728 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1919 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



T_ TgYflc The storm of the night of 



September 14 will take its 

 place in history beside that of the famous 

 Galveston storm. The Corpus Christi storm, 

 as it will be called, centered upon that ill- 

 fated city and its neighboring towns. On 

 leaving the coast, it laid waste a strip of 

 territory 50 miles wide and reached west- 

 ward to the mountains of west Texas. Fol- 

 lowing the storm came rain and iiood, com- 

 pleting the work of destruction. Every- 

 where papers and magazines have been tilled 

 with the story of the loss of life and the 

 destruction of property. Those interested 

 in bees will notice that the area extends 

 across the famous honey section of south- 

 west Texas. The damage to the bees is 

 great, and at the present time even the own- 

 ers of apiaries in the edge of the storm area 

 cannot estimate their losses, as high water 

 and bad roads prevent their visiting the 

 yards. Many yards have been blown or 

 washed away. In others, overturned hives 

 were so drenched that all the young brood 

 and even adults were drowned. The over- 

 turned hives induced robbing to such an ex- 

 tent that many hives are lost. Not only did 

 the storm damage the bees, but also in the 

 eastern part of this area the honey plants 

 have been so severely torn that little fall 

 flow can be expected. The beekeepers of 

 this section are very hard to discourage, for 

 hardly had the storm passed than they were 

 in the apiaries preparing the storm-shatter- 

 ed bees for the fall honey flow. 



The fall honey flow is on, and at this 

 writing (Sept. 25) honey is being gathered 

 all over the State. In east Texas a heavy 

 blooming of goldenrod, boneset, and broom- 

 weed has already given a good yield and 

 promises to continue until frost. Heavy 

 yields from boneset are reported. One re- 

 port gives 34 pounds each from 26 colonies. 

 Broomweed is a remarkable yielder. It oc- 

 curs in immense quantities and yields best 

 as cold weather approaches. In southwest 

 Texas, the small-leaved sumac and the coma 

 have begun to bloom. These, together with 

 broomweed and a number of minor fall hon- 

 ey-yielders, promise good winter stores. 

 Coma is peculiar in that it blooms from 

 October to February and produces a large 

 amount of honey. Heavy yields from this 

 plant in January are quite common in the 

 lower valley. Among the peculiar plants 

 of the Southwest are those which bloom after 

 rains, the time between the rain and the 

 opening of the flowers being very definite. 

 The yellow rain lily is the first to respon<l, 

 blooming in about 60 hours, the white brush 

 in about five days, and the mesquite in 

 eight. White brush is peculiar in that it 

 yields little honey during the regular bloom- 

 ing period in the spring, but during the 

 rain-induced blooming periods at this time 

 of the year it yields heavily. 



A plant new to us as a honey plant has 



come to light this summer. If it has a com- 

 mon name it has not been given. Botanical- 

 ly it is Briiiinicliia cirrhom and is related 

 to buckwheat and heartsease. It grows in 

 the lowlands of southeast Texas and blooms 

 from June until August, yielding some sur- 

 plus. 



The honey yield has been very freakish in 

 the central part of the State, one beekeeper 

 reporting no surplus at all, and another hav- 

 ing a good crop from the same locality. In- 

 vestigations indicate that this was largely 

 due to the condition of the colonies. Where 

 the hives were very strong this spring a good 

 surplus was stored, but where the colonies 

 were weak they did not build up in time to 

 get the main flows, and consequently they 

 now have just enough for winter stores. 

 The fall honey flow largely determines the 

 strength of the colony the ensuing year. 

 If the supers are full or have been removed 

 and a good flow occurs, the bees in their 

 haste to lay in winter stores will fill the 

 brood-nest with honey and will so restrict 

 brood-rearing that the colony goes into the 

 winter weak and recovers slowly. This very 

 condition occurred last year and is now 

 again happening. It pays well to leave 

 plenty of room until the first of November. 

 If there is anything in aluminum honey- 

 comb, the beekeepers of Texas will know in- 

 side of a year or two. No matter where you 

 meet a beeman, his first question is ' ' How 

 about the metal comb?" Both those who 

 favor their introduction and those who do 

 not, are agreed on one point — that the}' are 

 going to try aluminum combs. 



The loss of property in the commercial 

 honey district, caused by the Corpus Christi 

 storm, has produced a slight flurry in the 

 honey market, as many who were holding 

 honey for a normal price are now almost 

 compelled to sell in order to repair storm 

 damages. This flurry will be of short dura- 

 tion, as buyers will quickly absorb these 

 emergency sales. 



Much has been said relative to the white 

 sweet clover as a honey plant in Texas and 

 as to its cultivation. This year this plant 

 b'oomed from the first of June until August. 

 In the northeast part of the State where this 

 crop has been planted for some years and 

 where the beekeepers expect a flow from it, 

 it did better than usual; in fact, considera- 

 ble seed was harvested. That this seed is 

 all right is shown at College Station where 

 a fine stand is now growing. This plat is 

 located on the sides of a ravine and has not 

 been in culti\'ation for a number of years. 

 The seed was sown broadcast at a rate of 

 10 pounds to the acre (hulled seed") and 

 disked in. The blooming period at one lo- 

 cality seems to be about four weeks. Wliere 

 the plants were cut to retard the blooming, 

 bees were not observed to work on the sec- 

 ond blooms. 



It seems as if there would be another 



