Jl Calk with a Pioneer. 



N MR. KNIGHT'S SKETCH it is stated that Mr. 

 J. L. Peabody was one of the three organizers of the State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association. Mrs. Wright, one of the three, 

 has passed away. The other two, Mr. Peabody and Mr. 

 Elisha Milleson, live in Denver, the latter still a bee-keeper, the 

 former out of the business, but interested, nevertheless, in the bees 

 and those who care for them. 



Mr. Peabody, like other early bee-keepers, 

 has a fund of interesting reminiscences of the 

 early days; and as he has the name of being 

 the first President of the State Association, it is 

 worth while to know something of his experi- 

 ence. He came to Colorado in J873, he says, 

 "to get away from bees, for a time, at least, on 

 account of his health." But the bees followed 

 him and he could not be contented without a 

 few at least, if only for pleasure and to have 

 an opportunity to make experiments. Not 

 before 1881 did he give much attention to 

 increase and honey-production, having the year 

 before sold all his bees but two colonies. 



In 188 J, with his two colonies to start 

 with, Mr. Peabody secured 400 pounds of 

 honey, mostly extracted, and increased his 

 apiary to fourteen colonies. The extracted 

 honey sold at twenty cents a pound and the comb at twenty-five, the 

 total income from this source being about $90. Six swarms of bees 

 were sold for $60. Valuing the other six new swarms at the same 

 rate, Mr. Peabody figures that his income from the two colonies was 

 a little better than $200. The increase was all artificial, and the 

 queens were bought at seventy-five cents each. The honey was 

 nearly all from the Rocky Mountain bee plant, Cleome. 



Of course a yield of 200 pounds of honey per colony is extra- 

 ordinary, especially when the bees are increasing so rapidly. But 

 Mr. Peabody says that the season of 1 88 1 was "a great year for the 

 bloom all over the city," though he admits that it may not have 

 been better in that respect than some other particularly favorable 

 years. His explanation of the large yield is as follows: "It was a 

 moist season, with little rains every few days, which made the honey 



J, L PEABODY, Denver. 

 The First President. 



