1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAt 



51 



Acacia Greggii. 



not of wide distribution. Coulter 

 gives the range as "from the Nueces 

 to the Rio Grande." The honey is 

 white and of mild flavor and in favor- 

 able seasons is stored in great quan- 

 tity. Many carloads of this honey 

 have been shipped from Uvalde, 

 Texas, and nearby points. In the 

 Uvalde region, every beekeeper vis- 

 ited spoke of huajillo as of first im- 

 portance, although many spoke of it 

 in connection with catclaw, and did 

 not seem to know which was the 

 more important. A rain while in 

 bloom stops the flow and the bee- 

 keepers report that the flow is more 

 often cut short because of rain than 

 for the lack of it. With a little mois- 

 ture present in the soil the desert 

 plants bloom freely, and in this re- 

 gion it does not require much water 

 to bring out the bloom. 

 Catclaw 

 The catclaw (Acacia greggii) has 

 sharp curved thorns shaped like cat 

 claws, hence the name. It. is common 

 all over southwest Texas, southern 

 Xew Mexico, Arizona and south into 

 Me.xico. It is one of the main sources 

 of surplus honey in this region. The 

 catclaw is a small tree which is some- 

 times called Paradise flower, or 

 devil's claws, names of rather opposite 

 significance. At Brownsville local 

 beekeepers state that catclaw begins 

 to bloom in February and is the 

 source of some early honey. At Mer- 

 cedes beekeepers report that it fails 

 in extremely hot weather. The first 

 flow comes in April, with a second in 

 July. At Mathis the first flow from 

 catclaw sometimes comes as early as 



March. Beekeepers at this point re- 

 port that in a normal season they ex- 

 pect 100 pounds of surplus per colony 

 from catclaw, mesquite and huajillo. 

 There are few places which the writer 

 visited between Brownsville and San 

 Antonio where the beekeepers did not 

 mention the three plants together. 

 Apparently the flows interlap and the 

 honey is so mixed that they are un- 

 able to determine, in most cases, just 

 what proportion should be credited 

 to each of the three sources. One did 

 not get far west, however, until mes- 

 quite was reported as uncertain, and 

 the honey was mostly credited to cat- 

 claw and huajillo. 



The round-flowered catclaw (Aca- 

 cia Roemeriana) is also common 

 throughout south and west Texas. It 

 is said to be an important .source of 

 honey, also, but the tree is not as 

 common as the first named species. 



Another species, Acacia amentacea, 

 grows in the same region, but Scholl 

 reports that it is not of importance 

 as a source of honey, though the tree 

 is plentiful in southwest Texas. He 

 reports it as the source of pollen 

 principally. 



Como and Gum-Elastic 



There are three species of Bumelia 

 common in south Texas. Coma is the 

 Me.xican name for the southern buck- 

 thorn (Bumelia lycioides), which is 

 to be found from Virginia south to 

 Florida and west to Arkansas and 

 Texas. In south Texas it is consid- 

 ered very valuable as a source of nec- 

 tar. There is another species Bumelia 

 angustifolia, which is common from 

 Pearsall to the Rio Grande, and which 

 blooms from October to February. H. 

 B. Parks, considers this the most 

 valuable species. Probably few bee- 

 keepers make any distinction between 

 the two, since both are called "Coma," 

 or "Como." In the region south of 

 San Antonio one hears como men- 

 tioned as one of the principal sources 

 of honey. In the Rio Grande Valley 

 it is reported as yielding for as long 

 as six weeks in late autumn and win- 

 ter. Grant Anderson states that he 



has known swarms to issue as late 

 as December and yet get sufficient 

 honey from this source to carry them 

 through the winter. The honey is 

 light amber and of good quality. The 

 flow is reported as uncertain, depend- 

 ing upon the rains. 



The gum-elastic or shittim wood 

 (Bumelia lanuginosa), also sometimes 

 called .'\rizona buckthorn, is also com- 

 mon in that region and yields honey 

 freely. There are reports to the ef- 

 fect that surplus honey gathered 

 from this source along the Trinity 

 River sometimes sours in the combs 

 after being sealed. 



The bumelias are small trees with 

 very hard wood and with small white 

 flowers scattered along the stem as 

 shown in the picture. Some species 

 have spiny branches. The fruit is 

 small and black and somewhat resem- 

 bles a cherry with a large ovoid seed. 



Instinct and Reason 



By J. E. Crane 



IN my youth I remember reading 

 about "Reason and Instinct." Rea- 

 son, it was said, was the attribute 

 of man, while tiie lower orders of 

 life are governed by instinct. This is 

 doubtless true in a general way, and 

 yet. if we study the subject carefully 

 we may find that neither man nor 

 what we are pleased to call the lower 

 orders of life have an entire monop- 

 oly of either instinct or reason. The 

 infant of a few days knows how to 

 draw nourishment from its mother's 

 breast without thought or reason, 

 and if in pain or discomfort, from 

 any cause, it makes it known by cry- 

 ing. Both these attributes appear to 

 be purely instinctive, and are neces- 

 sary for the preservation of the life 

 of the child. It has had no time to 

 learn. The life of. a bee is very brief 

 during the active season, and as a 

 consequence it must know instinc- 

 tively what to do and how to do, if 

 the colony is to survive. But in the 

 brief time in the life of a bee it has 



Itie round-nuwered catclaw (Acacia roemerxana). 



