548 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug-. 27, 1903. 



to buy young queens. Suppose he has only a few colonies, and is 

 present witli tliem only an hour or so eacli morning; or suppose he 

 has a number of colonies in an out-apiary that he visits only once in 

 10 days or so. He has all his queens clipped as an indispensable pro- 

 viso. He regularly destroys queen-cells in all colonies every 10 days 

 or so. and so long as there is no swarming all is clear sailing. On one 

 of his visits, however, he finds a colony with sealed cells and no eggs 

 or young brood. He knows then that this colony has swarmed. All 

 the same he destroys all queen-cells, and the next time round he gives 

 it a young laying queen, and counts pretty safely that no more fool- 

 ishness in the way of swarming will be considered by that colony for 

 the rest of the season. 



That's the whole program ; destroy cells every 10 days, and when 

 a colony is found queenless give it a young laying queen at the next 

 subsequent visit. It may not suit many, but the plan is not altogether 

 to be despised. 



The above program has been carried out in a good many cases in 

 a certain locality this year as well as other years, and it gets the honey. 



Shall Swarms be Shaken Before Preparations for 

 Swarming ? — Some thinls it better to anticipate any action on the 

 part of the bees by shaking before the time comes for the bees to 

 start queen-cells, while others prefer to postpone action till queen- 

 cells are found in process of construction. What may be best in one 

 locality, or for one person, may not be best for another. 



Where one can forestall swarming, and feel sure that is the end of 

 it for the season, there is quite a comfortable feeling of being master 

 of the situation. Granted that the shaking may interfere to some 

 extent with the crop, the question may be asked whether it interferes 

 any more — whether it interferes as much — as would swarming. Even 

 if a little less may be obtained from each colony, the total crop may 

 be increased by the shaking, for with the swarming question out of 

 the way one can take care of enough more bees to more than make up 

 all loss that comes from shaking. For, after all, in most cases the 

 amount of work involved is the important factor in the problem. 

 Less work and more bees will result from getting the swarming nui- 

 sance out of the way in advance. 



But all may not be able to clear the track thus in advance. Too 

 early shaking will with them only make the swarming demon more 

 troublesome right in the harvest time. There may be sufficient reason 

 why for them it may be best to lieep on the watch tor swarming prep- 

 arations, only taking action when queen-cells are found in the hive. 

 It will require work to go through the hives at stated times looking 

 for cells. Still, one accustomed to the work will doit rapidly, and 

 the results may justify the expenditure of labor. There will, too, be 

 always ahead the alluring prospect of some colonies that will make 

 no preparation for swarming whatever throughout the whole season, 

 and they will be the record-making colonies. If all were shaken in 

 advance no discrimination could be made, tor it would not be possible 

 in advance to select those colonies which would be complaisant 

 enough to refrain from swarming. 



This whole matter of shaken swarms is yet more or less unsettled, 

 and it is to be hoped that experience, careful observation, and liberal 

 exchange of views will so increase our knowledge regarding it that in 

 the near future each one may have some more definite idea as to what 

 shall bring the best practical results in his own case. 



Ashley Valley, Utah, seems to be a veritable bee-keepers' 

 paradise, according to E. S. Lovesy, who grows eloquent over it in 

 the Rocky Mountain Bee Journal. Enormous records have been 

 made, some of them exceeding 1000 pounds to the colony. About a 

 hundred bee-keepers occupy the valley, some of them having five and 

 six apiaries with from 150 to 200 colonies in each yard, " and all of 

 them rushing in with their loads of beautiful white honey." Those 

 who might think ot moving to this paradise are warned off by 

 Editor Morehouse, who says the valley is now fully stocked, and no 

 new bee-keeper should crowd in on those already there. 



