GLEANlKaS IN BEE CULTUrJ; 



EEKEEPING AmONG THE MOCKIEl 



"esley Foster, BouiMer, Colorado. 



THE LOCAL MARKET. 



The local market has quite a supply of 

 comb and extracted honey still on hand, and 

 some will undoubtedly be carried over. The 

 comb honey has not showed any appreciable 

 signs of gi'anulation. No. 1 and fancy comb 

 honey are retailing now at 10 cents in most 

 of the stores. No. 2 honey sells for 8 1-3 

 cents, but this is somewhat under weight. 

 The grocers are selling the comb honey for 

 about what the honey cost them in trade, or 

 a little less. * * * 



WHY SWARMS GO TO THE HILLS. 



Why issuing swarms almost invariably go 

 to the foothills has been a question for 

 which I have not had a satisfactory answer. 

 This is true of nearly all the apiaries located 

 from one to eight or ten miles of the foot- 

 hills. Do the bees see the mountains and 

 instinctively go toward them, or do they 

 make toward the hills because the early 

 spring pollen and nectar come from them? 

 The foothills do not furnish any thing like 

 the satisfactory pasturage throughout the 

 season that is to be had from the alfalfa- 

 fields, but perhaps the bees size up the situ- 

 ation by the early indications. 



WE WANT IT DRY. 



The editor, in the May 1st issue, says that 

 the Weather Bureau reports that an ex- 

 tremely wet season is likely to be followed 

 by a dry one. We have had the wet season 

 here, and we hope that this season will be 

 hot and dry. Of course, we shall not hope 

 it will be dry in the East. But it is this 

 way : Up in our mountains are millions of 

 tons of frozen and packed snow — ice is 

 really what much of it is. The " woods " 

 are full of it up near the timber-line, and 

 much of this will not melt and come down 

 to furnish water for irrigation unless we 

 have hot, dry weather in July and August. 

 We generally like to have one or two good 

 rains in July and August ; but it so often 

 turns cold after a rain that we do not wish 

 for much rain in Colorado. 



PROSPECTS UP TO DATE. 



To date. May 9, we have had something 

 over seven inches of precipitation since 

 January 1 — over two inches above normal. 

 Apple orchards are just coming into bloom, 

 and dandelions liave been furnishing nectar 

 for about a week. Some of our colonies have 

 made preparations for swarming, and we 

 are bound to have some swarms during 



fruit-bloom. Two weeks more and the dan- 

 ger of alfalfa being frozen back will be 

 over. If we have no freeze, alfalfa should 

 be in bloom by the first week in June. Extra 

 supers of drawn combs have been put on 

 thirty or more colonies, and another week 

 will see more than one hundred more go on. 

 Colonies are at least 25 per cent stronger 

 at this date than last year ; but I think there 

 is less honey in the hives. 



* * « 



CELLAR WINTERING IN THE WEST. 



I have received several favorable reports 

 from Colorado and W^yoming of bees win- 

 tering very successfully in cellars. We have 

 very changeable winter weather in the inter- 

 mountain regions, and it would not surprise 

 me to see cellar wintering receive quite an 

 impetus in the next ten years. There is one 

 thing that augurs well for it, and that is 

 that it is easy to keep cellars dry in most 

 places. The most serious trouble I would 

 think would be in keeping the cellar cool 

 enough during some of the warm weather 

 we have some winters. 



* * * 



WHEN IS A COLONY INSPECTED ? 



That report of apiary inspection in Ari- 

 zona brings up again the question of what 

 constitutes the inspection of a colony of 

 bees. To me it seems that the inspection 

 should be thorough enough so that any dis- 

 cernible evidences of foul brood will be 

 found. I consider that an examination of 

 all the combs with brood in them, and all 

 the emjDty brood-combs for the dried scales, 

 constitutes a thorough inspection. With the 

 small amount of money available in most 

 States for apiary inspection I do not think 

 it advisable to inspect every hive in an 

 apiary unless there is disease found there or 

 unless there is considerable disease in the 

 neighborhood. The competence and ability 

 of the owner will be a factor too. It is not 

 right for the intelligent beekeepers to de- 

 mand the inspection of all their bees each 

 year by the inspector. I have been called 

 upon to inspect an apiary, and instructed 

 to bring along scissors to clip the queens. 

 It is possible to inspect 100 colonies a day 

 if they are located in large apiaries. I in- 

 spected 140 colonies one day, but the owner 

 worked with me, removing cover, cloth, and 

 follower-board, and replacing them when I 

 was through. The average number of colo- 

 nies inspected in a day by the inspectors in 

 Colorado would probably be 35 to 50. 



