GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in the Southwest 



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TWO PROGRESSIVE COUNTY ORGANI- 

 ZATIONS. 



I have just had tlie pleasure of 

 attending a meeting of the Bexar 

 County Beekeepers' Association, at 

 San Antonio, Texas. I am pleased 

 to note the number of organiza- 

 tions of beekeeiDers increasing in Texas. 

 Time and again 1 have called attention to 

 the imjjortance of such organizations. 



The officers are, LeAvis Maverick, presi- 

 dent; J. K. Smith, vice-jDresident ; E. G. 

 LeStourgeon, secretaiy-treasurer; Henry I). 

 Grossenbacher, foul-brood inspector. The 

 standing committees api>ointed are : "Wm. 

 Cravens, chairman Legislative Committee ; 

 S. A. Gould, chairman Committee on Bee 

 Diseases; A. P. Heinen, chairman Enter- 

 tainment Committee; Wm. Zimmerman, 

 chaii'man Program Committee. 



The other organization is the Frio Counly 

 Beekeepers' Association, with Pearsall, Tex- 

 as, for its postotfice address. George Cur- 

 tis is" president ; J. N. Maj^es, vice-presi- 

 dent: B. I. Gilman, secretary-treasurer; B. 

 P. Cude, sergeant; R. A. Little, foul-brood 

 inspector. On committeas are E. G. Le- 

 Stourgeon, 0. E. Milam, and Guy Wood, 

 Program Committee; Prank Talbot, C. T. 

 Hardy, and P. T. Lester, Bee Disease Erad- 

 ication ; J. C. Campbell, C. G. Mayes, and 

 J. C. Eldridge, Entertainment Committee. 

 * ■* * 



THE telephone' IN BEEKEEPING. 



It is a great gratification to the beekeep- 

 ers that the rural telephone is finding its 

 way into all portions of the country. Near- 

 ly all of our apiaries ai'e now located with- 

 in easy reach of these rural telephones, and 

 they are a blessing in the many ways these 

 can be put to use. It is now quite an easy 

 matter to get information from any of the 

 localities that we are not able to visit oui'- 

 selves. Most of the owners of the land upon 

 which the apiaries are located have tele- 

 phones. As they have more or less interest 

 in the welfare of our work with the bees on 

 their place we need only call them up for 

 the information desired. 



In several instances such persons have 

 called me up of their own accord to remind 

 us of swarming going on, or that it was 

 their belief that more storage room would 

 be necessai'v on account of a sudden honey- 

 flow. Only yesterday morning I had a call 

 foi' help because a heavy downpour, a verit- 

 able cloudbui-st of rain, was threatening one 

 of our apiaries. Had I not received this 



hurry call, and dispatched men to this 

 apiary eleven miles away immediatelj^, 1 

 should have lost all the bees there. In the 

 aftei-noon another call advised us of several 

 colonies of bees swarming at another apiary. 

 I went there immediately and hived them. 

 With these telephone connections it is far 

 easier to keep in touch with the bees and 

 conditions at the various apiaries, though 

 they be very much scattered, and at long 

 distances from headquarters. 

 * * * 



PROSPECTS IN TEXAS. 



Beekeepers generally all over Texas are 

 jubilant over the prospects for a honey 

 harvest. Abundant rains during the last 

 few w'eeks, and the opening of spring, have 

 finally resulted in all kinds of vegetation 

 making rapid rank growth and in great 

 profusion. The bees are in excellent condi- 

 tion except in a few localities where they 

 ha\'e run exceedingly short of stores. Some 

 were " robbed " too closelj' last fall, and 

 are handicapped by heavy brood-rearing 

 that began very early this year on account 

 of the mildness of the weather in the latter 

 part of January and tlii'oughout most of 

 February. Although much cold weather 

 followed thereafter, particularly through 

 March, when we had snow and ice, and 

 some of the coldest weather of the winter, 

 the bees did not suffer. The colonies were 

 exceptionally strong; and with the large 

 amount of brood, which has a tendency to 

 keep the hives warm also, they came through 

 the cold weather, and some of the colonies 

 cast large swarms as soon as warmer weath- 

 er came. * * « 



INVENTORS OF NEW HIVES. 



It is all right for P. C. Chadwick to 

 encourage would-be inventors of new hives, 

 page 53, Jan. 1.5, provided they really in- 

 vent something worth while. Otherwise 1 

 feel it actually a duty to discourage it. 1 

 have on my desk just now a long lettei', ac- 

 companied by drawings and a patent, from 

 another inventor of a new hive that, in the 

 mind of the originator, will revolutionize 

 beekeeping. To any beekeeper with the 

 slightest experience and .some idea about 

 only the general requirements of a good 

 hive, this new invention is but a complicat- 

 ed, impracticable clap-trap affair — even 

 more so tlian tlie same kind of inventions 

 of six persons I have received such corre- 

 spondence from. 



Far better it would be if we could dis- 

 suade these over-enthusiastic people from 



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