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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN THE SOUTHWEST 



Louis H. Scholl 



I A long dry spell has been pretty 

 general tbruout the great South- 

 west. There was very little fall 

 and winter rain, so beneficial for 

 the early honey-yielding vegeta- 

 tion. The winter has been an un- 

 usually warm and open one, with 

 little ^•ery cold weather. Bees have been 

 reported in good condition. Altho drouthy 

 conditions prevail, and there is but little 

 indication now for any rains, prospects are 

 bright enough. If there are no late freezes 

 some early honey may be obtained. The 

 mesquite is especially promising with an 

 abundance of buds — so far advanced, in- 

 deed, that it will come into bloom before 

 the end of March. 



But " there's many a slip 'twixt cup and 

 lip," and cold weather might give quite dis- 

 astrous results. It would do considerable 

 harm to the bees by directly affecting the 

 colonies in their advanced stage of develop- 

 ment as well as cutting off the sources of 

 nectar and pollen. With continued warm 

 weather, indications are for much super 

 work thruout the mesquite, huajilla, and 

 catclaw sections. 



A visit from Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Dadant, 

 on March 16, was indeed an enjoyable one. 

 The time was only too short. There were 

 numerous apieultural topics for discussion, 

 but many more did not even get out of the 

 " question-bos." These good people were 

 accompanied on their visit by Mr. and Mrs. 

 E. G. LeStourgeon, of San Antonio. It is 

 useless for me to begin to enumerate the 

 subjects of most importance that came up 

 at this " beekeepers' meeting " in which the 

 ladies took as much interest as the men 

 folks. It so haj^pens that each one of the 

 better halves is a real partner to her hus- 

 band, which accounts for their interest in 

 the dLseussions. Our welcome to such visi- 

 tors is extended indefinitely. Such discus- 

 sion usually brings out new ideas and re- 

 vives many old ones that have been per- 

 mitted to go into a dormant stage. In other 

 words, " it helps to make better beekeepers 

 out of any of us." That is why I have 

 continually harped on the subject of bee- 

 keepei's getting together more by visits, 

 beekeepers' meetings, field days, and bee- 

 keepers' picnics. 



PREPARING OUR COMB-IIONEY SUPERS. 



It will require about 3000 shallow-frame 

 supers this year in which to harvest our 



New Braunfels, Texas 



comb-honey crop besides ir)00 or more shal- 

 low extracting-supers for extracted honey. 

 While the latter are left on the hives thruout 

 the winter, and the greater j^art of the year, 

 the comb-honey supers remain on the hives 

 only long enough to become filled and the 

 honey thoroly ripened. After the honey 

 has been cut out of the frames, these scraped 

 clean, and properly replaced in the supers, 

 they are stacked up in huge piles and cov- 

 ered from the weather. In the early spring 

 begins the work of filling them with founda- 

 tion, work now in progress for the earlier 

 honey-flows. 



THIN SUPER FOUNDATION IS USED. 



Thin super foundation in full sheets is 

 put in the frames with melted beeswax. 

 Altho this has been mentioned by me a 

 great number of times, questions continue 

 to come from every part of the country on 

 this subject. A frame-rack holding three 

 frames and containing spacing-boards to 

 guide the sheets of foundation to the center 

 of the top-bars is used. Common table- 

 spoons, with usually the lips of the front 

 end of the spoons hammered together slight- 

 ly to direct better the flowing wax, have 

 been found to be the cheapest and best for 

 the work. The wax is heated in a large 

 stew-pot containing some water, either on a 

 charcoal furnace or gasoline-stove. 



IT IS MERE child's PLAY. 



Children do almost all of this work for us 

 now as against grownups of former days. 

 They are better adapted for this kind of 

 work on account of their nimbleness and 

 quickness. The work is light and becomes 

 more difficult for clumsy hands to do. It is 

 especially advisable and essential that this 

 work be done during the earlier and cooler 

 part of the days in the summer on account 

 of the tendency of the thin foundation to 

 becomes soft and rather difficult to handle. 

 Thus the children can put in good time for 

 several hours in the mornings and earn 

 quite a little amount of pin money. It af- 

 fords us an opportunity to employ so many 

 more nimbler hands at a time of day when 

 the work can best be done. They enjoy it 

 too, even to our own little four-year-old tot 

 who, by the way, helps every morning, of 

 her own accord entirely, of course, to re- 

 move the paper from between the founda- 

 tion sheets, and lay it within reach of others 

 who put it into the frames. 



