\MER1CAN BEE JOURNAL. 



207 



from Sherman, and in an altogether 

 different country ; so please do not con- 

 demn all Texas on account of one or two 

 sickly counties. 



Bee-Keeping in North Texas. 



Mes. Atchley: — Will you kindly give 

 such information as accords with your 

 experience, on the following points re- 

 garding the apiarian business in North 

 Texas ? 



1st. When should horse-mint sprout 

 and take root in order to furnish nectar 

 abundantly the following season ? So 

 far our winter has been unusually dry 

 and warm, with no signs of horse-mint 

 growing. Will the spring rains bring it 

 up? If so, may we expect it to yield a 

 good honey supply? 



2nd. Would you attempt to get sur- 

 plus honey by putting on sections any 

 time before the advent of horse-mint — 

 say during fruit-bloom ? Or would you 

 look more to increase, and wait for a 

 honey harvest later? I mean, of course, 

 first swarms, no after swarms. 



3rd. As a dearth of honey-plants 

 usually exists in the latter part of April 

 and most of May, how should feeding be 

 done in order to get the bees in proper 

 trim to gather the June nectar, and yet 

 not excite the swarming fever? 



C. FiSHEB. 



Denison, Tex., Jan. 15, 1894. 



Friend Fisher, in answering your 

 question regarding horse-mint, I will 

 say that it is a winter plant. I mean by 

 that, it should come up in the fall and 

 winter over, and take root, and when 

 spring opens it usually springs up fast 

 like wheat, and bears a crop of seed and 

 honey about May 20th to June 20th in 

 your latitude. I have never seen mint 

 furnish honey to amount to anything 

 that came up in the spring. I am rather 

 inclined to think you may be mistaken 

 about its not being up already, as it is 

 rather small, and lays flat on the ground 

 through winter, and springs up quickly 

 in the spring, and it usually germinates 

 and gets root about September, or at the 

 first fall rains. Of course, when there 

 are no fall rains, you have no horse- 

 mint. 



There are two kinds of horse-mint. In 

 the timber around Denison, you likely 

 have the yellow bloom, while on the 

 prairies it is a blue or purple blossom. I 

 think probably you have both. In your 

 county you may some seasons get con- 

 siderable honey from rattan-vine, that 

 blooms the last of April and the first of 



May, and by watching closely you might 

 some seasons get a case of comb honey 

 per colony from that source. You will 

 not likely get any surplus from fruit- 

 bloom, as the bees are usually low in 

 stores at that time, and it takes fruit- 

 bloom to get them well started off. Stil!!^ 

 if frost does not interfere at your plac®,^, 

 you may get some red-bush honey, as iL 

 comes right in after fruit-bloom. 



If you desire increase, I would look 

 to that end clear through until May 1st, 

 we will say. 



The best way to feed to prepare bees 

 for the mint harvest is to feed them just 

 enough to keep brood-rearing going 

 nicely, and should the bees show a dis- 

 position to swarm, cut their food off, 

 and it usually stops it. Hang in a frame 

 of comb, one side filled with syrup,, 

 twice a week, at sundown. 



Size of Hive for Comb Honey, 



Mrs. Atchley : — Will you please tell 

 me how many square inches of comb 

 you think best in a hive to produce comb 

 honey in our latitude ? 



We have had very fine weather the 

 past fall and this winter until to-day,, 

 and it is sleeting now, 



Leonard Cowell. 



Fort Worth, Tex., Jan. 10, 1894. 



Friend Cowell, if I were producing 

 comb honey, I would rot use a hive 

 smaller than an 8-frame Simplicity, or 

 say 8 Langstroth frames. When I quit 

 producing comb honey, ten years ago, 

 I was using a 10-frame hive, and I had 

 such good results that I should use it 

 again if I were to produce either comb 

 or extracted honey. 



Your latitude is good for honey, and 

 If you push your bees at the right time 

 to have hives overflowing with bees at 

 the beginning of horse-mint bloom, you 

 will reap a good harvest. 



Capons and Caponizing^, by 



Edward Warren Sawyer, M. D., Fanny 

 Field, and others. It shows in clear 

 language and illustrations all about 

 caponizing fowls; and thus how to 

 make the most money in poultry-raising. 

 Every poultry-keeper should have it. 

 Price, postpaid, 30 cents ; or clubbed 

 with Bee Joxjknal one year, for $1. 10. 



5^^ The gossip resembles the bee, in 

 that she is always busy, and carries a sting 

 in her tale. — Exchange. 



