38 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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Louis Scholl, New Braunfels, Texas 



With every thing prepared and ready 

 whenever it may be needed for the coming 

 s.ason, the bee-keeper who is so fortunate 

 as to be so situated can stare the season 

 bravely in the face and feel as though he 

 would be sure to conquer, while the go-easy 

 kind of fellow who w^aits to see if it will re- 

 ally pay him to get any thing ready at all 

 has apparently no feeling at all. The for- 

 mer will meet with success if it is to be had, 

 while the latter will meet with — well, to tell 

 the truth, we can't tell. 



TEXAS HONEY. 



To show how great is the demand for our 

 honey in our great Lone Star State we need 

 only mention that the entire Texas crop 

 was practically sold by the end of August. 

 There were several small lots here and there 

 after that, but they went in a hurry as soon 

 as they were located. There was a demand 

 for more, but no honey to supply it. The 

 Southwest Texas crojis were sold out long 

 before this time, and the Central Texas pro- 

 ducers, whose crop comes a month or two 

 later, were overrun with orders as a conse- 

 quence, when their product was ready for 

 market. The writer's experience this year 

 was almost exasperating at times, the or- 

 ders coming in some mails numbering from 

 half a dozen to several dozen. It was im- 

 possible to put up the honey as fast as it 

 was demanded. It took from two to three 

 weeks to fill many of the orders, and at the 

 end of the season some M'hich were unfilled 

 had to be canceled, amounting to more than 

 our entire crop of 67,000 lbs. Since that 

 time orders have come in for more honey 

 every week, but there is none to supply. 



This is not only true of this year, but 1910 

 and 1909 were very similar, except that the 

 season closed later last year. However, 

 the numbfer of canceled orders each year for 

 several seasons has run up into many thou- 

 sands of pounds. This is not only our own 

 experience, but that of many other large 

 producers. 



There have been a few Texas bee-keepers 

 who have shipped in honey from other 

 States in the West, but not many, for our 

 bee-keepers are prone to stay by honey pro- 

 duced in Texas by Texas bee-keepers, and, 

 as a rule, do not care to supply any other. 

 Then it is a fact that many consumers do 

 not like to buy honeys that they are not 

 used to. This is especially true of honey 

 with a decided flavor, such as the western 

 alfalfa. Of course, some customers do not 

 mind a different flavor, but on the whole we 

 know from personal experience that a pref- 

 erence for the Texas honey does exist. 



It would be interesting to know just how 

 much honey is annually produced and con- 

 sumed in the Lone Star State. We know 

 that the output is enormous, but we have 

 no reliable statistics to show what it is at 



the i:)resent time. One fact exists, that the 

 greatest bulk of this honey is consumed 

 right here at home, and very little of it finds 

 its way into the Northern markets. Okla- 

 homa also is a great consumer of our prod- 

 duct. This is due to the fact that, on the 

 whole, that State and all of the northwestern 

 portion of Texas are not adapted to bee- 

 keeping except in a few favorable localities; 

 and the consequence is, the honey must be 

 procured from Central and Southwest Texas. 

 The consumption of honey is great in both 

 Texas and Oklahoma, the main product be- 

 ing bulk comb honey, which has for many 

 years been strictly a Texas product. 



■*- 



FIELD MEETINGS IN TEXAS. 



It seems that the Texas bee-keepers have 

 been so busily engaged with their extension 

 of apiaries and the business end of their 

 following to such an extent that no time 

 remains that could be profitably spent in 

 gatherings or conventions and field meet- 

 ings of bee-keepers at various times during 

 the year. Why this is, we do not know. 

 Texas had at one time as many as eight 

 bee-keepers' associations: but there is only 

 one to-day, and that is not as lively as it 

 used to be. There is something wrong 

 somewhere, whenever those who are engag- 

 ed in the same line of work neglect the so- 

 cial side of their vocation as found in the 

 conventions and other gatherings. 



Texas is large enough to have half a doz- 

 en bee-keei)ers' associations, even if some 

 of them be small in number. Nothing can 

 do more good in furthering the progress of 

 the industry, and nothing larightens up and 

 helps the bee-keeper more than getting 

 away from home and his work occasionally 

 and rubbing up against some of his fellow- 

 men who are engaged in the same calling. 

 This is one thing that should receive more 

 attention on the part of the bee-keepers 

 of the big Lone Star State; and to start the 

 ball rolling, and to begin the new year prop- 

 erly, the writer will be glad to hear from 

 every bee-keeper in the State who is inter- 

 ested in having, at some early time, field 

 meetings or similar gatherings of bee-keep- 

 ers, at which important topics pertaining lo 

 the industry may be discussed. If too busy 

 to write a letter, a postal card will do if the 

 name and address are plainly written. 



It may be well to take this opportunity 

 to state that the writer received some time 

 ago the appointment as Consulting Apicul- 

 tural Expert of the Texas Dei)artment of 

 Agriculture, at Austin, and all correspond- 

 ence may be sent there if desired. All yer- 

 sons desiring information about bees or be. - 

 keeping may obtain it by writing to the 

 State Department of Agriculture. Hon. 

 Ed. R. Kone is the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture of the Department. 



