Feb. 2, 19(5 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



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 Special Ctrticlcs 



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No. 1.— Bee-Keeping in the Southwest. 



BY PROF. LOUIS H. SCHOLL. 



BEEKEEPING in the Southwest differs very much, 

 when taken as a whole, from Northern bee-keeping. 

 Other methods and systems of management are em- 

 ployed. The methods of procedure in the beginning of the 

 season are different from those practiced in the North, and 

 so as to the outcome at the end of the season's work. All this 

 is due to the difference in conditions, the change of climate, 

 with entirely different seasons and another variety of 

 honey-yielding flora. The seasons are not like those of the 

 North ; the winters are shorter and the summers longer, 

 and there is quite a difference in the temperature. 



THE LENGTH OF THE HONEY-SEASON. 



The question has often been asked, as to how long the 

 honey season lasts throughout the year in the Southwest ; 

 that is to say, from the time the bees begin to work on the 

 earliest blooms until they stop working on the latest ones. 

 To this my answer has often been, that it depends a good 

 deal upon locality, but in my own locality at home (Brazos 

 County), 13 months would be about^ight ! This has, how- 

 ever, nearly stunned the questioner in every case.; yet this 

 is really true, for if we begin with the first appearance of the 

 bloom of our mistletoe, which begins often about the first 

 of December, lasting well into January, it is followed by 

 many other flowers more or less all through the entire sea- 

 son. The last of these upon which the bees work, and 

 which ends up the season, is cotton. This blooms from the 

 latter part of June until frost, and often this does not come 

 until in January. So I have seen bees work on cotton as 

 late as that, and as they had begun in the months of De- 

 cember a year before, it can easily be figured out. In other 

 words, the flow extended into three different years. 



This, of course, does not occur every year, for some- 

 times the seasons are shorter, and the winters colder, yet 

 the bees fly more or less the year around, and are only kept 

 in the hives for several days at a time by cold weather. 



Neither will anybody surmise that the above would 

 mean the length of the honey-flow, or that there was a con- 

 tinuous honey-flow during this entire length of time. Not 

 at all. While there is some honey coming in more or less 

 all the time, yet the real honey-flows for the surplus are 

 much shorter, and mostly far between. 



THE TIME OF THE PRINCIPAL HONEY-FLOWS. 



During early spring there are, in my immediate locality, 

 a great many early bloomers that yield both honey and pol- 

 len in abundance for brood-rearing, and colonies build up 

 strong and become very populous very early in the season, 

 if the right kind of hives and management are used. There 

 must be plenty of room, and in such shape as will be most 

 essential for the colony. This is simply mentioned here be- 

 cause without it the colonies would not become most popu- 

 lous, no matter how good the early spring bloomers and the 

 yield. 



If rains have been plentiful the previous fall so that the 

 mesquite tree, and all other trees and shrubs, have accumu- 

 lated an abundance of sap upon which they thrive during the 

 following season, then we may expect a heavy flow from the 

 mesquite early in the season, in April. Unless a late frost 

 injures the bloom, or a late spell of cold weather hinders 

 the secretion of nectar, or keeps the bees in the hives, we 

 may expect a good crop of surplus honey, especially if the 

 weather and other conditions are favorable The flow lasts 

 from a week to ten days, and often from 25 to 100 pounds of 

 surplus honey per colony is stored. This shows the impor- 

 tance of having the strong colonies referred to in a previous 

 paragraph. 



This refers more to central Texas. In southwest Texas 

 this flow is preceded by a good and a heavy flow from cat- 

 claw. Occasionally, however, this is cut short by late cold 

 weather on account of its earliness. 



Farther west, guajilla (pronounced " waheah ") covers 

 the country over thousands upon thousands of acres of pas- 



ture-land, and it yields an early and abundant flow of nec- 

 tar. This honey is of a water-white color, and the flavor is 

 one of the mildest produced in the State. It has also 

 achieved quite an extended reputation, and the supply is not 

 equal to the demand, the most of the crop being already 

 sold before produced. 



