FEBRUARY 1, 1914 



89 



Beekeeping Among the Rockies 



Wesley Poster, Boulder, Col. 



IS THE SUPPLY LIKELY TO BECOME GREATER 

 THAN THE DEMAND? 



Boulder County produced over three hun- 

 dred thousand pounds of honey the past 

 season — that is, ten carloads, and all comb 

 honey. One of the smallest counties in 

 Colorado produced twice the comb honey 

 that a city like St. Louis can consume in a 

 year. Forty beekeepers produced all the 

 comb honey that two million people eat. 

 There is something wrong, and conditions 

 must be changed, or we shall see worse 

 ahead in honey-marketing. When a State 

 like Colorado produces enough comb honey 

 to supply twenty cities like Kansas City 

 with their supply, consumable production 

 and overproduction are drawn on pi'etty 

 close lines. Western beemen must shortly 

 bestir themselves in the line of educating to 

 honey consumption. They are now paying 

 heavily for their blindness to the narrow- 

 ness of the market for comb honey. A 

 bumper crop will put us in bad shape every 

 year it comes. 



* * » 



HEAVY SNOV^FALL IN COLORADO. 



Northern Colorado has had the heaviest 

 snowfall in the writer's seventeen years' 

 residence in the State. All together more 

 than 40 inches of snow fell, completely 

 covering all hives. Concern for the safety 

 of the bees was immediately felt by the 

 beekeepers, as the snow was very heavy and 

 wet. Some began at once to shovel out the 

 hives, opening the entrances by digging a 

 trench along in front of the rows of hives. 

 Others, through lack of experience, shoveled 

 out the hives and set them on top of the 

 snow. A large proportion of the beemen, 

 however, left their colonies covered up, as it 

 was found that the warmth of the clusters 

 had melted the snow away from the four 

 sides fully eight inches. Fear, however, was 

 felt that, when the snoAv began to melt, it 

 would form a slush at the entrance, and 

 freeze at night, closing the entrance and 

 smothering the bees. The writer shoveled 

 his hives out by throwing the snow back 

 over the tops of the hives, leaving a trench 

 clear to the ground along in front of the 

 entrances. In this way the hives have the 

 protection of the snow on the remaining 

 three sides and the top. The entrances can 

 be watched, and any danger of freezing 

 quickly remedied. However, we have had 



several warm days which have melted the 

 snow close to the entrances nearly all away, 

 so that danger is now practically past. 



ALFALFA PROSPECTS FOR THE COMING SEASON. 



The precipitation for 1913 was nearly 19 

 inches, or 4 inches above normal. This 

 was caused by the big snow late in Novem- 

 ber and early in December. Abundant wa- 

 ter for irrigation is assured, and we hope 

 the present good prospects will continue. 



Alfalfa is our main dependence for honey. 

 The fall rains put all the clovers in prime 

 condition, and the heavy snow has protected 

 the clover since winter came. The ground 

 is not yet frozen, January 3, and it is not 

 probable that the snow will be gone for 

 another month. Alfalfa is injured more by 

 winter and spring freezing than in any 

 other way. The snow so far has prevented 

 winter-killing, and the usual winter pastur- 

 ing has not been done. The late spring 

 freezes are the most serious injury that can 

 come to the alfalfa; but these will be less 

 destructive as the hardier varieties are more 

 generally grown. It has been demonstrated 

 that the deep-green alfalfa will stand much 

 more freezing without injury than the light- 

 green varieties. With the selection of better 

 varieties, and their more general cultivation, 

 we may expect more uniform crops of alfal- 

 fa honey every year. 



The varieties of alfalfa that the beekeep- 

 ers and farmers may well enthuse over are 

 the Grimm and Baltic varieties. They have 

 proven superior in hardiness, tonnage, and 

 seed production. The southern varieties 

 which originally were introduced into South 

 America from Spain, and then brought 

 north, make up the bulk of our commercial 

 varieties now gi-own. 



There is another important characteristic 

 of the Grimm and Baltic varieties: They 

 begin blooming before getting full growth. 

 Fully ten days to two weeks of honey-gath- 

 ering is provided for the bees before the 

 alfalfa is ready at the earliest to cut. It is 

 reasonable to suppose that varieties heavier 

 in seed production are more valuable for the 

 honey-bee, and this is another point where 

 the northern varieties excel. 



May the time soon come, as it undoubted- 

 ly will, when the hardiest of the northern 

 varieties will be universally grown. As 

 selection goes on, it will not be long before 

 the hardiest varieties will be still further 

 improved. 



