficult to remove the section.s 

 of honey. Grocers' clerks have trouble 

 enough with the ordinary wood case in taking 

 out the sections, and I fear many a finger 

 and thumb find their way into the comb of 

 fancy honey when the section sticks tighter 

 than usual. What are the advantages of 

 the corrugated case where honey is not ship- 

 ped other than in car lots? 



