1901 



VHE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



215 



Convention, of course, decided by its 

 ballot to retain Dr. Mason in office 

 as secretary. 



Mr. Geo. Shiber, of Franklin- 

 ville, N.Y., combines bee-keeping 

 and merchandising, keeping about 

 twenty colonies of bees upon the 

 roof of his store-building, with suc- 

 cess. His average crop — Spring 

 count — this year was about ninety- 

 one pounds of comb honey per colo- 

 ny. Mr. Shiber, though not ex- 

 tensively engaged in apiculture 

 at present, is one of the well- 

 informed apiarists of his State, 

 having in his library nearly every- 

 thing published in English on the 

 bee. He has observed that success 

 in bee-keeping is generally in pro- 

 portion to the extent of one's read- 



Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, bee in- 

 spector for San Diego County, Cal., 

 through the American Bee JournaL 

 pleads earnestly for the enactment 

 of laws by which every bee-keeper 

 will be compelled to use moveable- 

 frame hives. The old-fashioned,' 

 stationary combs, it is claimed, ow- 

 ing to their inaccessibility, harbor 

 disease and thereby become a 

 menace to apiaries adjacently lo- 

 cated. There is no doubt that such 

 a law would greatly facilitate the 

 eradication of foul-brood in localities 

 where the box-hive still exists; and 

 as a sanitary measure would be ap- 

 proved by every progressive {Lpi- 

 arist, though the presentation of 

 such a bill might call forth consti- 

 tutional objections. 



In requesting of the Legislature 

 an appropriation for the establish- 

 ment of an experimental apiary, the 

 committee of the Texas Bee-keepers' 

 Association, according to the South- 

 land Queen, included in its petition 

 the following information, which 



gives an idea of the magnitude of 

 the industry at the present time 

 in the "Lone Star" State: 



Number of colonies of bees in 



the State, - - - 150,000 



Vahie of above colonies, - 375,000 

 Total number lbs. of honey, 11,250.000 

 Value of product, estimated at 



7 cts. per lb, - - «787,500 



Number lbs. of wax, - 150,000 



Value of wax product, - $ 37,500 

 Total value output of honey 



and wax, - - $835,000 



'Rah for Texas! 



"Bee-keeping in the West Indies " 

 is the name of a 73-page book re- 

 cently issued by the Imperial De- 

 partment of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies. It is written by Mr. 

 W. K. Morrison, whose name is 

 quite familiar to reading bee-keepers 

 of the United States. The little 

 work is designed, evidently, to ex- 

 cite interest in apicultux'e more gen- 

 erally throughout the West Indies, 

 and especially in the Lesser Antil- 

 les. It abounds in helpful sugges- 

 tions for the inexperienced and is 

 generally interesting throughout, 

 as well as instructive. In the fol- 

 lowing paragraph, which we quote, 

 the author has, without doubt, 

 voiced a compound truth not yet 

 fully realized, though soon to be 

 established: 



When the West Indian conditions are 

 rightly understood we may expect a sub- 

 stantial increase in the honey crop. 

 Hitherto too much reliance has been 

 placed on the methods in vogue in cold 

 climates where the conditions differ very 

 widely from those obtaining in the 

 tropics. 



The following very sensible pro- 

 position, from the Austral Cultur- 

 ist, has to do with a subject upon 

 which "locality" has no bearing 

 and the healthy condition of the 

 author's reasoning faculties are 

 beautifully reflected therein: 



A fixed strain of bees is very desirable 



