JUNE 15, 1914 



449 



EEKEEPING IN THE SOUTHWEST 



LotLiis Ho ScliolL New Braeiiifels, Texas. 



Several requests are still on my desk for 

 me to give my methods of swarm control, 

 together with my spring management, with 

 the divisible hives I use; but so far it has 

 been impossible for me to write this up as 

 fully as desired by these enquirers. This I 

 regret very much, as I feel that, since we 

 have been able to keep down swarming to a 

 minimum in such a large number of apiaries, 

 and for so many years, this information 

 may help others to hold the bees in check to 

 some extent at least. This year it happened 

 that we had continued rains and bad roads 

 to such an extent that we could not visit the 

 apiaries for weeks, and some of them we 

 could not reach at all during the entire 

 spring months. The spring was exception- 

 ally favorable for swarming; and as a con- 

 sequence of our inability to make the nec- 

 essary manipulations we lost many swarms. 

 In a few yards nearer home, and in those 

 near good roads, that could be reached at 

 the proper time, the bees did not give us 

 any trouble. 



I am taking this opportunity to explain 

 why this question has not already received 



my attention. 



* * * 



" COMB-HONEY SANDWICHES." 



Little slabs of comb honey wrapped in 

 clean parafifine paper with a nice colored 

 band of paper around all, to hold it togeth- 

 er, as the sandwiches are put up that are 

 handed us at the railroad-station restaurant 

 now, ought to prove a splendid way of dis- 

 posing of a large lot of comb honey. It 

 would be cheaper to produce the comb honey 

 in shallow frames, cut it out into suitable 

 pieces, wi'ap it, and hand it over to a custom- 

 er. This is intended for the retail trade, of 

 coui'se. For shipping to market these "honey 

 sandwiches " need only to be placed in card- 

 board cartons, with so many to a case, and 

 the cases crated together for shipment. 

 Pound packages of comb honey of this kind 

 can be produced much cheaper than pound 

 sections; and although they may not take 

 the place of sections where section honey is 

 especially demanded, yet I do feel that they 

 would find a good demand with those people 

 who care more for the honey they get for 

 their money than for the appearance they 

 pay for in the section honey. 



* * * 



A VALUABLE ARGUMENT. 



Some time ago I outlined an experiment 

 which could be easily made to- determine 



which would be the cheaper to use, syrup or 

 honey. The test is made by placing on the 

 table two equal-sized tumblers and filling 

 one with honey, the other with syrup. 

 Enough of either is to be spread on the 

 bread with which it is eaten, to " give one 

 a good taste of either the syrup or the 

 honey." Close observation will reveal the 

 fact that it takes a good deal more of the 

 cheai^er-piiced syrups to " give one a good 

 taste " than if honey is used. It will be 

 found that the use of honey at a higher 

 price than the cheap syrups will go further, 

 and, consequently, be the cheaper in the 

 end. And not to be forgotten is the fact 

 that the honey is by far the more healthful. 

 Its constant use will not give any evil effects 

 like the many glucose and other corn syrups 

 on the mai-ket. We have recently used a 

 small pail of the lightest-colored syrup now 

 on the market; and while it " tasted " quite 

 good for a few meals, for a change, we do 

 not care for it any more. We simply tired 

 of it from the effect that the glucose and 

 corn syrups have on our systems. 



OUR FLOOD LOSSES AND THE PROSPECTS. 



A large number of our friends have sent 

 me encouraging letters since we experienced 

 the heavy flood losses in the Brazos River 

 Valley last December. These letters are 

 certainly aijpreciated. We feel more en- 

 couraged to go on with that which we still 

 have, and we feel the loss much less. 



The weather the past winter and this 

 spring has been one continuous time of 

 excessive rainfalls. Since October of last 

 year there has been in this neighborhood 

 29.74 inches of rainfall, and it has rained 

 heavily all day today. This is a very ex- 

 ceptional occurrence for this part of the 

 State. Other parts of Texas have fared still 

 worse, while a few localities did not suffer 

 from an excessively wet season. Indications 

 are that there will be still more rain for 

 some time, and we can not tell when the end 

 will be. 



Roads are almost impassable, and work 

 in the outapiaries will be impossible for 

 some time. Our work is being delayed con- 

 siderably. But the prospects for a good 

 honey crop in this part of the State are 

 excellent so far, although it may prove to be 

 too wet a season for best results. We can 

 never tell, until we have made our crop, 

 what it will be, as some seasons are too dry 

 and others too wet. 



