Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-02-05
Farmers Short Course.


The program of the Farmers
Short Course for Monday was opened
at o:1o a. m. by short Introductory
address bx Prof. E. B. House of the
State Agricultural school at Fl. Col
Inns.
Prof. w. P. Collins then gave very
interesting and instructive lecture on
Bee-keeping. In the beginning OF
this he said he had, when young,
bought a bunch of bees which cost
him about two hundred dollars and
went on to tell how they had proved
failure on account of his way of tax.
ing care of them. He had had them
but short time when they all left
and he had nothing to show for his
two hundred dollars, but, he advises
us not to be discouraged but to keep
the situati on. Edison, he says.
twas a poor scholar in school but he
was determined and kept at a thing
until he had it finished. so you should
be as determined and be paid for your
trouble and be paid we'll"
On the |" bee question" he said: "If
you arc going to have anything to do
with the bee you must understand
them. their ways and their habits and
humor them in their wants as well as
their necessities. A man can go into
the bee business and raise bees but
it takes q man who can understand
them thoroughly to raise honey.
Some, even a great many people are
afraid of the honey bees, but they will
not sting you II you work in harmony
with them, but If you torment and
impose on them they will fight and
fight hard. There are few beings who
win stand for more insult than the
hoeny. bee. but they know when they
have had enough. Get q good book
have only one swarm in your yard.
and study the book and the bees in
the hive at the same time, noting their
habits and you will soon learn to TN
dcrstand each other. Understand the
character of the bee. the worst thing
you can do is to try to raise bees and
honey without understanding the bee.
In breeding the bee is hatchcd from
the egg and undergoes a change ev-
cry three days for twcnty-onc days
when it comes out as full fedgcd
bee. Do not undertake the increasing
of your bees as a practice as they in
crease themselves fast enough. II
takes a good man to raise honey; he
is up and at it all the time as two
years pay may come from 80 days
work. The bee does not sleep, neith-
er can the bee keeper. When the
flow of honey begins you must work
and work hard to keep the hives clear
and things in. readiness for the
swarm when their honey is taken
from them. 1 wish here to emphasize
the habit of working in harmony with
the bee, they have feelings and do
not like to have them trampled on,
they do not like black any better than
the quick tempered animal likes red,
therefore never go into n bee yard
with a black hat or black clothing
on, for the bee wants to take a jab
at the black and while that is all right
they sometimes make a poor shot and
miss the black they fly at and You are
struck by their fighting instrument
and don't feel very good over it. Get
a painters white suit and white hat
and they will bother you very little.
Understand the time of flowers when
you are locating with bees and you
YOU are generally helped to great
extent in taking care of the How
when it comes in. Give the bees
plenty of water, humor them in ev-
cry respect and they will turn their
encTRy INTO wallis
have everything uniform in your bee
yard and it will save you great deal
Of trouble in handling the supers OF
honey as some may not be full when
YOU rob the hives and If they are uni
form you can take the super that is
not full and set it in another hive and
thereby gain instead of using the half
super to feed the hogs. you can have
it fielled and put it on the market the
same as though it had been filled in
the first hive. Bees generally go
away from home INTO the fields to die.
Hives arc never. put together right
or hardly ever, although instructions
and illustrations accompany them:
they should be put together with
mathematical precision so as not to
leave any creviccs or the bees will nj
them with wax or something that will
be bothersomc when you lift the top
off and then YOU will have to clean
them off before you can put them to-
gcther again. Supplies should be
ready for from six to eight weeks be-
fore the flow of honey is expected to
begin, and then when II does begin
you have everything out of your way
and can devote your whole time to
the taking care of the honey. The
bee lives in the working season from
forty to ninety days and the dronc
lives to be 20 to IS and even ffty
days old while the queen lives from
three to six years. At this time OF