638 



American Itee Journal 



July 26, 1906 



dozen or so. Some of them were very dark on the upper 

 side, and salmon-pink or copper-colored on the under side. 

 ^ hat kind of snake was it, and does it do any damage? 



There seems to be more or less discussion over the 

 use or misuse of the term "hybrid," and being a "tenderfoot" 

 (.1905 was my first season). I would like to ask the differ- 

 ence between a "cross" and a "hybrid." My dictionary doesn't 

 give any. 



Osceola, Wis., June 12. Bee-Farm. 



Snakes are not supposed to do any damage to bees. 

 We have found them curled up in our hives a number of 

 times, but they didn't seem to be doing any harm. I don't 

 know what kind of snakes yours were. 



( A mixture of Italian and black blood makes a "hybrid" 

 or "cross." The two words mean the same thing, although 

 it seems a pity that the word hybrid ever came into use with 

 that meaning. 



m 1 ^ 



Bees Rolling in the Honey 



I am getting some honey. Bees are in fine condition, 

 and are rolling in the honey for me. 



Littleton, N. H., July 5. (Mrs.) F. M. Glessner. 



They say, "Misery loves company," and we are getting 

 no honey; but in the present case we are glad to forego even 

 such pleasant company as you. Mrs. Glessner. and heartily 

 congratulate you on your good harvest. 



our present irrigated areas, with adjoining desert tracts, are pretty 

 fully stocked with bees. Other parts of the Territory are as yet less 

 thoroughly occupied. 



The quantity and character of the nectar produced by representa- 

 tive honey-plants are of interest in connection with the amount and 

 quality of honey producible within a given territory. The following 

 results were obtained by selecting typical plants or areas, estimating 

 the number of blossoms, and determining the sugars in samples of 

 average flowers : 



Variety of Plant 



Mesquite (Proso 

 pis velutlna) 



Catclaw (Acacia 

 greggii 



Acacia constricta 



Alfalfa In fall 

 bloom 



Dimensions 



IS ft. high, 

 30 ft. broad 



6 ft. high. 1 

 10 ft. broad 1 



9 ft. high, I 

 12 ft. broad 1 



1 square rod 



Calculated to 

 honey (18 per 

 centwaterjpro- 

 ducedby plant 



2.53 lb. in 1 

 medium tree 



.36 lb. in 1 



medium bush 



.39 lb. in 1 



large bush 



55.9 lb. in I acre- 



The figure for alfalfa h? especially interesting and corresponds 

 roughly with such farmer's estimates of yield as " a can of honey (60 

 pounds) to the ton of hay." Invert sugars are seen to vary from 1.6- 

 to 21 times (averaging 8.6 times), the amount of cane-sugar present in 

 the flowers. 



The quality of Arizona honey varies with its source as well as 

 with its treatment and preparation for market. 



Southern 

 Iteedom 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl, New Braunfels, Tex. 



Bee-Produets in Arizona 



The following is clipped from circular No. 48, "Timely 

 Hints for Farmers," of the University of Arizona Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, and contains many items of in- 

 terest. To " us Texans " it is interesting to note that the 

 first colonies of Arizona's bees came from our grand State 

 The notes on the honey-plants and their yields have been of 

 especial interest to me, since much of my time was devoted 

 toward getting up an herbarium of Texas' honey-yielders. 

 Here is the Arizona matter : 



It is stated by Indians and white pioneers that the honey-bee was 

 unknown in Arizona until American occupation. The first colonies 

 probably drifted in from Texas with adventurous settlers not long be- 

 fore the middle of the last century. In 1878 John B. Allen brought a 

 number of colonies to Tucson from California as a business venture; 

 while in Salt River Valley bee-keeping began early in the '80's. 



The last census enumerates 18,991 colonies in the Territory June 

 1, 1900, with a product during 1S99 of 930,420 pounds of honey, and 

 13,080 pounds of wax, having a total valuation of £67,489. 



The sources of our honey are the desert flora and cultivated crops, 

 chiefly alfalfa. A few of the principal producing plants and their sea- 

 sons are as follows: 



Time of Blooming. 



Mesquite (Prosopis velutina) April-July. 



Screw bean ( Prosopis pubescent) April-July. 



Catclaw (Acacia greggii) May-June. 



Acacia (Acacia constricta) June. 



Paloverde (Parkinsonia torreyana) May. 



Desert flora (Miscellaneous) Depending upon rainfall. 



Alfalfa (Medicago sativa 1 April-September. 



The wild honey-plants, because of grazing animals and of wood- 

 cutters, have greatly decreased within recent years. The area in 

 alfalfa, on the other hand, is constantly increasing; but without a 

 corresponding increase in honey-producing power. This is due to two 

 principal causes: Farmers are now cutting alfalfa for hay at a much 

 earlier stage in its growth than formerly, not allowing the plant to 

 come into full bloom : and the alfalfa butterfly (ColUa eurytheme) has 

 so increased in numbers since 1895, that the- honey-flow, which U6ed 

 to continue well into September, is now cut short in July. It is diffi- 

 cult to state the net effect of these changes upon the producing power 

 of the country as a whole; but in Salt River Valley under present con- 

 ditions, judging from the shipments made during the last few years, 



Mr. /iastyS 



flfferfhoitihts 



The " Old Reliable " as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Wax-Extracting Methods 



Bully for him ! F. Greiner proposes to have a large 

 and excellent solar wax-extractor, and deliberately sacrifice 

 the confessedly large amount of wax which the solar will 

 not get. Cause why? He finds a day of hard and disagree- 

 able work only gets out 3 runs of 5 pounds each; and decent 

 pay for such work would take a lion's bite out of what it 

 brings. Cheaper to waste a third of it. Some years my 

 practice has been to run pretty much everything through the 

 solar and keep what remains — worms do not seem to work 

 in it after such a heating as it gets — then the accumulation 

 of years can be re-treated at once. But his scheme to have 

 all difficult material rendered on shares by a common es- 

 tablishment run by an expert, that scheme will fail, I reckon. 

 Wouldn't if all brethren were like him (or like me) but 

 fail because so many have exaggerated ideas about how much 

 wax is in a pound of dirty old comb. In other words, patrons 

 (without intending to be hoggish) would want for their 

 share all the wax, and more, too. Page 485. 



Floats fop use in Feeding Bees 



Coverdale, in speaking of his big feeder made with oil- 

 cloth and an empty super (as nearly all writers who get on 

 the same ground) makes rather light of the difficulty of the 

 bees getting drowned. I have wondered some why a diffi- 

 culty so provokingly insoluble to me seems to be so trifling 

 to others. Hard for me to find a satisfactory float for bees 

 on honey — or on water, either, for that matter. When the 

 float seems to the keeper's eyes to be all that can be desired, 

 bees will still get daubed and killed by their careless rushing 

 around, and by piling onto one anothers' backs. Some floats 

 soak up too much honey, some have far too little hold-up 

 power, some call for too-muchee everlasting fuss — fuss to- 

 get the surface covered properly and none of the material 

 sprawling and sprangling outside ; some get sour or cor- 

 rupt too easily, and nearly all make too much after-daul> 

 to clean up things. I have been giving grape packing of 

 cork a high place — but perhaps that's only because I never 



