CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1907-07-04
FINDS THE BEE BUSINESS
VERY INTERESTING ONE

Virgil p. Cutler of the Canon City
fire department. who lives on Elm
avenue, between Eighth and Ninth
streets in Hardings Addition, is an
enthusiastic bee culturist and has
laid the foundation of an apairy OF
respectable proportions. In addition
to several years of practical expert
ence as a honey raiser. Mr.. Cutler has
given considerable study to bees and
their habits and his investigations
have been of remarkable interest in
deed. He says he knows of no branch
of natural science that is quite so alb
sorbing.
Two years ago he was employed by
one of the largest apairists in the
state and assisted in the care of more
than thousani colonies of bees,
from which was sold something like
81 900 worth of honey, most of which
was marketed in Chicago and other
eastern cities. Mr. Cutler has at pres
ent only about thirty stands of bees.
but he expects to shortly increase the
number to two hundred or two hun
dred and fifty He sold last year sew
eral hundred dollars worth of honey
and expects to do even better this
season Bees are doing splendidly
now and are adding rapidly TO their
stock of honey. although until recent
ly the weather was too cold and the
blossoms too few to enable them to
do much good.
There are about three hundred
stands of bees in Hardings Addition.
according to Mr.. Cutler, and probably
as many more on Four Mile and Lin
coin Park, or an aggregate of approx
imately one thousand for the Canon
City district. The number might be
multiplied to advantage. and Mr.. Cut
Ter expresses the opinion that the bee
business in this section of the state
is destined to become in a few years
of much greater importance than 1t
is now.
Bees do we'll in Colorado. particu
larly in the northern part Of the state,
down towards Rocky Ford and Las
Animas and over In the neighborhood
of Grand Junction. and honey pro-
duced here commands the top price
In the most exclusive markets of the
country. Alfalfa and sweet clover
are excellent for bees and with the
fruit blossoms are the source from
which most OF our honey comes. White
clover Is also q favorite with bees.
and the same Is true OF honey bios
som to be found in abundance in the
mountains during June and July. A
few apatrists SOW buckwheat for their
bees. but they are the exception rather
than the rule.
Mr.. Cutler raises only the italian
bees and he has several queens which
he has imported direct from italy.
The ordinary stand of bees contains
from 10000 to 10000 members, but
some apairists prefer stronger colon
les than that and increase the num-
Der of individuals to 10000 and even
10000 workers. This may be done
In various ways, the easiest of which
Is to clip the wings OF the queen so
that she cannot fly.
There is not a more perfectly con-
stituted community on earth than
colony of bees, 1t is governed by an
inflexible code OF laws of it's own
making and the transgressor suffers
the most condign and certain punish
ment. There Ia no human organixa
ton that Is half as Industrious or as
we'll regulated. No idleness Ia al
lowed nor is any deceit permitted on
the part OF Its members. A perfect
system of police supervision exists
and there are inspectors to see that
no graft or fraud of any kind Ia per-
petrated. At the entrance to each
stand of bees 10 always to be seen
during working hours half dozen or
a a.