DECEMBER 15, 1913 



881 



Beekeeping in the Southwest 



Louis Soholl, New Braunfels, Texas. 



NOVEMBER HONEY-FLOWS. 



When you meet Northerners on the trains 

 (from ahnost any State in the North), and 

 you hear them talking about cold weather 

 there at this time of the year it seems hardly 

 possible that there should be such a great 

 difference in the climate as compared with 

 the warm, almost summer weather we are 

 having here in the southernmost portion of 

 Texas. What is more surprising is that 

 the bees here are in the midst of a heavy 

 honey-flow, storing much honey and build- 

 ing the prettiest white comb honey. The 

 source of this abundance of nectar at this 

 time of the year is a very thorny, rough, 

 and otherwise unimportant-looking brush, 

 called " coma." Whole areas of hundreds 

 of acres are in immediate reach of some of 

 the apiaries here, and these thickets are so 

 dense and thorny in most places that they 

 can not be penetrated by man afoot or 

 horseback before cutting a path through 

 them. 



The small whitish star-shaped flowers 

 cover the entire limbs and branches densely, 

 and yield abundantly. The honey is of 

 light-amber color and of fair flavor, al- 

 though it has a peculiar twang to it. It 

 reminded me of the twang of buckwheat 

 honey, but is not so apparent, and the hon- 

 ey is not at all dark in color. Those who 

 have acquired a taste for this coma honey 

 seem to prefer it to the milder-flavored 

 honeys, very much as the " buckwheaters " 

 are fond of the stronger-flavored buckwheat 



honey. 



* « • 



REAL UP-TO-NOW BEEKEEPING. 



On my trip through the Rio Grande Val- 

 ley I had the great pleasure of stopping 

 over night and a part of two days with my 

 old friend Grant Anderson, of San Benito, 

 Texas. Mr. Anderson is one of the leading 

 queen-raisers of the country, and few are 

 so ideally located as he is. He dwells amid 

 a profusion of the honey-yielding brush and 

 other plants, and in a rich irrigated section, 

 with plenty of unbroken or " wild " land to 

 make it an excellent honey location as well 

 as being admirably suited for queen-rear- 

 ing. And, further, he resides near the bank 

 of a great water-course, or " arroyo," as it 

 is called. He has a large gasoline-launch with 

 which he motors from one apiary to another. 

 All his apiaries are located on the banks of 

 this arroyo, and the " Queen B," as the 

 launch is called, not only carries Mr. An- 



derson and his sturdy sons, who help their 

 father in the work, but also all of the sup- 

 plies. All of the honey is freighted home 

 on this same " Queen B." Talk about pleas- 

 ures of real motoring without the troubles 

 of bad roads, tire troubles, and all those 

 things common to road motoring! The 

 early morning ride that I enjoyed caused a 

 thrill of enthusiasm to penetrate every part 

 of my being. Here I saw real up-to-now 

 beekeeping, with the expense of travel to 

 and from the beeyards cut down to the 

 minimum. 



IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST TEXAS. 



The writer has been on a lecture-trip for 

 the State Department of Agriculture for 

 an entire month, with one or two day and 

 night lectures every day. The trip took us 

 thi-ough what is known as the mid-coast 

 country of Texas, and then through the Rio 

 Grande Valley to Brownsville. At this point 

 we also made a short excursion into Mexico. 



This trip is especially interesting, for the 

 reason that the lower Rio Grande Valley is 

 well adapted to beekeeping, almost every 

 one of the great number of shrubs and other 

 plant growths yielding more or less nectar 

 or pollen. All the main nectar-yielders 

 charactex'istic of Southwest Texas, the mes- 

 quite, catelaw, huajilla, coma, and dozens 

 of others, are here in abundance. There 

 are yet large areas without any bees; and 

 that territory adjacent to the large irriga- 

 tion projects is the most favorable location 

 for apiaries. 



One thing is certain, however — a great 

 deal of this yet raw land will be rapidly put 

 into cultivation ; but there being so much of 

 this, there will be many good locations for 

 apiaries for quite a long time. 



The climate here is almost ideal, and 

 plenty of water is in easy reach. Wherever 

 the irrigation canals have been extended 

 makes it possible to grow a great variety of 

 things associated with semi-tropical condi- 

 tions,. Oranges and other citrus fruits yield 

 in abundance if properly cared for. The 

 beautiful homes with the grounds planted 

 with palms, banana plants, and other orna- 

 mentals also as well as fruit-bearing trees 

 and plants are very attractive indeed. 



One thing I want tlie reader to remember 

 is that this is not a place to get rich quick 

 without mixing muscle and brain with the 

 soil and water. 



