140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



If left a few days too long tlie auiua v\ill be 

 woody; or if the season has been rather 

 wet the stems will be very large, and the 

 hay coarse, in which case stock will eat 

 onlj' the leaves and waste much of the ha3'. 

 If the alfalfa is grown for ft^ttening sheep 

 or for cattle that are being prepared for the 

 feeding corrals of the corn-belt it should 

 then be cut at the ver}' commencement of 

 bloom. At that stage the hay seems to con- 

 tain the elements necessary for fattening in 

 connection with the corn ration that is fed; 

 and, what is of equal importance to the 

 feeder, it is all eaten by the cattle, and a 

 much larger proportion of it by the sheep. 



I have in my possession, but can not place 

 my hand upon it at this moment, the report 

 on this subject, of the experiment* station 

 located in this city in connection with the 

 State Agricultural College. M3' recollec- 

 tion is that it corresponds very closely with 

 that from Nebraska, given in Gleanings 

 for Jan.l, and it would seem as though the 

 feeders in this locality place considerable 

 confidence in those experiments^or, more 

 likely, with the majority if their own experi- 

 ence corroborates the report. At all events, 

 the fact remains, which is the important 

 consideration with us as bee-keepers, that 

 a large proportion of the alfalfa-growers in 

 this (Larimer) county do cut their alfalfa 

 as soon as it has fairly begun to bloom. 

 We can not look for our main honej^-flow to 

 begin here before the 20th of June, because 

 not before the alfalfa blooms is there much 

 other forage, and that is not in full bloom 

 before that time. The ranchmen living on 

 three sides of me, who grow hundreds of 

 acres of alfalfa, make their arrangements 

 to begin cutting by the 10th; others even 

 earlier; and with the modern methods it re- 

 quires but a very few days to cut a large 

 average, so that, by the 20th, scarcelj' an 

 uncut field can be found. There can be no 

 doubt that this condition of things is hav- 

 ing a great influence on the honey crop of 

 this vicinit}'; and I see no prospect of any 

 improvement, as each j-ear the early cut- 

 ting seems to grow in favor with feeders. 

 Where, then, do we get the alfalfa honey 

 that still comes from this locality? Well, 

 as a matter of fact the ranchman does not 

 cut all the alfalfa. In these large fields of 

 from one hundred to several hundred acres, 

 as great care is not exercised as where on- 

 ly a few acres are grown, and considerable 

 is left standing along fences and ditches 

 and in out-of-the-way places where it is 

 not convenient to run the mower; so that 

 the bees, by a little extra exertion, still 

 find considerable forage. 



But, as I said at first, this is a question 

 of locality to a considerable extent. I know 

 of a neighborhood only a few miles from 

 here where the fields are left until they are 

 purple with bloom, and the fragrance is 

 most delightful, and the bees have only to 

 step out of the front door to load themselves 

 with all they can carry. Just why it is 

 left so there I do not know. 



The ideal location for bee-keepers in the 



ait.iir.t region is where the ranchmen be- 

 lieve the most money is to be made in rais- 

 ing alfalfa seed. If that were the prevail- 

 ing industr3' here the present average of al- 

 falfa would support ten or probabl}' twenty 

 times the number of colonies of bees now 

 here. As it is, the number already here 

 are liable to fare rather slim unless condi- 

 tions change; and the amount of alfalfa 

 honey produced in this locality will not glut 

 the markets of the world. 

 Fort Collins, Col. 



[It should be stated that these two arti- 

 cles, one by Mr. Green and the other by 

 Mr. McLean, were sent in before the bulle- 

 tin from the Fort Collins station reached 

 our office, but were overlooked till just now. 

 It will be remembered that the extracts 

 from it as given in our last issue were to 

 the efl:Vct that alfalfa cut when in full 

 bloom had more nutritive value in the ag- 

 gregate than that cut earlier; and it is 

 possible that the effect of this statement, 

 now going out before the ranchmen, will 

 have the efi^ect of cutting the hay laic rath- 

 er than early, as has been the practice 

 heretofore. We hope so; and let us do all 

 we can to encourage them in late cutting. 



But I am free to confess that, when I 

 went through the western country just pre- 

 ceding Mr. Green (two years ago), there 

 seemed to be a tendencj' to cut earlj^ The 

 evidence from the stations and private in- 

 dividuals seems to be somewhat conflicting. 

 But the experiments from the Colorado sta- 

 tion at Fort Collins seem to be so full and 

 complete, and I may say decisive, that it 

 would seem as if the ranchmen, in Colorado 

 at least, would look to their own interests 

 and follow the advice given — to cut late. 

 The bee-men of Colorado would do well to 

 get the alfalfa bulletin referred to in the 

 hands of their farmer neighbors. When 

 the interests of the bee-keeper and of the 

 ranchmen both call for late cutting it would 

 seem as if the plant should be allowed to 

 come into full bloom. — Ed.] 



BEES IN IDAHO. 



Shingled Hives; a Brick Brood=chamber. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



Wishing to learn something of the &-A.v\y 

 history of bee-keeping in Idaho I called, 

 early in December, 1902, on Mr. McClellan, 

 a veteran bee-keeper of Boise. Mr. McClel- 

 lan has a comfortable and beautiful home 

 among the elms and locusts, and so located 

 that, in times past, the bees could fly quick- 

 ly to and from the rich lands of the Boise 

 Valley. Until recent years wild flowers 

 abounded, and the bees seldom failed to re- 

 turn a fair surplus to their owner. Now, 

 with the rapid growth of the city, the bee 

 pasturage is fast disappearing, and the lit- 

 tle honey that the bees store is badly mixed 

 with honey-dew. which is sometimes so 

 plentiful that it fairly rains from the trees, 



