234 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Colorado Farmer. 



Bee-Culture in Colorado. 



The following is an address 

 read before Loveland Farmer's In- 

 stitute, Feb. 17, 1882, by Mr. J. 

 McMillan : The snbject assigned me 

 on the present occasion is one of im- 

 portance ; second to none investigated 

 at this Institute except water. It is 

 one on wliich much might be said 

 with profit. For several reasons I 

 shall be brief and will only speak of 

 that part of bee-culture that I think 

 is adapted to the wants of this coun- 

 try. I will examine the sub.iectunder 

 three heads: 1st. Will it pay V 2d. 

 ■Can I succeed in the business V 3d. 

 The management of bees. 



As a prelude, we take it for granted 

 that nearly everybody is fond of 

 honey, and would like to have it if 

 they could without too much trouble. 

 Ah, there it is— trouble ! Now, I 

 want to tell you at the start, you can- 

 not have as good a thing as honey is 

 without some trouble. 



" W'ill it pay V is, I presume, an in- 

 quiry in the minds of almost every 

 person liere to-day. Whether it will 

 pay (U- not depends eulirely upon cir- 

 cumstances. If you get some bees 

 and ])ut them in a hollow log or a 

 square box, leaving theui to take care 

 of themselves, being expo.sed to the 

 ravages of insects and all kinds of 

 weather, it won't pay. You might 

 just as well expect to succeed in farm- 

 ing witli tlie old wooden plow, drag 

 your seed in with a brush, re.ip your 

 harvest with aliook, tliresh yourgrain 

 •out with a flail, clean (uit the ciiaff: 

 with a slieet, go to mill on a horse, 

 witti graiu in one end of the sack and 

 a rock in tlie otlier, as to expect to 

 make it pay by keeping bees in a liol- 

 low log or square box. Oue of the 

 most essential things in order to make 

 it pay is good stock— strong colonies 

 of pure Italians or hybrids. There is 

 but little difference in tlieir working 

 qualities. I prefer the pure Italians ; 

 they are easier managed, and can 

 work on some flowers tliat the others 

 cannot. Wlien any brancli of busi- 

 ness pays its way and a net profit 

 equal to tlie usual rates of interest, it 

 is considered a paying business. I 

 I submit a statement wliicli makes a 

 better sliowin^ for tlie little busy bee 

 than common interest. 



The first of last May [ bought 2 col- 

 onies of Italian bees. When on their 

 stands ready for work, they cost me 

 about as follows : 



Two hives feiich. |! 112.1 10) f24-iH"l 



Five new hives 12.50 



Total coat $36.50 



By honey, ■2r,'j pounds, (Vi 2.'t cents $ (i4.7r> 



By five swarminKs (.*12.oo each) i50.(Xj 



Total tlitT."! 



Deductcoat '. 36.50 



The above shows a net profit of 

 about 240 per cent. 



The second inquiry by several is, 

 " Ca.n I succeed V"' 



I take it for granted that wliat one 

 person has done others may, all ttiings 

 being equal. If you will" study the 

 nature of bees, and become acquain- 

 ted with their habits, and attend to 



them as you would your horses, cat- 

 tle or sheep, I can see no reason why 



you should not succeed. 



If our cattle or sheep men would 

 treat their stock like many persons do 

 their bees, they would soon quit the 

 business. 



The first and one of the most im- 

 portant things in the management of 

 bees is a good hive. What I mean by 

 a good hive is one that has movable 

 comb frames, convenient in its cmi- 

 strnctiou and durable in its make-n)). 

 They may differ in form, but. those 

 three points every hive should have. 

 It is better for all the hives in the 

 apiary to be alike, so you can divide 

 and change frames from one hive to 

 another. I would recommend divid- 

 ing for increase, instead of swarming; 

 not so apt to lose bees. But don't go 

 too fast. From three to six times is 

 enouah, if you want to keep your bees 

 healthy and strong. 



You need a one-and-a-half or two 

 story hive for taking honey, eitlier in 

 boxes or with an extractor. I have 

 not found it profitable to take much 

 honey from the lu'ood chamlier. I5e 

 sure and leave plenty of honey in the 

 brood chamber, or near it, for winter 

 supply. 



Bees should have shade in summer, 

 and comfortable quarters in winter. I 

 do not think anything more is needed 

 here in winter than a tight board 

 house, with an opening for bees to 

 p;iss out when they want to. But be 

 sure and keei) the snow and ice out of 

 the lower part of the hives, so the bees 

 will not smother. 



