1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



297 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE 

 SOUTHWEST 



Bv Louis ScHOLL, New Braunfels, Tex. 



"He who pursues two rabbits will succeed in 

 catching neither" applies well in bee-keeping. 

 And in this time of specialism is it not wise for 

 the bee-keeper to specialize likewise.-' and is it 

 not the only way to attain the very highest suc- 

 cess possible in any line.-' We think so, for we 

 have found it that way. 



Second-hand cans are dear at any price. It 

 does not pay to spend the extra labor on them in 

 cleaning them up. They are to be dreaded as 

 possible spreaders of foul brood, and, after all, 

 many of them will not stand shipping honey in 

 again, especially such long distances as we have 

 here in the South and West. The risk is too 

 great. Buy new ones. 



■^ 



It is high time that more of the bee-keepers 

 study the bee diseases, especially foul biood It 

 is amazing to find how little the majority of the 

 bee-keepers in the South know about it, just be- 

 cause they have never been troubled with it. 

 \'ery few read any of the printed matter on this 

 subject. But the time is coming when one must 

 know as much about bee diseases as how to pro- 

 duce honey. 



While the bees in Southwest Texas, south and 

 west of San Antonio, have been rolling in surplus 

 honey, their cousins in other parts of the State 

 have had little if any thing to work on. It has 

 been very dry, as a whole, all over the State, ex- 

 cept in a very few localities, and prospects just 

 now are any thing but flattering. In the mes- 

 quite territories outside of Southwest Texas, the 

 early April bloom did not appear; hence there 

 was no spring crop. It is hoped that a large crop 

 will be harvested from the July mesquite bloom, 

 which is generally good after a failure of the 

 April bloom. The bees are mostly in good con- 

 dition considering the long drouthy period that 

 has prevailed. 



" SHAKING " OR " CHANGING " 



There, now. Dr. Miller, p. 190, April 1, you 

 got things mixed up by not mixing them up 

 enough; /. e., when I refer to shaking up a colo- 

 ny and getting energy into it I mean any kind of 

 mnipulation that will stir up the bees. I con- 

 lider the shaking they get when making the 

 changes worth a good deal. Simply shaking the 

 bees out of the hive and leaving every thing ab- 

 solutely intact (a feat that would be rather diffi- 

 cult) will not work as well as tearing the colony 

 ail to pieces and giving the bees a thorough shak- 

 ing-up while doing thi«. Neither will simply 

 making the changes, without shaking the bees, 

 give the desired effect. In other words, shaking 

 without changing is about the same as changing 

 without shaking. Each is better than doing 

 nothing at all to the colonies, as it stimulates 

 them ju'it so much more; but to get the mojt 

 energy into the bees, try shaking <u;ith changing 



In moving bees to a new location, from ten to 

 twenty miles or more, the bees are stirred up to 

 greater activity in every instance. In this case 

 no changing is done inside the hive. The same 

 results can be obtained right in the yard, how- 

 ever, by shaking them up thoroughly. The en- 

 ergy of the bees can be increased to a greater ex- 

 tent, however, by giving them a good shaking 

 every time their hives are manipulated, for some 

 reason. 



PROPER ARRANGEMENT OF HIVES. 



From the numerous photographs of apiaries we 

 notice that the hives are generally painted alike, 

 and arranged in straight rows. From several sea- 

 sons' experience I found it is no wonder that so 

 many bee-keepers have great losses from queen- 

 less colonies. One of my apiaries was arranged 

 by another party, and there were four rows ten 

 feet apart, and the hives were four feet apart in 

 the rows In this yard there was no end of 

 queenless colonies. It was what I expected, and 

 I was opposed to that sort of arrangement of 

 hives. Neither did the trouble end until we re- 

 located the yard in a more suitable location 

 where we could arrange the hives in groups of 

 fives. Such a plan furnishes an ideal arrange- 

 ment. It will be shown by pictures a little later. 



4y 



A BFE-KEEPER's CALENDER AND HONEY-PLANT 

 LIST. 



The Oklahoma Experiment Station has issued 

 a bulletin, by W. R. Wright, which should be 

 helpful as an aid to the bee-keepers of that new 

 State. Other States should also issue bulletins 

 more frequently on apiarian information. The 

 main aim of this bulletin is to assist in selecting 

 the most profitable time for stimulative feeding, 

 which is deemed necessary five to six weeks be- 

 fore the main honey-flow, to secure the greatest 

 honey harvest. With this in view, a list of the 

 honey-plants and dates of blooming is given. In- 

 side feeding of sugar syrup (half and half) is ad- 

 vised instead of outside feeding. 



Sweet clover, sumac, wood-sage, smartweed 

 (heartsease), apple, cherry, chittem wood, rasp- 

 berry, blackberry, locust, white clover, alfalfa, 

 and cotton follow in the order named as the main 

 honey-producers. 



FENCELESS APIARIES. 



A large number of apiaries in Southwest Texas 

 have no fence around them to ward off stock and 

 cattle, although they are mostly located in cattle- 

 ranges. As the land is cheap and ranges large, 

 the pastures are not stocked so heavily with cat- 

 tle that dangerous results might be feared from 

 their depredations in the apiaries. On the other 

 hand, the bee-keeper welcomes the few cattle 

 that stray into his apiaries and keep do An weeds 

 and grass, saving him this labor. 



Fences make the danger greater. First, if 

 made of the much-used barbed wire, stock and 

 cattle may become injured by running into it. 

 Secondly, where the apiary is fenced, the grass 

 will grow up in it, attract the stock, and cause 

 trouble, while such would not be the case if 'h^ 



