July, 1908. 



American ^ae Journal 



to those who, on reading the above 

 recipe, may ask : "Is it possible to burn 

 honey?" Wc are sometimes advised to 

 boil honey before using it as food for 

 the bees. But it must be borne in mind 

 that good honey (I do not speak of 

 honey that may be as thin as water) can 

 not be boiled unless sonic zvaler be add- 

 ed In it, for, honey being a kind of su- 

 car. it will be burnt before it has boiled 



for two minutes ; and when cooled down 

 it will settle like strong glue, and in that 

 condition be perfectly useless to bees. 

 Honey may, indeed, be heated ati bain- 

 marie without danger of burning it, but 

 then it is not boiled, only heated. Hop- 

 ing that these remarks may prove use- 

 ful to some of your readers. — Bro. Co- 

 LUMBAN, O. S. B., in the British Bee 

 Journal. 



Conducted by LOUIS H. SCHOLL, New Braunfels, Tex. 



Texas the Great Honey State. 



The mesquite trees did come into 

 bloom in June as mentioned in last 

 month's "Beedom," and the result is a 

 good crop of honey for the great Lone 

 Star State. Cotton has been yielding 

 well in most of the localities of the 

 black land districts, and altogether the 

 majority of the bee-keepers can not com- 

 plain. 



This keeps Texas still in the lead as 

 the greatest of the States in honey-pro- 

 duction. It seems about time that the 

 "other fellows" were owning up to it 

 now, since we have tried to prove it so 

 many times. The truth of the inatter 

 is that it is almost impossible even to 

 guess the right amount of honey Te.xas 

 produces, since it is not shipped out in 

 carloads, etc. 



Cultivated Houey-Plants for Texas. 



Alfalfa is planted a great deal and 

 yields honey under favorable conditions, 

 with or without irrigation. Xot enough 

 of it is grown here yet, however, to 

 make it an important source, but with 

 the advent of irrigation in the arid sec- 

 tions of all west Texas, it should rival 

 with the Western States where alfalfa 

 honey is abundantly produced. Xone 

 other of the clovers thrives well here, 

 except white and yellow sweet clover, 

 and since there is so much waste land, 

 it would mean much to increase our 

 honey-flows and to tide the bees over 

 the summer months. However, the 

 southern dry climate does not seem to 

 agree with its growth unless cultivated, 

 hence it soon disappears. In the north- 

 ern part of the State a good deal of it 

 grows, having been first planted many 

 years ago. This clover, known as Meti- 

 lotiis alba and M. officinalis, was once 

 considered a noxious weed, but not so 

 now, as several of the experiment sta- 

 tions and other investigators have 

 shown. 



Another cultivated plant is the cow- 

 pea, generally planted in the cornfields 

 for fertilizing purposes after that crop 

 is made. As these bloom during the 

 dry months, the bees are kept out of 

 mischief. Cow-pea planting should be 

 encouraged, as there is no better im- 



prover of soils with so small an amount 

 of labor, and it furnishes bee-forage 

 just at a time when needed in the 

 dearth of our summers. 



Some 30 varieties of honey-yielding 

 plants were tested at the A. & M. Col- 

 lege Experiment Apiary for several 

 years, but only the above proved of 

 sufficient value for bees. It is also not 

 profitable to plant for bee-forage alone. 



A Honey-Plant Bulletin for Texas. 



"Texas Honey- Plants" is the title of 

 a new Bulletin, No. 102, of the Depart- 

 ment of Entomology of the Texas Ag- 

 ricultural Experiment Station. It is a 

 preliminary bulletin on Texas honey- 

 plants so far collected by the writer in 

 the last 10 years. The bulletin is of a 

 technical nature, giving a large list of 

 honey and pollen yielding plants of this 

 State, with the botanical name, and, 

 where possible, the common name of 

 each. IJesides mentioning briefly the 

 quality of honey of each plant, the qual- 

 ity and yield of pollen and propolis are 

 also frequently mentioned. The geo- 

 graphical distribution is given in a brief 

 way, so that the bee-keeper is able to 

 form some idea of a locality by follow- 

 ing up this in connection with the im- 

 portance of the plants in question. 



