130 



American ISae Journal 



It is amazing how few people know, 

 or even stop to think, that our honey- 

 bee is not a native insect of North 

 America, but that it was imported to 

 our continent. Hence it is that honey- 

 bees w'ere regarded as strange creatures 

 by the native Indians. They called them 

 the "white man's fly," and as the swarms 

 spread on in advance, civilization fol- 

 lows. Thus, as the Indians found bees 

 upon their hunting grounds, they left 

 them and moved 'liinhcr west, knowing 

 that the white man would soon follow. 



A Visit to Bee County, Tex. 



On April 17, 1906, I presented my- 

 self to the transportation Company here 

 for passage to the bee-paradise of Texas. 

 At 2:15 p. m., I boarded the cars and 

 soon was speeding southward, amid 

 varied scenery, ranging from the best 

 cultivated fields of cotton and corn to 

 the most dangerous-looking prickly pear 

 wilderness. Ere long we were flying 

 through a perfect wilderness of mes- 

 quite and other shrubbery. Soon cat- 

 claw and otlier honey-bearing plants be- 

 gan to appear. The further south we 

 went, the more luxuriant the growth 

 became. A sickening sensation betook 

 me as I beheld the wonderful waste of 

 nectar on every side, while I had to 

 keep a honey or sugar cup under my 

 bees' noses to prevent extermination by 

 starvation. 



At 4 -.30 p. m. I arrived at my destina- 

 tion in Bee County. I knew but two 

 men in the town, Mr. W. H. Laws and 

 Mr. Will Atchley. As I had come a 

 day sooner than I had intended they did 

 not expect me. Not knowing what 

 better to do, I started to walk about the 

 city and presently ran upon Mr. Will 

 Atchley's factory, where he had a good 

 force of men busily engaged cutting bee- 

 hives. After a short chat with Mr. 

 Atchley and his wife, I went on to see 

 Mr. Laws, the tf-rmhiu.s of my trip. I 

 found him running his factory on full 

 time and making hives and other acces- 

 sories for home use and for the public. 

 It is unnecessary to tell how glad two 

 bee-men are to meet each other, and 

 how each of them is ready to divulge 

 a superabundance ot knowledge that has 

 never been told before! and how each 

 wants the other to listen while he pro- 

 pounds his superior knowledge and 

 methods ! So both of us had more to 

 talk about than we thought, and passed 

 the evening very pleasantly. 



The next morning, after Mr. Laws 

 had shown me around his home place, 

 we started for the apiaries, which are 

 located from 5 to 30 miles from his 

 home. He has 21 apiaries located in 

 and near the Nueces Valley. His 

 apiaries have 1300 colonies of bees, a 

 few of which arc in partnership. We 

 started in a westerly direction amid a 

 most luxuriant growth of mesquite, cat- 

 claw, blue sage, etc. After we had 

 traveled about 2 hours, we arrived at 

 the top of a hill from which we could 

 see 7 of the apiaries. Mr. Laws is a 

 bee-man of the first magnitude — born a 

 bee-man, I'm sure, and could not be 

 Otherwise. Presently we came to im- 

 mense patches of wahea bushes in full 

 bloom, and plenty of cat-claw, inter- 



spersed with horsemint, mesquite, and 

 other honey-bearers. 



Now we were near the yards, and 

 Mr. Laws' watchful eyes scanned all the 

 flowers to see if bees could be seen on 

 them. Soon they became plentiful, and 

 soon we drove into a bee-yard that Mr. 

 Laws calls "Lower Burk." This yard 

 was torn all to pieces for queen-breed- 

 ing purposes. These were Italian bees 

 and we found many queens of all ages, 

 and caged a few. 



Next we drove to the Holy Land bee- 

 yard for some examinations, and to 

 catch some queens. Mr. Laws claims 

 the distmction of having the largest 

 Holy Land yard of bees in the United 

 States. After catching a few queens 

 and one swarm of bees, we spent the 

 rest of the day visiting other yards, and 

 catching a few queens, making examina- 

 tions, etc. We spent the night with a 

 hospitable family, after which we start- 

 ed back, visiting other yards and catch- 

 ing more queens, and arrived at town 



shortly after nightfall, about one hour 

 before my train was due, on which I 

 was to depart. 



