DECEMBER 1, 1916 



BEEKEEPING AMONG the ROCKIES 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colorado 



D()()littl(% Dr. Miller, etc., tlint llic tliousaiul- 

 colony beeiiien read their wriliniis very 



expression, 



SWEET CLOVER. 



The crop of sweet-clover seed 

 will be very short here this year 

 on account of the drouth in July. 

 Some of the fields that were irri- 

 gated have a good stand, and will 

 yield well; but the low price se- 

 cured for seed last year will deter many 

 from harvesting" any. The demand for 

 seed will ap])arently be pretty good this 



year. 



* * * 



Dr. Phillips says, page 418, of the No- 

 vember issue of The Beekeepers' Review, 

 that cautious spreading of brood will in- 

 crease brood-rearing. Under what conditions 

 may this be done? I have been taken to 

 task for advocating spreading brood, and 

 think that defense of the plan by Dr. Phil- 

 lips might help me out of a liard jiosition. 



Among the advances made in beedom 

 during 1916 is the extension and establish- 

 ing on a firm basis the shipping of bees in 

 combless packages. The use of honey move 

 generally has been heli>ed by beekeepers 

 thru circulars, demonstrations, advertising, 

 etc. Consumption is very well apace with 

 production. The advancing price of many 

 things entering into beekeeping has seri- 

 ously affected the profits of the business 

 however. Financing the farmer has nation- 

 wide attention; financing the beekeeper is 

 of as much importance to our busiriess. 



THAT MATTER OF SUPERI^^G. 



On page 1013, Nov. 1, Dr. Miller says 

 that my statement that we seldom have a 

 honey-flow heavy enough to justify lifting 

 supers and placing empty ones beneath is 

 another one on " locality." Well, 1 don't 

 know about that. I have an idea that I 

 could handle one hundred colonies of bees 

 in such a manner that in average seasons it 

 would be possible to put supers above and 

 below wiiJi success. Bee management is 

 never as intensive with 650 colonies as with 

 one hundred or less. My queens are not 

 so carefully selected, nor are cohmies so 

 well cared for, as would be possible with 

 a smaller number. I would not want to 

 compare my colonies in strength with Dr. 

 Miller's. But average yearly jirodnction of 

 honey per ma)i is more the aim in tlie com- 

 mercial-hcney sections of the West ; and 

 these successful ones are the fellows who 

 best apply intensive methods in an extensive 



way. 



a credit lo the old guard — Mr, 



carefully. Often 1 hear the 

 " Stick to Doolitlle." or. " You will not be 

 wrong to follow Di-. Miller." Our best 

 teachers are those who liave time to go to 

 the bottom of things. 



THE HOXEY MARKET. 



Extracted honey is in good demand at a 

 higher price by one cent a pound than last 

 year. Comb honey is slow sale, and there 

 is a tendency to shade prices to effect early 

 sales. Beekeepers who have not sold their 

 crop need money ; and as interest rates are 

 frojn 8 to 15 per cent it does not appeal to 

 the beekeeper to borrow money on his honey 

 to tide over until he can sell. The comb- 

 honey producer is up against a hard propo- 

 sition this year on account of the slow sale 

 of honey and a much higher price for sup- 

 plies. Help and all things entering into 

 production are higher, while the comb-honey 

 crop will net most producers less than the 

 average of former years. Cars of comb 

 honey are being offered at $2.00 and $2.25 

 in western Colorado, and at $2.50 and $2.75 

 in eastei-n Colorado. At these prices honey 

 production is not profitable unless large 

 crops are secured. 



If some method could be woi'ked uut so 

 that the comb honey could be shipjied dur- 

 ing warm weather, and then stored at des- 

 tination, and money sul'ficient for the bee- 

 keepers' needs advanced upon it until sold 

 it would help wonderfully. When beekeep- 

 ers wait for buyers for a month or two 

 I hey get desjierate and have to sell for any 

 thing they can get. This depresses the mar- 

 ket so that those who have already bought 

 at high ]irices lose money l)ecause they 

 have to compete with the honey that has 

 !)een unloaded on the mai'ket. 



[]\fr. Foster is (|uite right in many of his 

 il)servations. The closing-out (I' the comb- 

 honey cro)) late in tlie season at reduced 

 piices to obscure channels of trade is very 

 likely pi'oductive of great harm. Sales of 

 an entire crop at a un.iform jirice for the 

 same quality will helj) the market in oui' 

 opinion. For example, to sell one car at 

 $2.75, another at $2.50, and the last at $2.25, 

 will net the producer no more than the .sale 

 of all lin-ee at $2..50; but tlie market will be 

 serioui^ly affected by the reduction from 

 $2.75 at the openii'g of the season to $2.25 

 at the dose, leaving it in poor condition for 

 the following season. — Ed.] 



