lO 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



it will be rained on." Neither is it raked 

 up into winrows, nor hauled upon a 

 wagon. It is gathered up on a big rake 

 that will hold almost a load of hay, and 

 rake and all hauled to the stack, or 

 "rick," as it is called, where the hay is 

 hoisted to the stack by means of a derrick. 

 Barns, such as we have in the East, for 

 the protection of crops and stock, are 

 seldom seen. There are no storms worth 

 guarding against. There is bright sun- 

 shine from daylight to dark; day in and 

 day out. It is this continuous sunshine, 

 combined with the dry air, that plays 

 havoc with hives; especially with covers. 

 As one man facetiously remarked: "The 

 sun will pull out the nails and hide 

 them." It is this same dry atmosphere 

 that heals diseased lungs and bronchial 

 troubles; while the high altitude "knocks 

 out" the man with heart troubles. It is 

 this same sunshine and dry air that 

 manufactures large quantities of dust; and 

 when a strong wind is added, the result 

 is a "sand storm;" the roads being swept 

 as clean of dust as a woman could sweep 

 her kitchen floor. To return to the alfalfa. 

 Standing upon a little rise of ground, 

 one can look miles in any direction, and 

 see hundreds of stacks, or "ricks" as 

 they are called, whichever way one looks. 

 Cattle can also be seen grazing by the 

 thousands. Sheep are brought up from 

 the South, each winter, fattened on the 

 alfalfa, and shipped East. ■ 



As the alfalfa follows irrigation, so 

 does the bee-keeper follow the alfalfa; 

 and he follows it pretty closely, too. 

 Without alfalfa, or sweet clover, which 

 has followed the ditches and the railroads 

 pretty closely, profitable bee-keeping 

 would be well nigh impossible in Colo- 

 rado. As it is, it will be seen that it is 

 confined to narrow belts and patches near 

 the mountains and streams — it is not 

 spread all over the country as in the East. 

 But, in these favored spots, where there is 

 alfalfa, sweet clover and cleome, may be 

 found the bee-keeper's paradise, if one is 

 to be found. Think of having a honey 

 flow lasting 91 daysl This is unusual, but 



75 days is not. The yield is never enor- 

 mous, as it sometimes is from basswood; 

 but it can be depended upon, day after 

 day, week after week, and month after 

 month — ^no rains and no drouth to inter- 

 fere. This country is decidedly the home 

 of the specialist. Men are in the busi- 

 ness as a business. They hold up their 

 heads, and talk and act business. There 

 is no talk here about "monkeying with 

 bees." It is looked upon as a legitimate 

 business. Sit down by the side of a 

 plain, common-looking man; ask him 

 how many colonies he keeps; it is always 

 in the hundreds — 300 or 400 or 500. 

 Ask him about his crop, and it is seldom 

 given in the thousands of pounds, as in 

 the East, but by the car load — one car load 

 or two car loads. 



Some of the bee-keepers don't look 

 upon it as good business policy to have 

 Colorado's honey resources given much 

 publicity — they fear that it will bring a 

 flood of competitors with whom they must 

 divide the pasturage. It is folly, how- 

 ever, to imagine that these facts can be 

 kept secret. The car loads of honey 

 alone, that are sent East, are sufficient to 

 make known these great resources. When 

 an Eastern man, in attempting to market 

 his honey, runs up against a car load of 

 the Western product, he is not likely to 

 forget the fact. We may as well tell the 

 truth in the matter, the whole truth, not 

 simply the paradise feature, and give out- 

 siders such advice as will lead them to 

 locate where it will be advantageous to 

 all concerned. It has been reported that 

 Colorado is overstocked with bees. This 

 is true of some localities. The trouble is 

 that bee-keepers are inclined to locate in 

 something the same way as they market 

 their product — all rush into some central 

 point. At one time it was estimated that 

 there were iS.ooo colonies in Boulder 

 county alone; but since then foul brood 

 has olayed fearful havoc — sweeping awaj' 

 whole apiaries. Colorado now has a foul 

 brood law, with an inspector, and assist- 

 ants if necessary, in each count}-, and 

 much is being done to get the disease un- 



