720 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in the South>vest 



Louis Scholl, New Braunfels, Texas. 



THE TEXAS BEE BULLETIN. 



The editor has already called the reader's 

 attention to the bulletin written by myself, 

 "Texas Beekeeping," published by the 

 Texas Department of Agriculture, Aus- 

 tin, Texas. In behalf of our Agricultural 

 Commissioner, Hon. E. R. Kone, I may 

 say that, since he is much interested in 

 furthering beekeeping, all who desire to 

 know more about this industry in Texas 

 may apply to him for a copy of this bul- 

 letin, and it will be sent free of charge. 

 It is somewhat larger than the usual bul- 

 letins published, and is really more like 

 a textbook on beekeeping in Texas. 



WEARING WHITE OR BLACK HATS. 



This is a subject that has been worn 

 almost to a frazzle, for bee journals fre- 

 quently relate some experience in which 

 bees have been attracted to black objects, 

 such as stockings, hats, chickens, or dogs. 

 We supposed that, because of the dislike 

 of bees for anything black, the wearing of 

 lighter-colored apparel when working in 

 the apiaries should always be advocated. 

 However, at the last annual convention 

 of the Texas beekeepers we found a bee- 

 keeper who actually prefers wearing a 

 black hat at all times when working with 

 the bees, and that for a very good reason. 

 If he wears a light-colored hat, the bees, 

 since he wears no veil, have a tendency to 

 strike directly for his dark eyes. To avert 

 this he wears a black hat, and this in such 

 a fasliion that the brim in front is i)ulled 

 down to a level with his eyes. When a 

 bee makes a dart for his eyes he lowers 

 his head slightly, which brings down the 

 brim of his black hat, and the bee, instead 

 of alighting in his face, hits the hat-brim. 

 This being black in color, and fuzzy, as 

 felt usually is, the bee puts all its ven- 

 geance into the hat-brim. 



It was also alleged, during the discus- 

 sion of this question, that wearing a black 

 hat would attract the stinging bees and 

 thus keep them from stinging the operator. 

 Our experiences teaches us to wear lighter- 

 colored apparel, with a good veil, and thus 

 prevent stirring up the ire of the busy 

 little workers who make for us a living, 

 instead of allowing them to kill themselves 

 uselessly on any thing they do not like. 

 * « * 



DIFFICULTY IN GETTING A QUEEN INTO A 

 LAYING- WORKER COLONY. 



That item by Dr. MiUer, page 504, Aug. 

 15, in which he says he saw a laying-worker 



in the act of laying, is interesting to me, 

 as I have watched time and again without 

 success to see the same thing. Out of the 

 entire number of bees in a laying-worker 

 colonj', I once felt sure I had discovered 

 some that were responsible for the eggs on 

 account of their somewhat larger size or 

 appearance, and the fact that their abdo- 

 mens were distended. But although I 

 marked some of these with white chalk I 

 never caught any of them in the act of 

 laying. If I had had more time I would 

 have placed the 'colony in an observatory 

 hive where I could watch the bees more 

 closely. 



I have never succeeded in getting a lay- 

 ing-worker colony to rear a new queen 

 successfully, even though new brood is 

 given. I have removed the entire lot of 

 combs that contained brood from the lay- 

 ing workers, and replaced them with other 

 combs, some of which contained very saiall 

 larvae as well as older brood; but the 

 trouble continues as long as the laying 

 workers remain in the colony. I have suc- 

 ceeded when the colony had not been queen- 

 less too long, so that the laying workers 

 did not have too great a start, or when 

 so much new brood was given that the newly 

 hatching bees amounted to a considerable 

 force when compared to the original col- 

 ony. Simply giving a comb with young 

 brood to a laying-worker colony does much 

 to effect a remedy, according to my ex- 

 perience, as the bees will not rear a new 

 queen successfully. It is also impossible 

 to introduce a queen-cell or a queen to 



such a colony. 



« * * 



STUDYING HONEY MARKETS. 



One who has never actually investigated 

 or looked thoroughly into the marketing 

 question is incaj^able of saying much about 

 this vexatious problem. For instance, my 

 own experience, although of many years' 

 standing, may not do the other fellow any 

 good; for, although I have been able to 

 market crops of honey most successfully 

 year after year, the other fellow's market 

 may require a very material change from 

 my own methods. 



Recently I have studied the honey mar- 

 ket of some of our large cities. It has al- 

 ways been somewhat of a wonder to me 

 why none of the leading grocers in those 

 places handle any of our honey put up in 

 our own regular friction-top pails. Since 

 these are standard-size packages here in 

 Texas and Oklahoma, and since thousands 



Continued on page 742. 



