738 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



uation, that we cut and trim certain articles so 

 as to pervert the meaning of a writer, is entire- 

 ly without foundation. Much Irrelevant mat- 

 ter that is written is necessarily struck out, 

 otherwise Gleanings would contain 320 pages 

 instead of 32. I would by no means say that 

 the drouth is sent to you as a punishment for 

 raising that which produces so much human 

 misery as we all well know tobacco does; but 

 how you can ask God to send you rain in order 

 to raise a curse for your neighbors is oneof those 

 problems that are said to be past solution. '• If 

 ye keep my commandments, then I will give 

 you rain in due season, and the land shall yield 

 her increase," is a promise that I believe still 

 holds good. 



My good friend D., our stenographer, W. P. 

 Root, submitted the above to me in reply to 

 your letter. He wrote it immediately after 

 reading vour criticisms, suggesting it simply as 

 a basis i'or what I might wish to say; and so, 

 with the best of feelings in the world, I wish to 

 add a little. Would a journal be profitable to 

 its readers that would publish mainly accounts 

 of floods, drouths, cyclones, and things of that 

 sort? Where a lesson is to be learned, of course 

 we can afford to give full particulars. Rutin 

 the above you really, perhaps without knowing 

 it, find fault with the dispensations of the Al- 

 mighty. A year ago. when I passed through 

 the southern part of the State of Ohio, I was 

 delighted with the fertile fields and prosperous 

 farming that met my gaze on almost every 

 hand. I wonder if some of our readers in your 

 locality can not give us somethine more cheer- 

 ful, even though you have experienced every 

 thing you mention. While your letter was in 

 my hand, our book-keeper called my attention 

 to the following: 



My bees are doing finely. Hives run as high as 12 

 lbs. per day. I have them in the midst of 200 acres 

 of alfalfa. R. L. Snodgrass. 



Gordon, Kan., July 18. 



And the above, as you will notice, comes from 

 drouth-smitten Kansas— the State that has 

 suffered so much that for years it was almost a 

 proverb. I quite agree with what my friend 

 W. P. says in regard to the tobacco business. 

 If I were engaged in any such industry I cer- 

 tainly should not think of a-^king God to bless 

 my daily tasks. — A. I. R.] 



NEW MEXICO AS A BEE-COUNTRY. 



SIX months' honey-flow; a failure of 



HONEY CROP UNKNOWN. 

 By T. S. McCluvfi. 



Not since the brief mention made by Mr. 

 Root t)n the occasion of his visit here several 

 years ago, has any thing appeared in Glean- 

 ings with regard to bee culture in this place; 

 yet this quaint old town on the Rio Grande can 

 give reports all along this line that can be 

 equaled by those from very few localities. 



Here, within a radius of five miles, are two 

 thousand colonies of bees, nearly all pure 

 Italians, in eight-frame Langstroth hives— 

 a rather crowded range, some will think; but 

 the average yield per colony is just as high as 

 when there were only ten stands of bees in the 

 valley. The honey season begins with the 

 fruit-bloom, in April; very soon afterward the 

 surrounding mesa, mile upon mile, seems fairly 

 alive with the busiest of bees, gathering the 



fragrant nectar from the far-famed mesquite. 

 Early in June we should have on each hive a 

 full super of the whitest and most delicious 

 honey that can be produced in the v/orld. Af- 

 ter, perhaps, a slight check, comes the alfalfa 

 harvest. This plant blooms four times during 

 the year; but the nectar from the later crops 

 comes mingled with that of many wild Go 

 The tornillo yields as good honey as the mes- 

 quite; hut much of the product of the late 

 bloom, which lasts until October frosts, is of 

 poor quality, and of amber hue. 



What do you think of a six-months' honey 

 season? And the best feature of all is, that a 

 failure of the honey crop has never been known, 

 nor has any disease ever appeared among the 

 bees. 



The pioneer bee-keeper of the valley, Mr. 

 S. W. Sherfey, says that, in his sixteen years' 



THOSE PETS. 



experience, one year only was unfavorable, 

 and he then averaged over .50 pounds of 

 comb honey to the hive. The veriest novice is 

 dissatisfied unless he is able to produce 100 

 pounds of comb honey to the colony, besides 

 quite a quantity of extracted. 



Bees always winter well out of doors, eating 

 comparatively little, and requiring no atten- 

 tion. 



A PLEA FOR ADOBE DWELLINGS. 



When Mr. Root visited our town he was 

 enthusiastic over our orchards and meadows, 

 but gave his readers a very bad impression of 

 our mud-built houses. Pardon a brief digres- 

 sion, and allow me to put in a plea for our 

 adobe dwellings. With walls often several 

 feet thick, which can defy alike the most in- 

 tense heat of summer or cold of winter, the 

 adobe is the house for the climate. Frame and 

 brick houses are common, but are very much 

 in disfavor. The adobe admits of a finish as 



