536 



Glennines in Bre Cultuie 



\iFmm UcpcDm [Eal^iJciCP^DDil [FB^Dd]; 



Bee-keeping in Colorado ; the Number of Colonies 

 that May be Kept in One Locality. 



1. In what is consUkrtd a good bee country (Col- 

 orado), in a good alfalfa district, wliat would be a 

 conservative estimate, taking one year with anoth- 

 er, as to the amount of surplus comb honey a colo- 

 ny of bees should produce? 



2. How many more pounds of extracted than of 

 comb honey may be figured on? 



3. How many acres of alfalfa should be figured on 

 to pasture one colony when there are from two to 

 four cuttings a year, counting that there was no 

 other forage? 



4. Would there necessarily be a limit to the num- 

 ber of colonies in one yard where there is sufficient 

 forage in a radius of 1% or 2 miles? I have been 

 told that 100 colonies in one yard Is the maximum 

 for best results in any country, regardless of the 

 amount of iDasturage, and no other bees in the 

 neighborhood. I can not see any reason for this if 

 they get the same attention. 



5. In taking a neighbor's bees on shares, when the 

 renter takes the bees from winter quarters in the 

 spring, does all the work, allows but one swarm 

 from a colony, furnishes all the hives and tools, and 

 every thing except the articles that hold the sur- 

 plus that belongs to the owner, such as sections and 

 foundation, or cans for extracted, the renter taking 

 all the Increase of bees (first swarms), all after- 

 swarms to be returned to original stock or united 

 for the owner, and all orignal stock belonging to 

 the owner returned at the end of the season, read,v 

 for winter in winter quarters, what part of the hon- 

 ey should the renter get, counting the honey both 

 from the original colony and the swarm, not count- 

 ing the honey in the brood-chamber of the swarm, 

 supposing the swarm to be put in a new hive with 

 foundation, or not more than one frame of brood 

 from original stock to the swarm at the time the 

 swarm Issues? How should the surplus hon^y from 

 the original colony and swarm be divided to make 

 a square deal? 



6. Can .you tell me of any especially favorable lo- 

 cation for bees in Colorado? 



7. Would you think that 200 colonies in two yards 

 about four miles apart would be more than one 

 man could attend to by putting in his whole time, 

 counting on help during swarming time only? 



Enid, Okla. C. \V. Dillon. 



[1. Practically all the bee territory in Colorado is 

 confined to those areas where alfalfa is grown. 

 There are some places where the Rocky Mountain 

 bee-plant and sweet clover grow on the mesas and 

 the mountain-sides. There are also some other 

 places where considerable fruit is grown. In these 

 places fruit-bloom honey Is produced early in the 

 season in some quantities. But most of the avail- 

 able locations for bees are taken up by bee-keepers 

 —that is to say, the country is very much over- 

 stocked throughout most of the alfalfa district. 

 But we understand that some new territory is soon 

 to be opened up by Irrigation, and we would sug- 

 ge.st that you write to the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, and find out what places there 

 will be in Colorado or any other State if you would 

 consider going to any other locality where alfalfa 

 would be grown in considerable quantity. We 

 would then advise you to make application, and lo- 

 cate your yard as soon as possible, before any one 

 else gets there, because it is getting to be a sort of 

 unwritten law that the first bee-man on the field 

 has a prior right to the territory. Bvit, unfortu- 

 natel.v, in many cases we find there are too many 

 bee-keepers and too many bees for the locality, even 

 In spite of the " unwritten law." We don't know 

 what the average is in Colorado — probably not to 

 exceed 50 lbs. Years ago, before there was so much 

 overstocking, it was nearer 100 lbs. 



2. This is a hard question to answer. Some bee- 

 keepers figure only 10 per cent more; but the aver- 

 age usually figure anywhere from 33 to 50 per cent 

 more. A good deal depends on the bee-keeper and 

 the locality. Some places are better adapted for 

 producing extracted than comb. 