Last, but not least, in the manage- 

 ment of bees, is bee pasture. Nature 

 lias furnished this country with some 

 of the finest honey plants I have ever 

 got acquainted with. The two most 

 prominent I have noticed in the past 

 season, was the oleoma and the core- 

 opsis. There is quite a variety of 

 honey plants that may l)e grown here 

 successfully, if farmers and gardeners 

 would .scatter the seed where there is 

 moisture. White clover and migno- 

 nette would grow here in many places 

 if the seed were sown, but the natural 

 resources for honey will not be ex- 

 haustpcl for some time to come. A 

 majority of the native flowers furnish 

 honey or pollen, besides many trees. 

 Every acre of land brought under 

 cultivation adds resources to bee 

 range. There is no necessity for 

 California or Utah honey being 

 brought here to supply our markets 

 when we have plenty right at our 

 doors, if we will only gather it in. 

 Within a radius of five mile.s from the 

 center of Loveland. during the past 

 season, there was ten thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of honey lost for want of 

 bees to gather it, and of a quality 

 that will compare favorably with the 

 honey of any country. 



Mr. Washburn : IIow do you divide 

 a colony V 



Mr. McMillan : I would make a new 

 colony about the 1st of May, though 

 much depends on circumstances and 

 season. Some years I can divide 

 more than others, as, for instance, 

 last year, I commenced earlier and 

 divided oftener. Whenever drones 

 begin to make their appearance I di- 



vide. Some say to wait until queen 

 cells are formed, but you can divide 

 sooner. I have two ways of dividing. 

 1st. Take half the frames from a 

 well fllled hive and place in an empty 

 one. Might take more than half. 

 2d. Take one frame each from eight 

 hives and place in new hive. Let 

 them alone and they will rear a queen. 

 Both plans are successful. Don't di- 

 vide ^our bees too much. I did mine 

 the hrst year and by fall had a big 

 showing, but in the spring I could 

 not brag a bit. 



Mr. Washburn : In the second 

 method, does it make any difference 

 what frames you take ? 



Mr. iMcMillan : Yes ; do not take 

 outside frames, for tliey are not as 

 sure to contain enough young bees, 

 larvfe and eggs as those nearer the 

 center. 



i\Ir. Siirague : Can bees be reared 

 with success 8,000 feet above sea 

 level ? 



Mr. McMillan : As a rule, where- 

 ever flowers bloom and seeds mature, 

 bees can exist. The only difficulty 

 would be in winter. I think bees 

 could exist in the niountains. 



Mr. Ilollowell : Will bees remain 

 ill the new hive 'f Won't the v go back 'i* 



Mr. McMillan : Tliey will stay. In 

 moving frames from one hive to an- 

 other a number of old bees will be 

 moved to new hives. These bees will, 

 for the most part, stay with the hive 

 and care for tfie younger ones. 



jMr. Cole : Price of your hive V 



Mr. McMillan : AboiitS:5. 50, painted 

 and in good shape. Some say that 

 bees are neat and prefer nicely iiainted 

 hives to any other — will do much bet- 

 ter there. But paint your hives, at 

 any rate ; they v\'ill Inst longer. 



Mr. Iliiiman: What is the length 

 of life of :i worker bee V 



Mr. McMillan: Cannot give this 

 from my own ob.servation. IJut they 

 live 2o to .SO days. After a bee leaves 

 the hive iiiid goes to wcu'k it soon 

 works itself out. 



I^Ir. Hinnian : Must not bees kept 

 over winter have a jilace to breed 'i* 

 Would not the swarm otherwise cease 

 to exist V 



Mr. McMillan : There is such a 

 thing as their raising young bees dur- 

 ing tlie winter ; but bees go into a cer- 

 tain state and live longer in that state 

 than under lU'dinary circumstances. 

 It is best not to meddle with them in 

 the fall. Let them fill their hives with 

 honey in the fall, and they will come 

 out all right in the spring. I tried 

 taking part of the honey away from 

 some of niy bees one fall and left the 

 rest as they had provided for winter. 

 Those I made room for came out in 

 bad shape in the spring. You can be 

 too anxious with your bees. Give 

 your bees a chance and they will suc- 

 ceed. 



i^The Chaniplain Valley Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold their semi- 

 annual meeting at Middlebury, Vt., 

 May 11, 1882. T. Bkookins, Sec. 



^g" Those who may wish to change 

 from other editions to the ^Veekly,can 

 do so by paying tlie difference. 



