J90 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1917 



none offered, and comb honey is no longer 

 quoted. It seems as tho there were more 

 honey used this past winter than ever be- 

 fore. In view of what we know now, it is 

 easy to say that there is no use of flooding 

 the market again. But the beekeepers have 

 learned their lesson. They have seen the 

 folly of their ways. The Texas Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Association will in the future exert 

 a wonderful influence on the supply of 

 honey on the market and the price secured 

 for it. 



The Beekeepers' Item, edited by Hon. 

 Louis H. Seholl, is filling a long-felt want. 

 Mr. Seholl is to be complimented on the 

 quality of the matter contained in it. The 

 paper is so good that a Texas beekeeper can 

 not afford to be without it. 



Light rains were quite general over the 

 northern two-thirds of the state during the 

 first days of March. The rain was followed 

 by a cold wave. The temperature recorded 

 in this section was 32 degi'ees. These sud- 

 den cold spells are trying to the bees. 



In the northern part of the state many 

 beekeepers are trying to increase the areas 

 of sweet clover, which is said to do very well 

 in the waste places. It is in this section 

 that some beekeepers build up in the spring, 

 using one queen in a hive of two brood- 

 chambers. Just before the main honey-flow 

 one hive-bodv is moved to a new stand and a 



queen is introduced. This method 'was 

 mentioned on p. 56. 



* * * 



On March 5 the Ellis County Diversifica- 

 tion and Marketing Association held its 

 regular monthly meeting in Waxahachie. 

 The progi'am of this meeting was given 

 over to bees, and many beekeepers of the 

 county, not members of the association, 

 were in attendance. A talk, " Bees on the 

 Farm," was given by F. B. Paddock, State 

 Entomologist, and this was followed by a 

 very pointed talk by Mr. Tom Burleson, of 

 Waxahaeliie, one of the foremost beekeepers 

 of the state. The idea of the program was 

 to get the farmers of the county to see the 

 need and value of bees on the farm as a part 

 of the general diversification scheme and the 

 live-at-home campaign now being waged in 

 the state. That the meeting had some im- 

 mediate effect is evidenced by the fact that 

 at least five members made inquiry of where 

 bees were for sale. 



* » * 



In southwest Texas the prospects are very 

 good now for an early crop of honey. 

 Needless to say, this will bring a good price 

 on a " cleaned-up " market. 



* * * 



From north Texas comes the report that 

 the unusually heavy snow which eamie in 

 that section in the early spring caused a 

 little loss among the beekeepers. The snow 

 drifted over the entrances and the bees 

 smothered. Those colonies closest to the 

 ground suffered the most. 



AFTER all, 

 Mr. Haw- 

 kins and his 

 southern work 

 did not have to stay discontinued. We are 

 glad to hear he has recovered his health and 

 is back at work again. 



* « *• 



If I were a Dixie daffodil I believe I'd 

 join the " Safety First " movement. They 

 are such gaily reckless blossoms that they 

 do often come to grief. This year they 

 burst into bloom so early that even poor 

 hurried February had a chance to enjoy 

 them, and her last week here was beautiful 

 indeed. During those warm daffodil days 

 of February the beas were coming in loaded 

 with pollen from the soft luaples, and also 

 taking advantage of the water-pan. Then 

 came March, like neither a lamb nor a lion, 

 but very much like a schoolboy with a grin 



THE DIXIE BEE 



Grace Allen, Nashville, Tenn. 



that makes you 

 suspicious. And 

 on the fifth 

 m r n i n g our 

 daffodils were under 8 inches of snow, with 

 some of our single-story hives showing not 

 much but the covers, and the whole outside 

 world standing at 14 degrees above zero, 

 * * -* 



There are two things I feel impelled to 

 mention — yea, even three — in spite of the 

 fact that they are not related in any partic- 

 ular way to beekeei:)ing south of tlie line. 

 One is the delightful page of " Mother 

 Hee Nursery Rhymes," with the dear fa- 

 miliar lines done into such irresistible bee 

 jingles and accompanied by sucli ciiarining- 

 ly quaint juctures. Another is the new 

 t'liod page, with its delicious reciijes and 

 suggestions, and the promise of so many 

 good things to come; and the third isn't 



