[ Mgrican l^ee Jonrna T^^ 



August, 1913 



that we still have mixed in some of our 

 yards, stored equally as well as the 

 Carniolans-and Italians, but as the flow 

 slackened, they were " not in it." In 

 other words, they have not the " s.tick- 

 toitiveness " that the other two races 

 have. As to the general average of 

 the yards, the Carniolans stored far the 

 most honey — not that they worked bet- 

 ter than the Italians, but the flow came 

 early, and the Carniolans were boiling 

 over with bees, simply waiting for the 

 nectar to come, while many Italians 

 were still a bit weak in field force. 



As to cellar and outdoor wintering, 

 this year by all odds favored the out- 

 door system. The large yard moved 

 from the east was wintered in caves, 

 and while the bees appeared to be in 

 perfect condition, they did not measure 

 up with the 100 colonies wintered out- 

 side. The outdoor bees doubled on 

 the others ; for awhile there appeared 

 to be about the same number of bees 

 in all the hives, but on May 24 to June 

 10 it was a different story. Many of the 

 bees in the cellar-wintered colonies 

 were oM on May 24, when comparison 

 was made, and during the long spell of 

 cold weather after that period until 

 clover bloom, these old bees dropped 

 off a good deal faster than young ones 

 could take their places. Another year 

 might tell a different story, but this 

 year it would liave meant a few thou- 

 sand pounds more honey had all been 

 wintered outdoors. All our bees in 

 the York county apiaries were wintered 

 outside, and because they were boiling 

 over when the clover flow came, we 

 had a nice yield from that yard. 



Mention was made about one yard 

 swarming badly for a few days, and 

 while this was caused by the bees get- 



ting crowded for room, after all it did 

 not turn out so badly. I scented trou- 

 ble at the yard the day before the out- 

 break, and as I had to be extracting at 

 other yards, I hired a man fairly famil- 

 iar with bees to cage the queens and 

 let the swarms return. Yesterday, 

 about 10 days after the fever came on, 

 I managed to get a day off, and went to 

 this yard to straighten up the tangle. 

 Imagine my suiprise and delight when, 

 after lifting oft the supers, I found in 

 most cases the cells were cut down and 

 a young queen in the hive, even if the 

 old queens had been caged on top of 

 the supers all the time. In some cases 

 the swarming had been caused by 

 supersedure, but in others young 

 queens of last year's rearing were in 

 the cages. Hard to explain why it was 

 done; but my theory is that during an 

 e.Kceptionally cool spell of weather, 

 which lasted for 48 hours just previous 

 to my visit to the yard, the bees had 

 allowed the first issuing young queen 

 to destroy all the other cells. 



As already stated, only the one yard 

 gave us any trouble, and while I ex- 

 pected to lose swarms, I am surprised 

 and gratified the loss was so small. I 

 have just returned from one apiary not 

 visited for a week, and although the 

 flow has been good there, not a swarm 

 has issued; that yard is mostly com- 

 posed of Carniolans that are accused 

 of being such bad swarmers. 



I do not feel like reading or writing 

 much just at present. If you wonder 

 why. take charge of five apiaries dur- 

 ing a good honey-flow. After "follow- 

 ing the game " for four weeks without 

 a let up, you will understand all about 

 it. Good nighl. 



Southern 



Beedom^ 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholi,. New Braunfels. Tex. 



To Guard Against Foul Brood 



It is of the utmost importance to be 

 constantly on the watch for bee-dis- 

 eases, especially foul brood, and all 

 proper precautions should be taken be- 

 forehand. Foremost is educating one's 

 self properly on this subject, as it is 

 highly important to know everything 

 possible about diseases of bees, so that 

 the apiarist may be prepared. Taking 

 the proper steps at the right time, be- 

 fore the "enemy" appears, is a strong 

 fortification against any depredations. 

 " An ounce of prevention is worth a 

 pound of cure." 



\ XEW PLAN FOR PROTECTION. 



At a meeting of several enthusiastic 

 and progressive bee-keepers recently, 

 the discussions centered about a plan 

 of protection, which, if carried out 

 properly, may be of untold benefit. I 

 am a strict advocate of doing things 

 at just the fight time. 