4. Yes, generally speaking there would be need of 

 a limit to the number of colonies in any one locali- 

 ty. Where there are large areas of alfalfa to be 

 grown, you can probably put more than 100 colo- 

 nies to the radius of a mile and a half. But in that 

 case we would not advise putting all the bees in 



one place. Put them at least half a mile, or, better 

 still, three-quarters of a mile apart. By being thus 

 divided in the two locations you might be able to 

 put in 200 and possibly 300 colonies. But the aver- 

 age alfalfa district would probably not support 

 much over 1.50 colonies to the 1^-mile radius, be- 

 cause alfalfa is not grown in all of the territory. 

 No, 100 colonies is not a maximum for all localities. 

 We know of places in the United States where 500 

 colonies or even a larger number can be supported 

 in one location. The largest number we know of 

 is in the buckwheat district of New York — one lo- 

 cality in particular where thei-e are something like 

 800 or 900 colonies all in one yard. Another place is 

 in California, where as many as 500 are kept; and 

 we presume there are locations in Colorado where 

 possibl.v 200 or 300 might be handled very profitably; 

 but as a rule, that number lor a lJ4-mile radius 

 very greatly overstocks the territory. 



5. We do not know that we can answer your 

 question exactly as you have put It; but we may 

 say in a general way that the owner of the bees 

 usviall.v furnishes all the supplies and every thing 

 that is required in the way of building, utensils, 

 machinery, and general equipment at his own ex- 

 pense. The other party furnishes all the labor, and 

 each party shares equally in the crop of honey, and 

 equally in the cost of shipping-cases, sections, hon- 

 ey-bottles, cans, and any other containers that may 

 be used for honey. You will find a contract some- 

 thing along these lines, covering every phase of the 

 matter, given under the head of " Bees on Shares " 

 in our ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



6. We can not answer this question any more 

 than we have indicated in the other replies. 



7. You can easily put 200 in a range of four miles 

 as you suggest, and we see no reason why one man 

 could not easily take care of that many. Indeed, 

 he ought to be able to handle a much larger num- 

 ber. — Ed.] 



A Queen-sieve Made of an Extra Bottom-board. 



I notice In Sittings, p. 419, July 15, comments on 

 making a bee-sieve for finding queens. My meth- 

 od may be described in bee-books, and It may have 

 its faults, but It works very well for me. It Is quick 

 and sure, and the sieve is easy to make. Place a 

 wood-zinc excluder on the small entrance side of 

 an extra bottom, and exchange with the hive-bot- 

 tom. Lift the frames out carefully so that the 

 queen may not drop off, and shake lightly in front. 

 Of course, if you see her on one of the first frames, 

 or running In at the front, it is unnecessary to con- 

 tinue. She is ready for you on the lower side of the 

 excluder, with a few workers near her. Proceed by 

 slipping the excluder and bottom foi'ward, replac- 

 ing the hive-bottom board. A little smoke clears 

 away any bees on the upper side of the excluder, 

 and the queen and drones, if any, are where you 

 want them. In the spring the bees are up on the 

 frames in from five to ten minutes. If they are in- 

 clined to be lazy, a little smoke expedites matters. 



r.alena, Kan. J. P. Bbumfield. 



Queens Laid More than One Egg in a Cell. 



Last year I bought two queens, and was well 

 pleased with them. They went into the cellar in 

 fine condition, but both colonies were troubled 

 with dysentery before spring. They didn't .seem to 

 be building up as last as they should, so I exam- 

 ined them thoroughly, and found a queer state of 

 affairs. One queen was laying from two to six and 

 even eight eggs in a cell. I caught her and placed 

 her on some comb under a glass and watched her. 

 Then I killed her. 



The other is not so bad, but she lays two eggs in 

 a good many cells, and occasionally three. The 

 young bees appear to be all right. Do you think it 

 will do to try to raise another queen from her 

 eggs? I have just one colony now, as I united 

 them. Did the dysentery cause the trouble? 



Edinburg, N. D., June 1. Mrs. M. S. Trouslin. 



[Queens that begin laying regularly — that is, one 

 egg in a cell — do not ordinarily begin at a later date 

 to lay Irregularly unless the conditions of the brood- 

 chamber are such that they have not enough room. 

 Possibly your brood-chambers were clogged with 

 honey. In other words, the bees may have started 

 to store honey in the brood-combs; and as fast as 

 the brood hatched they filled the cells with honey 