In central Texas, again, the mesquite flow in April is 

 followed closely by a flow from horsemint in May. This, 

 when abundant, yields great crops of honey, as high as 700 

 pounds being once taken from one colony as the product 

 from this source alone. On account of several dry years of 

 late, and a scarcity of seed produced during that time, horse- 

 mint is not as plentiful as in former years when it grew so 

 thick over all the prairies that it was often impossible to 

 walk through it. 



Where horsemint is not so plentiful, in many localities 

 the prairie marigold (Gailavdia pulchella) follows the mes- 

 quite, and sometimes together with horsemint, both coming 

 in May. This, however, is a darker, golden honey, while 

 the others are all of light color. There is no trouble about 

 selling it, however, especially in the extracted form. 



In June the second flow from mesquite is of much im- 

 portance, especially when the early April flow has been 

 light, which is often caused by a previous dry fall. Then 

 the June flow is the heaviest, while, sometimes, it is very 

 light when the early bloom yielded well. Thus, it will be 

 seen that there are two distinct blooming periods of the 

 mesquite tree, two months apart. During the latter ripe 

 beans will be seen together with the flowers on the same 

 tree. 



Soon after this cotton begins to bloom, from June IS to 

 July 1, and lasts until frost late in the season, sometimes 

 yielding heavily and at other times only slowly, depending 

 a great deal upon the weather and atmospheric conditions. 

 From this plant the nectar is not only gotten from its 

 flowers, but there are nectar-glands on the underside of the 

 buds and on the ribs of the leaves which secrete pure nectar. 

 Sumac yields well in August and September, and ex- 

 tends pretty well over the entire State, hence it should not 

 be omitted here. 



In south-central Texas the main flow is from the rattan- 

 vine, which is very abundant especially in lowlands and in 

 the bottom-lands of the large rivers. In early spring this 

 is preceded by many bloomers ; along the rivers by willows 

 mostly, and many vines, and by different kinds of oaks and 

 other plants on the uplands, which mostly yield much 

 pollen, and thus aid in building up the colonies. 



The rattan blooms in April, and from this source a 

 large amount of honey is procured. It is, however, of an 

 inferior quality to that produced farther west from other 

 sources. It is almost entirely put up in barrels and goes to 

 Northern markets for manufacturing purposes in the large 

 bakeries of biscuit companies. 



The yield being so abundant, which makes the crops 

 procured large, results in bee-keeping being carried on quite 

 profitably by the bee-men in that part of the State, even if 

 their product does not rank so well in grades. 



In east Texas the flora is entirely different from that 

 already mentioned, and adapted to the more western and 

 those of the arid regions. Here are forests of pines, and 

 many other trees, and among them in many places are lin- 

 den, or basswoods, and holly, which yield much honey, and 

 large crops are obtained by the few bee-keepers who are 

 located in this range. This part of the State is not yet well 

 settled, hence there are not many bee-keepers, but the num- 

 ber is increasing. The main flow from basswood begins 

 about May 10, sometimes earlier or later. 



Besides those mentioned here it will be remembered 

 that there are many other honey-yielding plants that fill in 

 between and help out admirably, sometimes yielding some 

 surplus. Those mentioned are only the principal ones— 

 those from which the great bulk of the crop is obtained. 



This will give the reader some idea of the main honey- 

 flows, and how they follow each other. They all come from 

 a natural source except cotton, which is the only cultivated 

 Later on, when irrigation is resorted to more, we 



will add alfalfa. 



(To be continued.) 



Brazos Co., Tex. 



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Cellar-Feeding of Bees-Mailing Honey 

 Samples. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



Mr. Dadant:— You advise me to feed candy if I have to fead in 

 the cellar. Now, why not feed honey in the comb, if we havi it? 



