1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



623 



O. M. BLANTON'S VISIT THROUGH AR- 

 KANSAS AND TEXAS. 



HOW THE COW-BOYS GET THE1K HONEY. 



fRIEND ROOT:— I promised you that, when I 

 returned irom San Antonio, Texas, I would 

 write you of what I saw that would be inter- 

 esting to bee-keepers. T stopped on my way 

 at Hot Spring's, Arkansas, the great resort 

 tor the afflicted of almost all chronic diseases. I 

 found it quite a city, nestling- in the mountains, 

 with handsome buildings, and a population of 

 12,1X10. After a week's indulgence in the hot baths, 

 with great benefit, I left for Dallas, Texas, as one 

 of the largest and most prosperous cities in the 

 State; thence I went to Fort Worth, and on my way 

 I saw the magnificent fields of wheat, corn, oats, 

 and other cereals, which would have made you feel 

 as though you were in the Miami Valley, but for 

 the few hundred acres of cotton on those large 

 farms. The farmers were harvesting wheat, and 

 the harvesters and binders were in active opera- 

 tion. 



From the phenominal city of Fort Worth, of 15 

 years' growth and a population of 45,000, I stopped 

 over at the beautiful city of Austin, and inspected 

 its capitol, one "of the grandest and most complete 

 pieces of architecture in North America; thence to 

 San Antonio to meet my children and seven grand- 

 children who were pleading to go home to Green- 

 ville, Miss. I had but four days to visit among the 

 bee-keepers, and had a poor opportunity to inform 

 myself. The honey prospect was very good, on ac- 

 count of the seasonable rains. 



I met Bro. Flournoy. He had abandoned his 

 large apiary on account of the previous dry seasons 

 and the ravages of foul brood. Some of the comb 

 honey I inspected was very white and translucent, 

 and made in beautiful one-pound sections, and the 

 extracted was of excellent flavor, and light amber. 

 1 wa8 told it was from the " cats-claw " (una de gato) 

 family of the mimosa, which blooms in April. 



From my observation, the honeys of Texas are of 

 a very strong flavor, owing to the great fragrance 

 of the flowers, and from that cause you soon tire of 

 it for a table luxury. 



Some few of the honey-plants I will refer to: 



1. The aiguita blooms in February; extremely 

 fragrant, and yields much honey for early brood; 

 flowers small, in clusters, and of orange color. The 

 berries are similar in color and size to currants, and 

 of acid flavor, used in making jelly and pies. 



3. The mesquite also yields much honey; and a 

 singular feature about it is, that it rarely blooms 

 in a rainy reason, but flows abundantly in a dry 

 one. It belongs to the family of Lcguminm, the 

 beans of which the birds of every kind, and also 

 cattle, feed upon. The beans are ground, and made 

 into a kind of tortillia by the Mexican Indians, for 

 food, when other means of sustenance are scarce. 



3. The lechuguilla (pronounced lai-chu-geel-ya). 

 It is a fiber plant, common on both sides of the Rio 

 Grande, and as far east as the Nueces. The Mexi- 

 cans use it for making rope. The flower blooms at 

 the top of a tall stem, and is remarkable for the 

 great quantity of honey it yields. It is of the yucca 

 family. A gentleman informed me that, in riding 

 through it, he grasped the flower with his buckskin 

 glove on, and his hand was moistened from its nec- 

 tar. 



The wild heliotrope, Mexican willow, and hun- 



dreds of other plants too numerous to mention in 

 this article, yield honey, and most of the flowers 

 are so fragrant that, in riding through the ehapar- 

 al, you are almost overcome by the odor. 



Southwest Texas is a great country lor the bee- 

 keeper, especially Uvalde County, except when the 

 season is very dry, when the honey crop is almost a 

 failure. Tn the mountainous parts of the Pan 

 Handle (Northwestern Texas) bees are very abun- 

 dant, and they are found in the caves and clefts of 

 the canyons; and as the cow-boys' story goes, the 

 clefts are so filled with honey that large combs pro- 

 ject from them, and all they have to do to secure a 

 sufficiency of it is to take a Winchester rifle and a 

 bucket, and shoot off the comb and adjourn to 

 camp for a feast. 



Here at Greenville the spring opened favorably 

 for a good yield, but the excessive rains now are a 

 great drawback. My apiaries were much neglect- 

 ed last winter, owing to my absence from home, 

 and I lost at least 60 colonies, and am now reduced 

 to about 400. I found time in the spring to put 

 them in good order and melt up a great portion of 

 old combs— some, I am satisfied, were 12 years old. 

 By this means I enabled them to make new comb 

 for the queen to deposit her eggs in. I have so far 

 secured only 8000 lbs. of honey, as much new comb 

 had to be constructed; and my absence from home, 

 and so tnany affairs to attend to, caused my apia- 

 ries to suffer. O. M. Blanton. 



Greenville, Miss., July 8, 1889. 



NOTES FROM MY WORK-SHOP. 



DOUBLE-DECKED CELLS. 



T BELIEVE it was Dr. Miller who lately called at- 

 llE tention t° the fact that bees sometimes build 

 W an extra tier of cells over the surface of a 

 ■*• comb of sealed honey, after which the central 

 tier was never opened by the bees. My sur- 

 plus combs hang from the ceiling of my honey- 

 house. Twice, once last fall and again this spring- 

 when robbers were particularly searching and en- 

 ergetic, I opened the doors for several days, and 

 gave the bees free access to these combs until 

 they were satisfied there was no more honey in 

 them. In spite of this I found several combs con- 

 taining honey in a central tier of cells, which they 

 had not removed. 



DAMPENING SECTIONS. 



All sections that have been allowed to get 

 thoroughly dry will break largely in folding unless 

 they are dampened before using, no matter what 

 some manufacturers claim for their peculiar mode 

 of manufacture. I formerly dampened them by 

 piling them up in layers, wetting the back of each 

 alternate layer with a brush or sponge. This was 

 tedious, and often injured the appearance of the 

 sections. I now use a much better and more expe- 

 ditious way, as follows: Take the crate of sections 

 as it comes from the factory, and set it on the floor, 

 or, better, put two sticks under it to raise it slightly. 

 Take an old quilt or blanket, something that will 

 hold a great deal of water, and wet it, as much 

 as it will hold without dripping. Fold this 

 closely around the crate of sections. A dry cloth 

 thrown over the wet one to prevent evaporation 

 will be a help. Leave them over night or for sever- 

 al hours, and you will find them damp enough to 

 fold without breakage. It does not take much 



