302 



Septemoer, 1913 



American IBee Journal 



aud drain through a sieve or cheese- 

 cloth bag. 



3. You should have had the frames 

 filled with foundation which would 

 oblige the bees to bund straight. 

 Either you have had no foundation, 

 or the foundation has come loose. 

 Take out the combs that are built 

 straight so you may have plenty of 

 room to get at the three faulty ones. 

 Now cut away the attachments where 

 the comb has run a little into the 

 wrong frame, push the comb into the 

 proiier place in the frame, tie a string 

 around to keep in place, using little 

 wedges of wood if necessary, and 

 turn the middle one of the three 

 frames end for end. Bees do such 

 strange things that it is possible they 

 have built combs straight across on 

 these three frames. In that case 

 there is nothing for it but to cut out 

 the whole thing and begin over again, 

 furnishing at least a guide for the 

 bees to go by. It you have no founda- 

 tion, cut pieces of the comb — strips 

 an 'inch wide will do — ^and fasten 

 them under the top bar, using melt- 

 ed wax for glue. 



4. Better leave the honey in the 

 hive body for the bees, giving plenty 

 of super room for the surplus honey. 



Nowadays it is not considered the 

 proper thing to put combs from the 

 brood-chamber into the extractor. 



i'l. Not if the weather is warm. But 

 in early spring or in cool weather it 

 will not do to expose brood so, as it 

 might get chilled. Also if the flow of 

 nectar is poor it is not wise to expose 

 combs in this way, as you can very 

 easily start a bad case of robbing. 



Let me congratulate you. You have 

 the making of a good bee-woman all 

 right. One who has the persistence 

 and courage to find and clip a queen 

 within three months after first see- 

 ing bees in a hive, has a future be- 

 fore her. 



Mr. Terry Recommends Eating Honey 



"Oats are rich in protein and in 

 oil. Eat cream on them if you wish to. 

 but milk wil.l do. If you sweeten the 

 oats be sure this does not lead you 

 to overeat. Extracted honey will be 

 much more wholesome to use than 

 sugar." So says Mr. Terry in the 

 Practical Farmer. Mr. Terry's writ- 

 ings have a wide circulation and no 

 doubt his endorsement as to the 

 ^wholesomeness of honey will induce 

 more people to use it instead of 

 sugar. 



Southern 



Beedom^ 



Cenducted by Louis H. Scholi.. New Braunfels. Tex. 



The Texas Department of Agriculture 

 and Bee-Keeping 



Hon. Ed. R. Kone, of the Texas De- 

 partment of Agriculture, is taking 

 much interest in the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry -of our state, and through his 

 Department, is willing to give all the 

 aid in his power. 



He arranged with the writer, more 

 than a year ago, to act as Consulting 

 Apicultural Expert of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and all the api- 

 cultural work has been turned over 

 to one person. Thus all communica- 

 tions and enquiries can be given im- 

 mediate attention. 



Another step in the direction of 

 helping the bee-keeper was taken by 

 the Commissioner when he provided 

 for the publication and free distribu- 

 tion of Bulletin No. 24, "Texas Bee- 

 Keeping," a 142 page booklet dealing 

 more directly with conditions and 

 methods applicable in this state. A 

 copy can be secured by addressing 

 the Department of Agriculture, Aus- 

 tin, Texas. 



The above arrangement grew out of 

 the great number of enquiries tor 

 bee-keeping information received by 

 the Department of Agriculture, not 

 only from within the State but from 

 other states and countries as well. 



FURTHER WORK TH.\T SHOULD BE AT- 

 TEMPTED. 



It is desirable to keep in touch with 



the bee-keepers of Texas, so that any 

 information or literature can be sent 

 to them. It is desirable to obtain all 

 the names of bee-keepers in the 

 State. It will be appreciated if bee- 

 keepers will send in, not only their 

 own. but the names of all other bee- 

 keepers that they may know of. 



It is also desirable for the Depart- 

 ment to have statistics and such other 

 data important for answering en- 

 quiries intelligently. All the aid that 

 bee-keepers may give in this direction 

 will also be thankfully received. 



GETTING THE BEE-KEEPERS CLOSER TO- 

 GETHER. 



On account of the great importance 

 of united effort on the part of the 

 producers it is desirable that the 

 bee-keepers should get in closer 

 touch with each other. It is of value 

 to consult about the best methods of 

 producing, harvesting, and more es- 

 pecially of marketing. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture should be well 

 acquainted with the needs of the pro- 

 ducers. Bee-keeping is but one 

 branch of agriculture, and it has to 

 deal with all branches. It should be 

 in a position to provide for lectures 

 on any bee-keeping subject that bee- 

 keepers or other persons interested 

 in bee-keeping, may desire. Such 

 lecture work should be encouraged 

 more by the bee-keepers themselves. 

 Another thing that seems likely to 



become popular within a short time Is 

 a "Bee-keepers' Institute." This 

 could be held in conjunction with the 

 Farmers' Institute. Such Institutes 

 can be made very interesting and 

 profitable and it is hoped that the 

 near future will see many of them 

 organized. 



MORE bee-keepers' ORGANIZATIONS 

 NEEDED. 



There has been a lack of interest 

 among the Texas bee-keepers, to at- 

 tend meetings or conventions, for 

 where there were at one time eight 

 organizations of bee-keepers in Texas 

 there are only a few now. Field 

 meenngs are of inestimable value al- 

 so, and these can be held at various 

 times and places, without first per- 

 manently organizing the bee-Keepers. 

 However, it is better to organize and 

 band the forces closely first. There 

 should be a larger number of sec- 

 tional or district bee-keepers' asso- 

 ciations in the great Lone Star State. 

 There is room tor them. The great 

 difference of conditions in the dif- 

 ferent parts of the state, make it es- 

 sential to hold these local meetings. 

 These should all become atElliated 

 with the State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion and thus strengthen the main 

 Association of the State. 



WORK OF THE STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



The State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 should devote its time looking after 

 the industry, especially such matters 

 as cannot well be taken up by the 

 smaller organizations. In fact, all 

 subjects of a state wide nature should 

 come before the State AssociatioiL A 

 mistake too often made at the state 

 meetings is the discussion of the less 

 important matters instead of paying 

 attention to the important subjects 

 that involve the bee-keepers of the 

 entire state. Topics that can be easi 

 ly learned out of the many books on 

 bee-keeping should not be given the 

 valuable time at the state meetings. 

 It should be remembered that many 

 bee-keepers are required to travel 

 long distances to' attend a state meet- 

 ing, and that one can hardly afford 

 to do so for the discussion of little, 

 every day subjects. It has been 

 argued that there are always some 

 new bee-keepers present who do not 

 know the "A B C's." like the older 

 ones, and that it is for their benefit 

 that such common subjects are dis- 

 cussed. But these beginners can ob- 

 tain this information from the many 

 books or journals at a much smaller 

 expense. 



SOME OF THE IMPORTANT SUBJECTS 

 NEEDING ATTENTION. 



Crop reports, better methods of 

 marketing, and honey prices are all 

 three of more importance than the 

 average bee-keeper places upon them. 

 In fact, so important are these that 

 they should receive most of the at- 

 tention at state meetings. The stand- 

 ard requirements for filling the vari- 

 ous receptacles in use in Texas, with 

 the proper amount of honey, should 



