SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 119 



then the bright golden-colored honey is so bitter it can not be eaten. The 

 comb built during such a flow is of a characteristic bright yellow. 



Another common weed is the ragweed (Ambrosia) , of which there are 

 several species. These are much like the crotons in distribution, and yield 

 pollen. 



A valuable fall bloomer in most parts of the State is the broom weed 

 {Guttierezia Texana), beginning to bloom in August and until frost. The 

 honey is amber in color, and strong-flavored, but is most excellent for 

 winter stores, coming at this time, and the colonies build up on it in splendid 

 condition with their hives full. This plant is sometimes not so abundant 

 during a dry season, but comes quite regularly year after year. Where abun- 

 dant, much fall honey is obtained from Virginian crownbeard, or often called 

 wild tobacco {Verbesina Virginiana). It blooms in October; but the dry 

 summers cause a stunted growth of the flowers in many seasons, when it 

 yields sparingly. 



CULTIVATED HOnEY-PLANTS. 



Alfalfa is being planted a great deal, and yields honey under favorable 

 conditions with or without irrigation. Not enough of it is grown yet, how- 

 ever, to make it an important source; but with the advent of irrigation in 

 the arid sections, all of West Texas should rival the Western States, where 

 alfalfa honey is abundantly produced. None of the other clovers thrive 

 well here except sweet, white, and yellow; and since there is so much waste 

 land it would mean much to increase our honey-flows and to tide the bees 

 over the summer months. However, the southern dry climate does not seem 

 to agree with its growth unless cultivated, hence it soon disappears. 



In the northern part of the State a good deal of it grows, having been 

 first planted many years ago. 



Another valuable cultivated plant is the cowpea, generally planted in the 

 cornfields for fertilizing purposes after that crop is made. As these bloom 

 during the dry months the bees are kept out of mischief. Cowpea planting 

 should be encouraged. 



Some thirty varieties of honey-yielding plants were tested at the Texas 

 A. and M. College Experiment Station; but only the above proved of suf- 

 ficient value for planting for bee-forage. It is also not profitable to plant 

 for bee-forage alone. 



THE OUTLOOK FOR THE INDUSTRY. 



Never before were the chances better for bee-keeping in Texas. With its 

 great area and varying conditions the immense flora provided by nature, 

 and the coming of irrigation of the more arid regions — this, together with a 

 more progressive lot of people who will make better bee-keepers, makes the 

 prospects for the future in apiculture in this State most promising. The 

 markets for the bee-keepers' products were never better, and a demand has 

 been worked up for the different kinds of honey produced here that has never 

 been filled. A strange fact is that Texas does not have to depend on the 

 markets of the North for an outlet, thus saving the enormous freight rates, 



