.Fanuarv, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN 1? !■; lO C V L T U K E 



53 



c 



zi 



LJ 



TH E eondi- 

 lions in 

 Texas are 

 (li liferent from 

 lliose in most of 

 the other states 

 in the Union. 

 Let us take, for 

 i n stance, the 



honey crop for 1916. For at least three 

 weelvs it was a serious question as to wheth- 

 er or not the Texas beekeepers in general 

 would get any surplus honey. Then sud- 

 denly the mesquite came into full bloom 

 with an abundant yield, but with very little 

 calclaw to be seen. This was due to the 

 fact that mesquite requires very dry warm 

 weather to yield nectar, while the catelaw 

 is much like what is known as whitebriish, 

 which requires frequent rains. The state 

 being variably controlled by weather con- 

 ditions, as a whole the year 1916 was the 

 best for beekeepers in, jDossibly, 25 years. 

 The 5'ield was good, the quality excellent, 

 the market demand brisk and the price 

 several cents per pound better than the 

 average of years. The bees, too, have gone 

 into winter in good shape. 



Aside from weather conditions, Texas 

 beekeepers have two other very serious 

 problems to cope with — namely, foul brood 

 and the bee-moth. In some sections of the 

 state foul brood is being handled to some 

 extent, while in other sections little or no 

 attention is paid to it, and it seems a hard 

 matter to get the co-operation of the bee- 

 keepers along this line. However, during 

 the year just past, according to State Ento- 

 mologist Paddock, there were in the ser- 

 vice twice as many inspectors as at any 

 time in the history of the work. It may be 

 assumed that the work will be prosecuted 

 as vigorously as ever, and that conditions 

 will improve materially. 



Tlie bee-moth is very destructive in tliis 

 climate, owing to the warm weather; but 

 this trouble could be dealt with very satis- 

 factorily if the beekeejiers were not quite 

 so careless with their equipment. From 

 personal observation in almost every case 

 we found the moth was most prevalent 

 where little interest was being taken in 

 the equipment. Often what little honey 

 llie bees had stored (with little or no atten- 

 tion being given tliem) had been robbed. 



Beekeepers in Texas, as well as in all 

 other southern states, should remember that 

 the bee-moth in Ihe Southland does not 

 have to encounter a winter freeze as it 

 does in the North. A temperature below 

 32 degTees Fahrenheit, wliich always occurs 

 ill the norlheni .stales, will kill out both 



IN TEXAS 



1 



^^^^^^^^ 



E 



eggs and larvae 

 of the bee-moth, 

 wherever left 

 over. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary 

 that the b e e- 

 keepers of Tex- 

 as be constantly 

 on the alert dur- 

 ing \\iiiler, watcliing all their combs that 

 are not in liives with bees. Mr. S. P. Pad- 

 dock ha.s i)ublished Slate Agricultural Col- 

 lege Bulletin No. 158 — the best treatise on 

 the bee-moth that has ever been published. 

 Every Texas beekeeiDcr should send and 

 get it. Apply to College Station, Texas. 



Swarming conditions in Texas are very 

 different from those in some of the northern 

 states. In Texas, swarming will be ram- 

 pant during the fore part of the season, 

 but will stop almost entirely as soon as 

 the main honey-tiow is under way. Whether 

 this is due to the fact that the queen is 

 " honey-bound," and therefore cannot sup- 

 ply the hive with a lot of emerging brood, 

 or whether the bees are too busy to think 

 about swarming, is not easy to determine. 



In all i3robability the same conditions that 

 slop swarming in Texas will also stop 

 swarming in the northern states. But such 

 conditions in the North are seldom or 

 never the same. The late W. Z. Hutchinson 

 once made the remark that a very heavy 

 honey-flow would check swarming in the 

 North as well as in the South, and probably 

 he was right. 



The beekeepers of Texas should realize 

 that, all things considered, they have one of 

 the best states for honey production, and as 

 good a chance as any for obtaining a fair 

 price for their product; and the sooner 

 they look upon their bees as an investment 

 and not as a "white elephant," the better 

 will conditions be with them. 



Texas is proud of the fact that it is the 

 largest state in the Union. The United 

 States Census Bureau has more than once 

 credited it with having produced the largest 

 amount of honey, and this is probably true. 

 The seasons are long and the honey-flow 

 varied. Were it not for occasional severe 

 drouths Texas would jirobably be always in 

 the lead. 



Texas has an innneiise amount of un- 

 developed territory, much of it arid; but 

 most of it can be reclaimed by irrigation. 

 It has a bright future, because the time will 

 come when its tillable land will be developed 

 to a mucli greater extent than now. It 

 should be borne in mind that much of the 

 area of Texas is new and hence (here is 

 room for inort" nortlieni development. 



