JULY 1, 1916 



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BEEKEEPING AMONG the ROCKIES 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colorado 



Rain has fallen in the Arkansas 

 Valley of Colorado ; and while the 

 weather still is cool for the season 

 thruout the Rocky Mountain re- 

 gion, bees are building up fairly 

 well, and we are hoping for a fair 

 crop. Idaho has some hard freezes, 

 and bees did not winter very well; but no 

 doubt the usual amount of honey will be 

 readj^ for shipment as the season ends. 

 Apiaries in Boulder County vary very much 

 in strength. Some are building up strong, 

 while others are short of bees, and the 

 queens have not got down to regular sys- 

 tematic work. The solid frames of brood, 

 so necessary to rapid building, are lacking 

 in many colonies. 



A SERIOUS LOSS FROM FIRE. 



Mr. D. C. Polhemus, Colorado's most 

 extensive beekeeper, suffered a severe loss 

 recently in the burning of his warehouse. 

 The total loss is about twelve thousand 

 dollars with but $3100 insurance. The 

 building was full of supplies, extracting 

 combs, and honey. Mr. Polhemus injured 

 his foot at the time, but wrote me that it 

 would soon be well. The heaviest loss and 

 the hardest to recoup is the extracting 

 combs. As the entire equipment for two 

 thousand colonies was stored in the build- 

 ing, beekeepers can realize and sympathize 

 with Mr. Polhemus and son Edgar in their 

 great loss. 



PICNIC OF THE COLORADO HONEY-PRODUCERS 

 ASSOCIATION AT FORT COLLINS. 



On June 10 the annual picnic of the Colo- 

 rado Honey-producers' Association was held 

 in Fort Collins, at Lindenmeier Lake Park. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Lindenmeier, Jr., were 

 royal host and hostess to the 125 picnickers. 

 Coffee and lemonade were furnished by the 

 Fort Collins beekeepers, and the lunches 

 were spread on the tables provided under 

 the trees on the lake front. 



The program began at about ten o'clock, 

 with a discussion of the best methods of im- 

 proving our stock of bees. The valuable 

 point is to rear your own queens from the 

 best you can select in your own apiary. 

 Some advocated the purchase of breeders 

 from the best queen-rearers. 



Frank G. Rauchfuss demonstrated th'^ 

 starting of queen-cells artificially by the 

 Doolittle method. His father, Herman 



Rauchfuss, elucidated further along the 

 same line. The speed necessary to do good 

 work was well brought out. The strength 

 of a colony to build the cells was an im- 

 portant feature that was not omitted. 



Prof. C. P. Gillette, State Entomologist, 

 gave a talk on "The Bee Inspection Law of 

 Colorado," and some pointers on need of 

 greater care in handling diseased apiaries. 

 Beekeepers have not been careful enough 

 in handling the disease, nor following the 

 law closely enough in regard to moving- 

 bees. 



It began raining before Prof. Gillette 

 finished, and the crowd adjourned to the 

 dancing pavilion, where the morning pro- 

 gram was completed. The afternoon pro- 

 gram was taken up largely with discussion 

 of uses of honey in the home. Miss IVIiriam 

 Haynes, of the Department of Domestic 

 Science Extension work, of the Agricultural 

 College, was the principal speaker, and she 

 spoke of the very practical ways in which 

 honey may be used in place of sugar, when 

 sugar is so much higher in price than is 

 pure honey. The use of honey in hospitals 

 and sick rooms, she said, is raj^idly being 

 extended, as honey has been found to be so 

 nearly a predigested food. 



Mr. C. H. Wolfe, of Greeley, emphasized 

 the need for beekeepers using their local 

 papers in advertising honey, and told of 

 hie succass in selling his own crop in this 

 way. Mr. Wolfe is a live wire, and he puts 

 enthuoiasm in whatever he undertakes. 



A feature mentioned by Mr. Rauchfuss 

 was the use of little labels printed and plac- 

 ed in berrj'-crates. The wording suggested 

 on the slips distributed was, " Have you 

 ever sweetened berries with honey? If you 

 have not, try it today. It is delicious." It 

 is proposed that these slips be furnished 

 by the thousand to the fruit-gTower bee- 

 keeper at a nominal charge. [See editorial. 

 —Ed.] 



At the conclusion of the program most of 

 the picnickei's took an auto ride thru the 

 Agricultural grounds. There were about 

 twenty-five auto loads of beemen with their 

 wives and children, who left for their re- 

 spective homes at about four o'clock. 



Dr. H. T. French, Director of Extension ; 

 Prof. C. P. Gillette, Director of the Experi- 

 ment Station; Dr. George H. Glover, head 

 of the Veterinary School; George H. List, 

 Deputy State Entomologist, ar.d Miss Miri- 

 am Haynes attended the picnic from the 

 Agricultural College. 



