732 



Tliat plan was (keep in jiiiiid (hat the 

 cases were mild) to cage the queen and 

 leave her in the hive for eight or ten days 

 before releasing her. That sounds simple, 

 and it was simple — just caging the queen 

 for eight or ten days — that's all. An aver- 

 age of a little more than 206 sections per 

 colony from the 72 colonies, spring count, 

 devoted to sections, is pretty fair endorse- 

 ment of file plan. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Don't tiiink, however, that I got no pun- 

 ishment for having European foul brood. 

 The avei-age for the diseased colonies that 

 worked on sections w-is 232.29 each; for the 

 colonies that sliowed no disease it was 272 

 or more. Even 232 sections per colony shows 

 that one may do pretty well in spite of 

 European foul l^rood. 



Marengo, 111. 



MONEY" CROP CONDITIONS IN COLORADO 



BY WESLEY FOSTER 



There will not be anywhere near the 

 amount of honey shipped from Colorado 

 this year as last. The crop will not total 

 more than 60 per cent of last year's ship- 

 ments. The Arkansas Valley has not had 

 a good crojo generally. Around the westerii 

 and upjjer end of the valley the reports 

 ' are favorable — about Caiion City. In the 

 Orday and Rocky Ford district a very light 

 crop is reported. Little honey is being se- 

 cured in Bent County, while Prowers Coun- 

 ty makes a fair report. 



In the South Platte Valley a Light crop to 

 no crop at all is harvested. Northern Colo- 

 rado has had a jDoor to good crop. In the 

 Grand Valley, from Glenw^ood Springs to 

 Fruita, there will not be over 25 per cent of 

 the honey secured last year. 



Montrose and Delta counties will have a 

 small crop, probal^y 50 to 60 per cent of 

 last year. 



Southwestern Colorado will have a fair 

 crop if the season holds on long enough. 



The worms that were so troublesome in 

 Montrose and Delta counties were very de- 

 structive also in the Montezuma Valley. 

 They attacked the sweet clover in gTeat 

 numbers; but during the middle part of 

 August they disappeared. 



Northern New Mexico, close to the south- 

 western Colorado line, is liaving a fair 

 How from sweet clover. 



Prices should materially stiffen when it is 

 found how little shipping honey Colorado 

 will produce this year in comjiarison with 

 last. 



My report in August 1st Gleanings was 

 written about July 9, and was the best I 

 knew at that time. I missed the actual 

 conditions a good deal. The one who tries 

 to give crop conditions before August 15 in 

 Colorado is guessing on the crop, although 

 he may get the prospects and conditions 

 fairly accurate. 



Boulder, Colo. 



FEEDING TO CAUSE SELECT DRONES TO FLY WHEN YOUNG QUEENS 



ARE READY TO MATE 



BY MAJOR SHALLARD 



I recently noticed in the American Bee 

 Journal an account of some mating-stations 

 for queens in (I think) Switzerland. The 

 queens were sent to these places for fertili- 

 zation by choice drones, and returned when 

 mated. Are these mating-stations neces- 

 sary? I think not. Irrespective of the cost 

 of transmitting to and from these places, I 

 think (in fact, I am sure) that queens are 

 damaged by transmission through the mails, 

 and I should think the cost of any other 

 means of carriage would be too expensive to 

 be practicable. 



Another argument against these stations 

 is that such go-ahead people as your own 

 have not adopted them. That the control of 

 mating is under reasonable restraint Ls 

 ])roved by the high percentage of purely 



mated queens obtained by the breeders. Just 

 how far queens go from home I do not 

 know; but I am firmly convinced by my 

 own experience that they are very largely 

 mated to drones from their own apiai'y. I 

 will give an instance which tends to prove 

 this. ' 



When I first came here I was the only 

 one in the place who had Italian bees, and 

 they were a source of interest to the peo])le 

 about, who had never seen yellow bees be- 

 fore. The people round about had a few 

 boxes of black bees, and the trees also had 

 a share. Under these circumstances, unless 

 my queens were fertilized by drones from 

 my own hives they must necessarily meet 

 black ones; but my percentage was fully 75 

 ])er cent imrely mated. I have also been 