Mr. Laws is one of the United States' 

 best queen-breeders. He has about a 

 half-dozen strains of bees in different 

 yards and sold in the neighborhood of 

 2500 queens last season, falling far short 

 of orders. He is a very conscientious, 

 Christian gentleman, and always tries to 

 furnish the best to be had. He has his 

 bees located in 3 circuits from his home, 

 which comprise a travel of 130 miles to 

 visit all the yards. There are a few 

 bees kept at home and at Goliad. The 

 last 2 or 3 years have not been at all 

 satisfactory for honey in this locality, 

 but excellent for breeding and queen- 

 rearing.. 



Among the excellent plants for honey, 

 we list the following : Blue sage, cat- 

 claw, wahea, currant, mesquite, horse- 

 mint, rock-brush, white-brush, cleome, 

 broomweed, and "knockaway." 



T. P. Robinson. 



^' 



onvention 

 Proceedings 



Report of the Michigan State 

 Convention 



REPORTBD BY R. F. HOLTBRMANN 

 (J, utianed fiotti patfe lli ) 



Mr. E. D. Townsend, Michigan's most 

 extensive bee-keeper, read a paper on: 



LOCATIONS AND LOCATIN 1 BEE- 

 YARUS 



Locations, from an apiarian view- 

 point, in Northern Michigan are an un- 

 certain quantity (what I mean is a lo- 

 cation that will support say 80 or 90 

 colonies, spring count, and produce a 

 surplus of 60 or 70 pounds of extracted 

 honey, year after year) ; for in our 

 great and beautiful State, occasionally 

 we find a location that would hardly 

 pay from a dollar-and-cent view, to 

 keep bees. Generally speaking, Michigan 

 is very broken. There are inland lakes 

 whose waters sparkle in the sunlight, 

 where the pike, bass, and perch are in 

 their element. Innumerable hills, dales, 

 creeks, and rivers, add variety to the 

 landscape. Then there are the marshes 

 made fragrant with their asters and bone- 

 set ; and last but not least, the beautiful 

 goldenrod. The soil varies from the 

 veritable sand-dune to the most pro- 

 ductive and richest loam the world ever 

 produces. But the soil is only one of 

 many things to take into consideration 

 when looking for a bee-location. While 

 I know several fine locations in old, 

 fertile, well-cleaned-up sections, the bet- 

 ter ones are in a rather newer and brok- 

 en country, where the land is not be- 

 ing cleared ofif for farming purposes. 



These conditions are more likely to 

 be found in the northern half of lower 

 Michigan. While there are some fine 

 locations in the lower part of the State, 

 that produce good crops of honey, they 

 are farther apart, and not so sure of a 

 crop, as father north in the white clover 

 and red-raspberry districts. I suppose 

 most of those at this convention keep 

 but one yard of bees, and that one right 

 where Destiny has dropped them down, 

 either on the farm or on a city or vil- 

 lage lot, and, in this case, the only al- 

 ternative is to find out how many bees 

 your location will support, and when 

 you have acquired the number of col- 

 onies. So, with fairly intelligent hand- 

 ling, your surplus falls to say 40 pounds 

 of comb or 60 pounds extracted honey, 

 in an ordinary year. This, in the opin- 

 ion of the writer, would be the low- 

 water point of a profitable surplus. What 

 say you, members of the convention? 



But we will suppose you are estab- 

 lished in a location where bee-keeping 

 does not pay. Perhaps you own a farm, 

 or otherwise it is not desirable to move 

 to a more productive honey-location. In 

 this case the out-yard will solve the 

 question. And right here comes in one 

 of the most important parts of success- 

 ful bee-keping, and tliat is a good loca- 

 tion. The great benefit derived from the 

 out-yard is that one does not have to 

 accept any location he may happen to 

 be in, but can go to the best location he 

 knows of and establish his apiary. Of 

 course, it would be convenient to have 

 one's bees as near home as possible; 

 but put them into the best pasturage 

 you know of, even if it is a day's ride 

 by rail between yards. 