It is hoped that this list of honey- 

 plants will be helpful to bee-keepers in 

 becoming acquainted with the honey- 

 yielding flora of the State. Also in help- 

 ing to decide upon suitable locations for 

 apiaries, or that it may help in selecting 

 certain plants that may be of value in 

 already occupied locations. If interest- 

 ed, the Department may be addressed at 

 College Station, Texas. 



Honey as Cure for Diseased Eyes. 



Some time ago in Menard Co., West 

 Texas, a poor pilgrim was on his way 

 to Austin, to have his eyes treated. He 

 camped for the night at a refreshing 

 stream a!id reposed under the canopy of 

 heaven. Some time during the night 

 his team got loose and wandered off. 

 In the morning he made an effort to 

 find them, but his eyes were in such 

 a painful condition he could see but 



a short distance. During the day a 

 passer-by hailed him. He related his 

 story, and that he was on his way to 

 Austin to have his eyes cured. The 

 good Samaritan informed him that he 

 could cure him, and that he could re- 

 turn home. " How, I beseech you — 

 quick?" replied the pilgrim. 



"I am on my way to market with a 

 load of honey for sale, and if you thor- 

 oughly bathe your eyes in honey it will 

 cure them," replied the passer-by. 



"Apply the remedy for me, I 'umbly 

 beseech you," plead the pilgrim. The 

 bee-man bathed his eyes w-ell, allowing 

 the honey to get into them and under 

 the lids ; he even went so far as to im- 

 provise a sort of honey-poultice for the 

 eyes for the night. 



The next morning the pilgrim's eyes 

 were not well, but so much improved 

 that he returned to his home, after the 

 good Samaritan had given him enough 

 honey to cure his eyes. At his home the 

 pilgrim applied the honey until his eyes 

 were entirely sound and well. 



The above was given me by Mr. T. A. 

 McQuary, who at the time of the inci- 

 dent resided in Menard County. He is 

 a reliable man and vouches for the 

 statement. The bee-man's name is 

 "Crunk," so I was informed. 



T. P. Robinson. 



Is Honey Poisonous? 



It is often stated that bees gather honey 

 that is a poison to the human family. 

 We have often heard people speak of 

 certain kinds of honey, or honey gath- 

 ered from certain shrubs or plants, that 

 if eaten would make one deathly sick. 

 That honey does make people sick at 

 times and under certain conditions we 

 have positive evidence, and we could say 

 the same of pork, beef, etc. But the 

 question is, Is honey ever poisonous? I 

 do not believe it is, and I shall try to 

 tell you why I think as I do. 



You who have been reading my arti- 

 cles know that I am not able to deal 

 much on the scientific side of the sub- 

 ject, as I should very much like to do 

 if I felt competent; but, first, for what 

 purpose is nectar or honey placed in 

 flowers ? At first thought one would 

 say, "To be Withered by bees for the use 

 of man," wmch, to a certain extent is 

 correct ; but that is not the only reason 

 that the various flowers secrete nectar 

 and pollen. It is a well-known fact that 

 most of our fruits, as well as many of 

 our vegetables, would be sterile or bar- 

 ren were it not for the visits of the 

 honey and pollen-loving insects that visit 

 them to carry the fertilizing dust or 

 pollen from flower to flower, and in 

 early spring the honey-bees are the only 

 insects that are plentiful enough to per- 

 form this very important act. So we 

 see the nectar of flowers is not placed 

 there just for the bees to collect for the 

 use of man, but to attract the honey- 

 loving insects so that perfect fertiliza- 

 tion may be accomplished and trees and 

 vines may become fruitful. 



All who have had any experience with 

 poisonous insects know that they are 

 far more easily poisoned than our larger 

 animals. It is said ^that the amount of 

 poison in any kind of sweets that will 

 readily kill bees or other insects will « 



