AUGUST 15, 1912 



507 



Beekeeping in the South^vest 



LOL'is ScHOLL, New Braunfels, Texas. 



THOSE PICTURES OF L. C. ROOT. 



When the July 15th issue appeared I en- 

 joyed those pictures of L. C. Root very 

 much indeed; and it has occurred to me 

 that Gleanings ought to give more pic- 

 tures of the other well-known beekeepers 

 of the country in much the same way. It 

 is a pleasure to see these old veterans, 

 snapped right among the bees. It would be 

 appreciated by all of us, I am sure, if we 

 could have a glimpse of the many old- 

 timers as they look to-day. 



CHUNK HONEY. 



It seems that our northern friends are 

 trying to insist on the name "chunk honey" 

 for the product known entirely as "bulk 

 comb honey" in Texas. Just why tliis should 

 be, we can not understand. For a Texas 

 beekeeper to use the term "chunk honey" for 

 bulk comb honey is looked upon as gross ig- 

 norance of the real name for this product. 

 Bulk comb honey is the proper name, and it 

 should be used. Being strictly a product 

 of commercial importance, originating in 

 Texas and named by Texas beekeepers 

 "bulk comb honey," it is only right that 

 others should be exi^ected to use that name. 



The term "chunk honey" is entirely out 

 of place in the Texas beekeepers' vocabu- 

 lary as a general rule. That name is out 

 of date, and the product now jjroduced as 

 bulk comb honey is so much superior in the 

 way it is produced, ^lacked, and marketed, 

 that the newer name is well warranted. 



It is hoped that the old-fashioned term 

 "chunk honey" will be put aside, and "bulk 

 comb honey" used instead. The latter term 

 covers all comb honey produced in frames 

 or otherwise, then cut out and marketed. 

 There are many ways in which bulk comb 

 honey is marketed. However, in Texas, 

 the home of this kind of comb honey, it is 

 almost entirely marketed in standard-sized 

 tin packages in wooden eases. 

 * * * 



MOVING BEES WITHOUT SCREENING. 



Although we have argued against taking 

 the risk of moving bees with the entrances 

 of the hives wide open, the subject comes 

 up again every once in a while. There 

 would be no objection to this if it were 

 not a fact that beginners are apt to be 

 misled. I have seen several instances of 

 this kind. Of course, there is not so much 

 danger connected with this method of mov- 

 ing when the automobile truck is used, as 

 in the case of J. Van de Vord, p. 445. With 



horse-drawn vehicles it is by far the best 

 and wisest plan to close the hives securely 

 upon all occasions, providing for proper 

 ventilation during warm weather, of course. 

 After giving open-entrance moving a 

 trial upon several occasions, both during 

 cool and warm weather, I have concluded 

 to denounce it under all circumstances. It 

 does not work satisfactorily enough in the 

 first place, especially if colonies are strong 

 or the weather is warm, as the bees cluster 

 outside and all over the hives. They often 

 crawl all over the wagon in spite of fre- 

 quent smoking. Tliis is the result with 

 night moving, and during the day such 

 moving can hardly be done. It takes a lot 

 of time and precaution to get them on the. 

 wagon with a lot of smoking; and while 

 they will remain reasonably quiet while the 

 load is in motion they come out of the 

 hives as soon as the wagon stops. This is 

 bad if a sudden stop must be made, as in 

 case of an accident or otherwise while on 

 the road. We do not like this method. It 



is safer and wiser to screen the entrances. 



* * * 



HIVE-NUMBERS. 



Manilla hive-tags boiled in parafflne, and 

 cheap to replace when they are worn out, 

 sounds good enough, Mr. Editor and Dr. 

 Miller; but the matter of fastening them 

 to the hive — that is the question I am driv- 

 ing at. I want a number that will last 

 while I can shift it from place to place in 

 a jiffy — that is to say, one that I can put 

 on either end of a hive or super, if the 

 hives are I'eversed end for end; also if I 

 want to raise the brood-chamber up, and 

 I'd like to have the number tag on the 

 lower one just given. This is especially 

 necessary with our numerous manipula- 

 tions with the divisible-brood-chamber 

 hives. It would cost me thousands of tacks 

 and a great lot of tacking, with ten thou- 

 sand supers in use, any of which may come 

 into place at any time where it must bear 

 the number tag. Understand"? 



Well, I am tickled because I have in- 

 vented such a tag, and have been using it 

 for several years. It works like a charm, 

 can be placed on the hive in a jiffy, taken 

 off and placed somewhere else in a jiffy, 

 and not a single tack, nail, nor staple is 

 needed; and it is cheap enough for me, 

 especially if the value of such a number 

 tag is considered. It is difficult to describe 

 it, so I'll make drawings of it and show 

 you. It can be made to fit your hives too, 

 Dr. Miller, as well as yours. Mr. Editor. 



