Aug. 2S, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



549 



Convention Proceedings, i 



Report of the Texas State Convention, Held at 

 Colleg'e Station, July 16 and 17, 1902. 



uY i.ouis scnoi.i,, SKC. 



The Convention was called to order at 3:30 p.m., on July 



IS, by Vice-1'res. H. H. Hyde, in the absence of Pres. Sal 



yer. 



The meetinp was opened with prayer by K. L. Aten, after 



which came the reception of new members. 



The election of otlicers for the ensuing^ year resulted 

 as follows : President, Udo Toepperwein ; Vice-President, 

 W. O. Victor ; Secretary-Treasurer, Louis H. SchoU, of 

 Hunter. 



The following committees were appointed : On resolu- 

 tions, F. L. Aten, F. J. K. Davenport and H. H. Hyde. On 

 program for next meeting : L,. Stachelhausen. 



Prof. F. W. Mally, State Entomologist at College Sta- 

 tion, delivered an address on the apiary and beeS located at 

 the College, and how they were procured. He spoke as fol- 

 lows : 



Prof. Mally's Address on the State Apiary. 



Members of the Association : — It is no small pleasure 

 to be able to report to you the establishment of an apiary 

 at the Agricultural and Mechanical College since your last 

 meeting. It is not often that our annual meeting can show 

 progress and results in so short a time, as I am able to out- 

 line to you this afternoon. The apiary at the College is a 

 direct result and monument to your first meeting and efforts 

 as a State organization. If the value of organization 

 needed any argument, kindly suggest a stronger one than 

 this. 



Many of you present today remember that I appeared 

 before you to suggest how to proceed to secure proper funds 

 from our State legislature for establishing an apiary at the 

 College, in order that beekeeping might be properly taught, 

 and an important industry of our State receive due support 

 in an educational way. I asked you to furnish statistics as 

 to the value of your products, and the capital invested, and 

 also requested that a legislative committee be appointed. 

 This you did promptly, and during the session of the 27th 

 legislature 1 left no stone unturned to prove to the finance 

 committee of the House the importance of providing the 

 funds asked for. 



Mr. G. F. Davidson deserves special mention in this 

 connection for having spent his own time and money to 

 visit Austin and explain many of the practical details to 

 the committee. Outside of the technical information re- 

 quired, or the support given the Bill by bee-keepers and 

 others, the Hon. W. O. Murray, a leading member of the 

 Finance Committee of the House, deserves unstinted praise. 

 He was the bee-keepers' friend from first to last, and 

 but for his dogged determination to stick to his text, the 

 bee keepers could not to-day be invited to an inspection of 

 the college apiary. 



There is, I fear, a little misunderstanding by some as 

 to the nature of the appropriation. We were provided with 

 SSOO the first year, and 5f2SO the second year, for equipment. 

 This means that money was appropriated to organize and 

 equip the apiary, but no money was appropriated for the 

 salary of a bee-keeper. Hence the apiary, so far as the hep 

 and assistance are concerned, has been maintained by my 

 department, out of the Entomological Assistance Fund. I 

 have been able to do this because I was unable to procure a 

 proper man until several months of the salary had elapsed. 

 At the proper time I was then able to secure additional ex- 

 pert service in practical bee-keeping by employing your 

 honored Secretary for a couple of months before the close 

 of the fiscal year. 



After the close of the fiscal year, Sept. 1, there will be 

 no such funds, and we shall have to do the best we can in 

 managing the apiary in a small way as a model for instuc- 

 tion. This we can hope to do successfully, but I fear not 

 much time or funds will be available to devote to experi- 

 mental work. 



I have been especially fortunate in securing the ser- 

 vices of Mr. Wilmon Newell as my assistant in the Depart- 

 ment of Entomology. He is also an experienced bee-keeper, 

 and vou can fully rely upon his scientific accuracy as well 

 as practical judgment in the future managment and devel- 

 opment of the apiary. I commend him to you and solicit 

 your hearty cooperation in his behalf. 



TheS.Wo for the first year has been practically expended. 

 We have enclosed a beautiful ten-acre block of ground under 

 fences. This block has a small, wooded ravine running 

 through it, and an enticing natural grove, making it an 

 ideal location for an apiary. Here has been built the bee- 

 house, and eijuipped with everything that should be found 

 in a well-ecjuippcd, up-to-date apiary. Some models are, 

 of course, "dead timber," as it were, but they are important 

 for teaching students, by comparison, ihe advantages of 

 one hive or implement over another. Hence, I think we 

 have all our apiary needs as a practical money-making 

 apiary, and in addition many things which are important 

 in a complete course of instruction in bee culture at the 

 Agricultural College. 



We had hardly started with the apiary on the College 

 grounds when we found ourselves confronted by the very 

 serious conditions of a sparse honey-pasturage, and it be- 

 came at once imperative to study the honey-plants of Cen- 

 tral Texas, systematically and thoroughly. This immediate 

 section is not well provided with indigenous honey-plants 

 at critical times in the production of surplus honey. Under 

 direction of this Department Mr. Newell and Mr. Scholl 

 have made quite a complete collection of the native honey- 

 plants, and %ve shall constantly enlarge upon this. It is 

 needless to state, therefore, that this Department at once 

 began a systematic study of the honey-plants which might 

 be tested on the College grounds with a view to determin- 

 ing their adaptability and successful introduction and culti- 

 vation. Some 30 or 40 different varieties have been sown 

 each month during the season, and many valuable data 

 have been already noted, some of which will enable us to 

 secure a continuous honey-flow for this locality the coming 

 year. 



It is proposed to make a complete study of the honey- 

 plants of the State and make a map of their geographical 

 distribution. This will be accompanied by a map showing 

 the time of best honey-flow in the various sections of the 

 State for each leading honey-plant. Much can be done 

 along this line, and it is the first important work which this 

 Department proposes to investigate thoroughly. 



F. W. M.\I.LV. 



The apiary, or bee-yard, referred to, has been located at 

 the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, at Col- 

 lege Station, in connection with the Department of Ento- 

 mology at that institution. It adds to the already large 

 number of courses of study at the College, a course of in- 

 struction in up-to-date bee-keeping, both practical and 

 scientific. It is now beginning to be realized that in the 

 bee and honey interests of the State, Texas has a most im- 

 portant agricultural resource. Already Texas produces an- 

 nually more honey than any other State or country in the 

 world, and still thousands of square miles are annually fur- 

 nishing in their trees and plants millions of pounds of 

 honey which await only the bee-keeper and his faithful 

 little workers— the bees. Already many firms and individ- 

 uals are devoting their entire time and capital exclusively 

 to this industry, one firm alone producing annually over 

 one-half million pounds of honey. In addition thereto, this 

 industry furnishes beeswax, vinegar, refreshing beverages, 

 and derivatives for medicinal use. 



Texas should be proud of what has been done, there be- 

 ing but three or four other States that have established an 

 apiary in connection with their Agricultural and Mechanical 

 College. 



In concluding. Prof. Mally kindly asked the bee-keep- 

 ing fraternity to lend freely their help by giving their sug- 

 gestions and advice, which would be greatly appreciated, 

 and would help the bee-keepers as well as the Department 

 in conducting the study of bee-keeping at the College. He 

 also requested the President of the State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation to appoint a committee to inspect and investigate 



