258 AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



with truth that it is like Texas, for ahnost every condition of soil or 

 climate of the rest of the country is to be found somewhere in Texas. 

 The climate ranges from a winter temperature of 20 degrees below zero in 

 the Panhandle, to an almost frostless condition in the Lower Rio Grande 

 Valley. In east Texas there is a heavy rainfall, with a consequent luxuri- 

 ant vegetation, while in parts of west Texas one finds a desert flora and 

 little rain. At one point which the author once visited he was told there 

 had been no rain for eighteen months and the very dry and dead condition 

 of everything, even the cactus, indicated that it was true. 



Texas seems to be divided into about five natural beekeeping divisions. 

 Each of these has a flora and conditions peculiar to itself, though, of 

 course, there is a gradual merging of these natural divisions. The lower 

 Rio Grande Valley is the southernmost section of the United States, ex- 

 cept the extreme tip of Florida. Here we find conditions unlike any other 

 part of Texas. There is a great variety of honey plants, with a light flow 

 almost continuously, but no heavy honey flows. This condition favors the 

 continuous breeding of bees and the consumption of the honey gathered in 

 brood rearing. It is the most favorable situation in America for the rear- 

 ing of queens and bees, but a poor place for honey production, since the 

 average surplus per colony seldom exceeds twenty-five pounds. . 



In this section bees swarm as late as December and gather sufficient 

 nectar to carry them through the brief period when vegetation is dormant. 

 The huisache and catsclaw bloom in February and March. Hackberry also 

 begins to yield in February. From February till December there are but 

 short periods without some nectar coming from the field. Brazilwood, 

 horsemint, Texan ebony, blackbrush, privet, coma, mesquite, whitebrush, 

 and many others, yield light flows of nectar. 



The Arid Region 



The escarpment running east and west between San Antonio and New 

 Braunfels marks a very definite boundary to the belt where cotton is the 

 principal source of surplus honey. South of the escarpment and extending 

 to the valley of the Rio Grande, we have the mesquite region. A line 

 drawn in a southeasterly direction from San Antonio, through Cuera and 

 Victoria to the Gulf, would mark the approximate eastern boundary of 

 this region. Figure 136 shows a characteristic group of honey plants of 

 southwest Texas. Agarita (barberry), mesquite, hackberry, Mexican per- 

 simmon, brazilwood, anaqua, prickly pear and huisache, all valuable plants 

 to the beekeeper, are growing together. There are very characteristic 

 l)lants for this region. Most of the honey comes from thorny shrubs, in- 

 cluding catsclaw, huajillo (pronounced wa-he-ya), etc. This belt extends 

 westward for a long distance and includes the famous Uvalde County, from 

 which hundreds of cars of fine honey from catsclaw and huajillo have been 

 shipped. 



The Cotton Region. 



North of the escarpment already mentioned we find the cotton belt 

 extending north to Oklahoma and including the black, waxy lands and 

 oLher heavy soils. Figure 46, in connection with the article on cotton, 



