172 



XH^ MME-RICMB* MMM J@^M1«MI,-, 



COLORADO. 



Report of the State Convention 

 Held at Denver. 



The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation held an adiourned meeting 

 on Feb. 23, 1888. There was an un- 

 usually large number present, and 

 great interest was manifested. Col- 

 -orado is rapidly coming to the front as 

 a honej'-producing State, and our bee- 

 keepers are alive to the needs of the 

 hour. 



The proceedings consisted in thor- 

 •ough discussion of topics pertaining to 

 successful bee-culture. 



The following is from the Colorado 

 Farmer : 



In discus.sing " The causes of can- 

 died honey," Mrs. Le^a Booth consid- 

 -ered it was owing to the kind of honey 

 and the season ; when there was a good 

 ■deal of dew and rain, honey does not 

 candy. She had kept it in a dark 

 room, and had 500 pounds candy solid 

 in the comb. This year she had kept 

 it in a light room, and it was in good 

 condition, notwithstanding the fact 

 that it had frozen. 



Messrs. Davis, Rhodes and others 

 thought that the candjang of two or 

 three years ago was caused by the dry 

 season. The bees secured the honey 

 irom the yellow rosin-weed. 



President Milleson had wintered 

 vbees on candied honey, not a spoonful 

 ■of liquid honey being found in the 

 hive ; but he kept a saturated sponge 

 in the top. Bees must have the water. 

 Before he used the sponge the bees 

 tore the comb and scattered it to get 

 out the moist parts of it. 



V. De Vinney wanted to know if 

 alfalfa honey would not candy faster 

 than clover. 



Mrs. Booth " had no candied honey 

 last year, yet her bees had nothing but 

 alfalfa and bee-weed. 



Louis Brock, of Littleton, had had 

 the same experience. 



" How often should the queens be 

 •changed ?" 



Robert James thought that if they 

 would change every two years they 

 •would ha^ e stronger colonies. When 

 asked by the President to give his ex- 

 perience with Cyprians, he said he 

 woukl not keep them for they were too 

 ■cross. He had counted 1G5 queen- 

 cells in a single hive, fifty of them 

 being capped over. They were so 

 ■cross you could hardly smoke tliem 

 <lown, j'ct they woidd fill a 20-pound 

 box with surplus in a short time after 

 swarming. 



" Can you restore a colony of fertile 

 -workers ? In what way ?" 



D. C. Thompson, of Brighton, ex- 

 ■amincd his hives la.st year, and occa- 

 sionally he would find no queen, but 



fertile workers. He introduced queen- 

 cells, queens in cages, etc., but to no 

 avail. 



" How long does it take to hatch 

 bee-eggs ?" 



The President said : " By the best 

 authorities, 16 days for queen-bees, 21 

 for workers, and 24 for drones to 

 mature." 



" Which is preferable, natural swarm- 

 ing or dividing ?" 



Mr. Rhodes considered there was not 

 much difl'erence. He divided as it was 

 most convenient, where they kept an 

 imported queen to get queens from. 

 Natural swarms come when we do not 

 want them. 



The discussion showed that natural 

 swarming would cause the most honey; 

 dividing, the most bees. 



" Is it advisable to keep bees unless 

 familiar with theories of standard au- 

 thors ?" 



Mr. Porter in answer would say, no. 

 Out his way many had rushed into the 

 business, and yet had to buy their 

 honey. They should read and get one 

 colony to practice upon. The first year 

 he kept bees he thought he knew it all, 

 but now he felt he knew nothing, al- 

 though he studied much. The Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal was recommended. 

 Mrs. Booth, on the best method to 

 prevent robbing, said : " Make the 

 entrance to the hive about J inch only, 

 and this will enable the colony to keep 

 out the robber bees." 



Mr. Goodrich, of Illinois, said that 

 the}' were satisfied with 15 days. They 

 must be in readiness for their swarms. 

 If they get ten days' good flow of honey 

 they were pretty sure of 125 pounds of 

 surplus honey. After GO days from 

 the time of the first flight, they can fill 

 the hive. If you want bees, you must 

 let them swarm naturally, but divid- 

 ing the colonies might be successful. 

 If the colony was weak, cut ofl" the 

 queen's head. Do not divide so as to 

 depopulate the hive. 



"How does California compare with 

 Colorado in bee-culture ?" 



Robert James said that the white 

 sage which grew in the canyons was 

 the chief honey supply. When there 

 are a plenty of blossoms the honey 

 crop is good. Since we have intro- 

 duced alfalfa there is rarely a failure, 

 but drouth often causes it there. 



Mrs. Rliodes said that with alfalfa 

 there was little honej' four years ago. 

 We were liable once in a while to 

 failure. 



Mr. Clark said all preferred Col- 

 orado honey. He could get 2 or .3 

 cents per pound more for it than for 

 California, yet we must expect some 

 failures, as all States had tliem. 

 " How can we best winter bees ?" 

 Mr. Porter said that we need to pay 

 little attention to that. We iwere so 



busy that we left them out-doors, and 

 they were all right. If he had a large 

 cellai', and conveniences for getting 

 them in, he would prefer the cellai-. 

 But if a little straw or earth be thrown 

 OP the north side, they can be kept out 

 all winter 



The convention elected as delegates 

 to the next North American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention, Mr. W. L. Porter, of 

 Greeley, Mrs. Levi Booth, of Denver, 

 and Mrs. R. H. Rhodes, of Arvada. 



A motion passed unanimously, giv- 

 ing the preference to Columbus, Ohio, 

 as the place of meeting of the next 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Con- 

 vention. 



After discussing the time for holding 

 the annual meeting, and the subject of 

 rye meal for spring feeding, where 

 there was a great diversity of opinion 

 as to its value, the association ad- 

 journed to meet Aug. 14, at IW a.m., 

 in the Horticultural Association rooms. 

 J. M. Clakk, Sec. 



QUEEN-CAG-E. 



Cage for Introducing i^ueens, 

 and How to Use It. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY VET. TUCKER. 



Quite a number of queen introduc- 

 ing-cages have been spoken of in the 

 Bee Journal, but the following sug- 

 gested by a friend, I think is superior 

 to any other that I have examined : 



It is similar to the Peet cage, except 

 that it is covered on both top and bot- 

 tom with wire-cloth, and has a bee- 

 space opening on one side, and a 

 queen-excluding opening on the other. 

 It is provided with food as usual, and 

 the queen and her attendants are run 

 in at the bee-space opening, when all 

 is closed. The cage is then placed on 

 top of the frames of a queenless col- 

 ony, and a cover placed over, in which 

 an opening has been made the size of 

 the cage into which it is adjusted. 

 Place a small cover over the cage. 

 The queen is now similarly situated as 

 in the Peet cage. 



After the usual time given for tin- 

 bees to become acquainted with the 

 queen, remove the plug from, the 

 queen-excluding opening into the 

 cage, and raise the cover even with 

 the top of the cage, and fasten it by 

 means of small pins inserted for the 

 purpose. The workers now have free 

 access to the queen, but the queen can- 

 not leave the cage. 



After leaving things in this condi- 

 tion for a short time, return and see if 

 all is well, by lifting the small cover 

 from the cage. 



The object of the wire-cloth on top 

 is, that these examinations, etc., can 