But he awakens interest in the Uintah Indian Reservation, which 

 will be opened to settlement Oct. 1, 1904, saying: 



The Uintah Reservation is similar to the Ashley valley, and when 

 settled its valleys will produce honey as lavishly as the celebrated 

 country around Vernal. It is now far isolated from railroads, but the 

 Denver, Northwestern tV: Pacific, now buildiog, will cross its borders 

 and open its magnificent resources to commerce and civilization. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth working 

 for. I(00k at them. 





Convention Proceedings 



) 



Proceeding's of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion Held at the A. & M. College, at Colleg-e 

 Station, July 8 to 10, 1903. 



BY LOUIS H. SCHOLL, SKC. 



(Continued from pa^e 5.15.) 



The following paper was presented by Wilmon Newell, 

 who had charge of the experimental work referred to by 

 Prof. Sanderson : 



REPORT OF THE EXPERIMENTAL APIARY OF THE 

 TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE FOR 1902 3. 



The Experimental Apiary was established in May, 1902, 

 with an appropriation of $500 for the first year's work, or 

 until Sept. 1, 1902. The itemized account of how this money 

 was expended, as well as the work accomplished up to Sept. 1, 

 1902, will be found in the " Report Upon the A. & M. College 

 Apiary," which was published during the past winter. Of 

 this report 1500 copies were printed, but owing to lack of 

 funds, copies were mailed to only a few in response to most 

 urgent requests. Several hundred inquiries were received 

 at the office of the entomologist for this report, showing 

 that the bee-keeping industry in Texas is rapidly growing, 

 and the demand for information enormous. Copies of this 

 report may be had free of charge by applying to the secre- 

 tary of the Association, or to the State entomologist. 



For the year 1902-3, the sum of $250 was available. 

 This sum was totally inadequate for the work proposed, 

 especially as the first year's work and funds were insuffi- 

 cient to build up the apiary to the proper size and condition 

 for careful experimental work. The sum of $250 was ex- 

 hausted by March 1, 1902, and since that time the experi- 

 mental apiary has been run mostly by main strength — and 

 donations from charitably inclined individuals. Running 

 a private apiary purely for the commercial gain to be 

 derived therefrom, and running an experimental apiary 

 with no possible source of revenue, are two distinct and 

 different propositions, which fact is not always taken into 

 account by the outsider. A number of reasons, and chief 

 among them the necessity of a large and varied equipment, 

 make the conducting of an experimental apiary by far the 

 more expensive of the two. The $250 above mentioned was 

 expended as follows : 



Bees and queens ?45 40 



Hives and apparatus 64 39 



Tools, fence, and accessories to bee-house 39 43 



Books and magazines 16 30 



Feeding in fall of 1902, made necessary by dry season. . 6 00 

 Seeds and plants for experiments with cultivated Honey- 

 plants 15 83 



Improvement in main building otHce 6 00 



Travel (foul brood inspection and assisiance) 21 10 



Freight and express 18 31 



Postage and telegrams 14 90 



Incidentals 2 34 



Total J250 00 



Owing to the shortage of funds, some lines of experi- 

 mental work undertaken in 1902 had to be entirely aban- 

 doned, while the results with many other experiments were 

 neither satisfactory nor conclusive, owing to the small 

 number of colonies engaged in them. 



HONEY-PLANTS. 



In the fall and winter of 1902 considerable attention was 

 given in the current numbers of the bee-papers to a Califor- 

 nia plant designated as " carpet grass," very flattering 

 reports being given as to its honey-producing qualities and 

 resistance to drouth. We were unable to ascertain the spe- 

 cies of this plant, and accordingly secured from Sutter Co., 

 Calif., through the courtesy of Mr. J. H. Erich, of that 

 county, living "carpet grass " plants. These were planted 

 out immediately upon their arrival, and grew fairly well. 

 Some time after securing these plants, its name of Lippia 

 nodiflora was published in the bee-papers. When the plants 

 at College Station began blooming in the latter part of 

 May, they were not only found to be this species, but were 

 ^.\%o identical YiWn. the form of this species occurring in 