Texas has now in operation, since 

 July 1, a stronger and more powerful 

 foul brood law than the old one. With 



it I believe the diseases of bees can be 

 kept in check, if not eradicated from 

 the State altogether. It is up to the 

 bee-keepers of Texas. Organized effort 

 on their part, and co-operation with 

 the State foul brood inspector at all 

 times, will mean a greater work along 

 this line than can ever be expected in 

 any other way. It is this that I hope 

 to see carried out promptly and prop- 

 erly. We have a foul brood law that I 

 believe is powerful enough to back any 

 cases that may necessarily require such 

 " backing up." 



.\RMED WITH \ CERTIFICATE. 



The plan discussed above calls for 

 the inspection of our own apiaries, and 

 obtaining a certificate of freedom from 

 contagious bee-diseases among our 

 own bees, first of all. This can be ob- 

 tained easily enough in such localities 

 that are near or in proximity to 

 those infected. Such an inspection 

 would be worth a great deal to deter- 

 mine definitely whether one's own api- 

 aries are actually free from disease. 

 The satisfaction of this knowledge 



should be appreciated by the careful 

 bee-keeper. 



Holding a ceriificate from the State 

 inspector ourselves, which shows that 

 our bees have been inspected and 

 found in good healthy condition, we 

 are well prepared to come forward and 

 require the inspection of all other bees 

 near us. It should be our intention to 

 enforce such inspection upon all other 

 bee-keepers in our neighborhood after 

 we have secured our own certificate. 



"in UNION THERE IS STRENGTH." 



To make this more effective, a num- 

 ber of bee-keepers should unite. This 

 will strengthen the plan materially, as 

 united effort will carry greater weight 

 than a single-handed attempt. But by 

 all means let it not be understood that 

 any one should not take the matter up 

 just as promptly single-handed, and es- 

 pecially where a progressive bee-keeper 

 finds himself in a somewhat isolated 

 locality. The time has passed «\hen we 

 should hesitate to carry out the proper 

 steps for protection for fear of orfcnd- 

 ing our neighbor bee-keeper. To pro- 

 tect ourselves is a business proposi- 

 tion. 



THE DISEASE MAY ALREADY BE NE.\R. 



The question of the distance foul 

 brood may be from one's locality will 

 play a part in this method of procedure. 

 Yet it is not necessary to wait until 

 the disease appears. That would never 

 do, and that is exactly what we want to 

 guard against. Take for instance in 

 my own locality, I find that foul brood 

 exists about a dozen miles from one 

 of my apiaries. The question comes 

 up then, whether there may not be scat- 

 tering foul brood cases nearer. Thirty 

 miles should be considered near 

 enough, in my estimation, to warrant 

 taking steps to guard promptly against 

 the disease. Who can know whether 

 some infection from that foul brood 

 apiary, even at an apparently safe dis- 

 tance, may not be carried near enough 

 to my own apiaries to be a source of 

 infection. Especially important is this 

 when the diseased apiary is owned by 

 a careless bee-keeper. 



It behooves us to take up this matter 

 at the very earliest stage. It is hoped, 

 therefore, that the bee-keepers of 

 Texas, and other States and countries 

 as well, will make one great fight 

 against those menaces to the bee- 

 keeping industry. 



SchoN's Honey-House Shutters 



A request from an enquirer, desiring 

 information about my shutters with 

 folding " arms " or supports, as used on 

 our honey houses, prompts me to give 

 a drawing that is self-explanatory. Our 

 shutters are 8 feet long and G feet wide, 

 and made of '2x4 and 1x4 lumber and 

 corrugated galvanized iron. On ac- 

 count of their weight it is necessary to 

 devise some means for opening and 

 holding them from the building. This 

 allows proper ventilation, and at the 

 same time serves as additional roof 

 for shade. A cooler building is the 

 result. 



Our honey houses and work shops 

 are provided with these large shutters 

 on the south side. By this means it is 

 possible to open the greater part of the 



