Jll.v. 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURK 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



l)Ouiids surplus were ooniiiioii. This honey is 

 principally liuajilla (wahca) ; it is almost 

 water Avhite and of the finest quality. Over- 

 lapping the huajilla flow came the horseniint 

 flow, and now white brush and mesquite 

 promise a prolongation of honey production. 

 Reports from the State indicate that the 

 crop will be normal or above in all sections 

 save the post oak district. This is located 

 in East Central Texas and divides the black 

 prairie lands from the pine and swamp east- 

 ward. This section has a light - colored 

 sandy soil and a flora dominated by oaks. 

 It is a poor bee-country excepting during 

 years of heavy rainfall. Individual reports 

 of no honey flow come from other districts, 

 but these are overbalanced by reports of 

 heavy flows in a near locality. Commercial 

 beekeepers estimate a winter loss of between 

 three and eight per cent. The loss in box 

 gums was very severe. The sellers of comb- 

 less packages are still delivering bees. 

 They have shipped more packages than in 

 any previous year. 



The first report has come in relative to 

 bees dying from the effect of arsenicals 

 used on the cotton fields. A great many of 

 such complaints are expected, as very large 

 acreages of cotton will be dusted this year. 

 In order that this subject may be studied, 

 any beekeeper who has losses of this kind is 

 requested to send samples of dead bees, 

 ilead brood, and honey from the dead colo- 

 nies to the office of the State Entomologist, 

 College Station. This is a problem about 

 which little is known and both the entomol- 

 ogists, representing the cotton interests and 

 beekeepers, are very desirous that beekeep- 

 ers comply with this request. 



An all-day picnic and exhibit of the prod- 

 ucts of the Baby Beef, Pig, and other farm 

 clubs was held at Dilley in Frio Count}-. 

 As this is about the center of the Southwest 

 honey country, many beekeepers were pres- 

 ent. Representatives of the Texas Honey 

 Producers ' Association and several honey- 

 buying firms were present. This brought 

 about personal contact between buyers and 

 sellers, and very satisfactory results relative 

 to marketing honey were attained. 



Shipping live bees requires an exact 

 knowledge of the work and the most careful 

 l>acking. Almost all complaints from buy- 

 ers and nearly all of the hostility of the 

 express companies come from poor packing. 

 This is well illustrated by two shipments of 

 bees received here this spring. One hive, 

 that had been on the road 36 hours, arrived 

 with most of the live bees on the outside. 

 Inside was a mass of broken comb and dead 

 bees. The other was on the road eight days. 

 When opened, everything was in good shape, 

 and the cleaning-up did not bring out over 

 a half pint of dead bees. A seller of comb- 

 less packages has shipped 25,000 pounds of 

 bees, with the loss of 100 pounds; another 



lost 600 pounds out of a 1,000-pound ship- 

 ment. If you ship bees, know how and use 

 only the best cages and hives. 



So much is being said about the honey 

 flows from oaks in Texas that I feel I must 

 make this statement, altho I wish to delay 

 a full report until later. Some of the ma- 

 terial collected by bees in the spring from 

 oak is a secretion from scale insects, but a 

 larger proportion of it is a plant secretion 

 coming from mechanical injury to the buds, 

 new leaves, and green shoots. Probably 

 some of this comes from punctures made by 

 insects of the plant bug variety. The big 

 honey flow from live oak, which occurs in 

 the fall of the year, comes from a gall. 

 This is a distinct plant growth. The galls 

 are about three-fourths of an inch in diam- 

 eter and are attached to the twigs of the 

 tree; the nectar is found in drops on the 

 surface. This gall is caused by the sting of 

 a small wasplike insect. The young of the 

 insect lives and matures with this plant 

 growth, but the young insect does not se- 

 crete or excrete the nectar; this is the prod- 

 uct of the malformed portion of the plant. 



The work of foul-brood inspection and 

 eradication is making good headway. In 

 addition to the county inspectors, the chief 

 inspector and four full-time deputies are 

 now at work. Successful clean-up cam- 

 paigns have been conducted in localities 

 where several years of inspection have 

 shown no, or little, decrease in the disease. 

 Because of the justly rigid quarantine laws 

 of other States, calls from shippers of bees 

 have been so numerous that extra help was 

 necessary. Those interested in bees are co- 

 operating in every way. Several of the 

 large dealers in bee fixtures, who also handle 

 live bees and honey, have of their own ac- 

 cord separated the places of business so that 

 no bees, honey, or old fixtures are handled 

 near the. new fixtures or cans. We are hop- 

 ing that no one gets patriotic and attempts 

 to distribute second-hand bee-fixtures here. 



College Station, Tex. H. B. Parks. 



In Oregon. 



If it were not for the sud- 

 den epidemic and visita- 

 tion of foul brood that has stricken this and 

 surrounding section, prospects could not be 

 better. Colonies not infected are more than 

 piling the honey in, but thousands of colo- 

 nies are in bad shape. The trouble is 

 spreading like a prairie fire in a big wind. 

 The live beekeeper that learns how and is 

 willing to fight pests will eventually win 

 out. Some may believe that only weak colo- 

 nies are the first to show the disease. Don't 

 you believe it — none by strength alone are 

 immune to it; neither is it brought about by 

 visiting. I am satisfied the bees carry it 

 into the hives from diseased material remov- 

 ed from the affected colonies. 

 Portland, Ore. E. J. Ladd. 



