266 



August, 1916. 



American Vae Journal 



No. 3.— A Trip Through Texas 



BY THE EDITOR. 



OUR third trip, on March 13, took us 

 to the Medina County Beekeepers' 

 meeting, at Hondo, a distance of 

 50 miles west of San Antonio, and this 

 was made in an automobile, in com- 

 pany with the State Entomologist, Mr. 

 Paddock, and our inseparable friend, 

 LeStourgeon. Mr. Paddock had ar- 

 rived the same morning from College 

 Station. 



I do not know what impression my 

 account of Texas has so far produced 

 upon the reader. It may be unfavor- 

 able, as far as the description of the 

 country is concerned. But I want him 

 to know that, as a bee and honey coun- 

 try, those brushy plains and low hills 

 can hardly be equaled, except by highly 

 cultivated localities such as the alfalfa 

 or the white clover regions. I com- 

 pare the chaparral, as it is called, to 

 the heather plains of Gascony, de- 

 scribed by me in November, 1913, the 

 " Landes," fit only for pitch pines, cork 

 oaks and bees. The chaparral, however, 

 is fit only for bees and cattle. They 

 say that it takes 10 to 30 acres of it to 

 support one steer. But the possibili- 

 ties of honey are endless, and that 

 is why the beekeepers are all large 

 producers. As stated by Prof. C. E. 

 Bartholomew, of Iowa, in the last Iowa 

 report, "Texas has more successful up- 

 to-date beekeepers than Iowa and less 

 persons who keep bees." 



Owing to a slight tire trouble, we 

 had to stop for a half hour in one of 

 the wildest spots along the way, and 

 wife and I took occasion of this delay 



to take a walk and lose ourselves a lit- 

 tle while, in the brush. There was for 

 us an enchantment and more or less 

 romance, in this little walk, in such 

 silent solitude. Men are driven to 

 poetical effusion, by life in such a 

 country, and we take the liberty to 

 break our rule and quote one stanza 

 from a poem by one of our southern 

 beekeepers : 



" And men live there; a hardy race. 

 Like none born on the earth; 

 With feai less eye. a sun-tanned face. 

 And hearts of truest worth. 

 Proud of their Texas birth." 



-G. E. L. 



They say that, in some districts, there 

 is plenty of game yet, and a photograph 

 received from friend Laws, some years 

 ago, is good evidence of it. 



We arrived in Hondo, a little before 

 noon. It is the county seat, and has 

 a very pretty courthouse. We entered 

 the hotel and asked for a room, as we 

 expected to remain over night. The 

 landlord was playing dominoes. He 

 pointed to the desk and said: "There 

 is the register. You'll find a room at 

 the top of the stairs." And he con- 

 tinued playing. We found the room, 

 washed our faces and refreshed our- 

 selves. Then we had lunch. 



After lunch came the meeting at the 

 courthouse. Prof. Paddock delivered 

 a speech, upon several bee subjects, 

 but mainly upon bee inspection and the 

 treatment of foulbrood. 



Prof. Paddock is State Inspector of 

 Apiaries as well as State Entomologist., 

 He does but little inspecting himself 

 but has under him some 25 county in- 

 spectors in as many counties. The 

 Texas method is to appoint inspectors 



in such counties as have a local asso- 

 ciation and select for this purpose men 

 indicated or recommended by the local 

 association. This method has excel- 

 lent results, because the inspectors are 

 well known. In this way a good feel- 

 ing exists between the State Inspector 

 and the local beekeepers who are 

 always ready to lend a hand, as I could 

 see by the favorable comments of the 

 members present. The central office 

 of the inspector serves as a tabulating 

 and recording station, from which 

 directions are given to the various in- 

 spectors, as from the headquarters of 

 an army. 



Personally, I spoke to the beekeepers 

 as I did at all places visited, upon the 

 advisability of local cooperation, which 

 must precede State or National organi- 

 zation in order to make the latter suc- 

 cessful. 



Among the discussions, I heard the 

 statement made, I believe by the presi- 

 dent of the Medina Association, Mr. A. 

 E. Saathoff, Jr., of D'Hanis, that the 

 moths are not only kept out of combs, 

 but killed, by the evaporation of moth- 

 balls if the combs are kept in a well- 

 closed box with this drug. Dr. Bou- 

 ncy made a suggestion of this kind in 

 the Bee Journal some time ago, but we 

 did not know that it had been tried 

 successfully. Recommendation is made 

 to close the hive or box hermetically 

 by using .a sheet of paper under the 

 cover. After a day or two of airing, 

 when the combs are wanted, they lose 

 the moth-ball odor. This is worth 

 knowing. 



Here, again, to the question of dis- 

 tance usually traveled by bees, the re- 



W. M. FAUST. OF FLORESVILLE. TEX.. ADDRESSING THE BEXAR COUNTY FIELD MEET 



