August, 1916. 



American ISae Journal 



plies were almost uniformly "less 

 than two miles." Mr. Louis Biediger, 

 of LaCoste, keeping some .550 colo- 

 nies in Medina county, has apia- 

 ries three miles apart in which the 

 quantity and quality of the honey diflfer, 

 showing that their range is different. 

 However, Inspector H. L. Mofield, of 

 Hondo, once had his bees get honey 

 fed outdoor to bees by W. O. Victor, 

 four miles away. No doubt they can, 

 and do go farther than two miles, in 

 occasions. 



As an instance of the dryness and 

 mildness of the climate, Mr. Biediger 

 told of having had a strong colony lose 

 its cover, and remain with all the 



in the auto, to the cattle-feeding. 



As most of our readers are probably 

 "tenderfoots " like ourselves, it is nec- 

 essary to explain that feeding cattle on 

 cactus is a daily job in drouth times. 

 They don't harvest the cactus. The 

 only thing necessary to "feed "is to 

 burn off the cactus needles. To do 

 this, a special gasoline torch is used, 

 which throws a broad flame over the 

 bush. In the twinkle of an eye, a cac- 

 tus bush four feet high and several feet 

 in width, with leaves much larger, 

 thicker, and broader than a man's 

 hand, is stripped of its needles. The 

 cattle, accustomed to the performance, 

 come running and bellowing, as soon 



THE I-RUIT OF THE CHASE-W. H. LAWS. BEEVILLE, TEX, 



as they hear the roar of the torch. In 

 a couple of hours two men feed over 

 100 head. The thornless cactus of the 

 great Burbank was produced to obviate 

 this labor. But it would have to be 

 planted, cared forand protected against 

 the cattle who would soon destroy it, 

 since it is without defensive thorns. 

 With this method, until cactus ranches 

 can be established, of the thornless 

 kind, the cattle get only as much as the 

 owner cares to give. The supply is 

 limitless. 



The same day at noon, Miss Saathoff 

 kindly brought us to the D'Hanis sta- 

 tion and we continued our trip to 

 Uvalde this time, meeting, on the train, 

 our friend Paddock. Uvalde, which 

 we reached at 2:00 p.m., is by many 

 people called the best honey-producing 

 spot of Texas. In October, 1901, the 

 editor of Gleanings, E. R. Root, de- 

 scribed it as the beekeeper's paradise, 

 and paid a visit to the very man who 

 awaited us at the station this time, Mr. 

 W. D. Bunting. Mr. Bunting was then 

 a bachelor. He is now a married man 

 with a charming wife and a nice little 

 son. Mr. Bunting was then one of the 

 largest honey producers in the country. 

 He has had as many as 1200 colonies 

 and still runs about 5.j0. He is secre- 

 tary of the local association. 



The beekeepers we met at this spot 

 are all large producers. There were 

 some 15 or 20 at the meeting, and I do 

 not believe a single one of them owns 

 less than 500 colonies of bees. They 

 looked like practical men, every one of 

 them. The county of Uvalde, in the 

 Texas statistics published in 1913, is 

 shown to have over 10,000 colonies of 

 bees in movable-frame hives, and prob- 

 ably the tabulation is incomplete. 



But the weather was too dry. The 

 bees were invariably reported suffering, 

 dwindling, probably for want of pol- 

 len. Usually there is plenty of pollen- 

 furnishing flora, early in winter. This 

 year there was none. The mesquite, 

 however, was almost ready to bloom, 

 and no doubt in a few days the bees 

 must have boomed. Moisture came at 



frames uncovered from November till 

 March, and still prove a first-class col- 

 ony. 'They had done all they could to 

 close up the top with brace-combs and 

 propolis. By the way, propolis is not 

 so plentiful in those countries as it is 

 in Illinois. 



At the Hondo meeting, a number of 

 ladies were present, three of them of 

 the Saathoff family, who own a ranch 

 15 miles from Hondo. We were given 

 an invitation to go and spend the night 

 at the ranch and see cattle feeding on 

 cactus the next morning. This was 

 quite enticing to "tenderfoots" like 

 us, and there was no hardship since 

 they had a good automobile to bring 

 us, and good roads. We accepted, of 

 course. We had an opportunity to see 

 an interesting side of Texas, in this 

 way. 



The Saathoff people own 5500 acres, 

 have three or four ranches two or three 

 miles apart on this pasture. The father 

 lives with his wife and one daughter, 

 Miss Lena, at one of the ranches, his 

 sons at the others. Miss Lena is a lady, 

 a real Texan, a splendid auto driver, 

 and used to the circuitous roads of the 

 chaparral. We spent the night at the 

 ranch, and the next morning were taken, 



EXAMINING BROOD AND COMBS IN APIARY OF E. G. LESTOURGEON- 

 BEXAR COUNTY FIELD MEET. TEX.-MESQUITE FLORA 



