47(5 



L K A N I N G S T N B E K C U T. T U R E 



Ai'GUST, 1920 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



of honey flow. The general schedule for the 

 gathering of honey in southern California is: 

 orange and mesquite in March and April; 

 sages and wild buckwheat in May and June; 

 sweet clover, alfalfa and lima beans in July 

 and August; and often all of them within a 

 radius of 75 or 100 miles — but there are 

 county lines between in most eases. Let us 

 get together and have State laws that pro- 

 tect from disease by contamination, but are 

 flexible enough so that the beekeeper who 

 has his tens of thousands invested in the 

 business can carry on his chosen pursuit un- 

 hampered bv these petty county ordinances. 

 Corona, Calif. ' L. L. Andrews. 



* * * 



Tt-i C\t-orrf\n The weather is very warm 



inwregon ^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^.^^ ^^^j^ ^^^-^^ 



clovers are beginning to dry up and honey 

 to thicken; but we have had a wonderful 

 flow from these sources, and its qiiality is 

 of the best. 



My own colonies, mostly in 13-frame hives, 

 are from three to five stories high. These 

 are not easy to handle and one needs a good 

 backbone to lift them bodily. I am planning 

 now to move by auto truck in about 10 days 

 down the Columbia Eiver about 100 miles 

 into one of the fireweed districts where thou- 

 sands of acres await the bees. According 

 to those who succeed annually in securing a 

 fine crop, it requires about six full-depth 

 supers for each colony, as fireweed honey 

 when flooding is thin and not ripe enough 

 to seal or cap for some time after gathering. 

 Beekeepers always report piles of supers full 

 of uncapped fireweed honey before any is 

 ripe, but gathering goes merrily on, if combs 

 enough are at hand to take care of the crop. 



Here's a new one to me: An Idaho bee- 

 keeper reports some of the big men this year 

 have crippled the queens intentionally in or- 

 der to bring about superseding conditions. 

 The method employed was to clip a leg or 

 two from her majesty. It seems pretty 

 radical. Tut the end may justify the means. 

 At any rate, the report was that it appar 

 ently was a success; that supersedure did 

 take place, and so far the young mothers of 

 their own raising had not swarmed out. I 

 will prefer to await further developments, 

 however, before adopting it, — wont you? 

 [This is not a new trick, at all, and is just 

 as cruel as ever. — Editor.] 



Portland, Ore. K. J. Ladd. 



* * * 



In Texas.— T'"^ spring honev c^op i. 

 harvested. Tn spite or cold, 

 heat, wet, and dry, the yield has been above 

 normal. The huajillo (wahea) flow is re- 

 ])orted to be the best since 1914, and the 

 horsemint has been much prolonged because 

 of the rains. As usual, much of the horse- 

 mint honey has been extracted and placed 

 on the market in its unrefine<l condition. As 

 this half-done honey "gasses" it is a nuis- 



ance to the honey dealer. Horsemint honey 

 should be left on the kive until midsum- 

 mer. Whether or not it comes, the bee- 

 keepers of the southwest are preparing for 

 a big mesquite flow. 



The beekeepers of Webb County were 

 called together Saturday, June 19, by 

 County Agent Mally. After a brief discus- 

 sion of the advantages of a beekeepers' as- 

 sociation, such an organization was effected, 

 with Ambrose Johnson as president and G. 

 R. Shiner as secretary. Every stand of bees 

 owned in the county was represented either 

 by owner or owner's proxy. This is one 

 of the few associations that is taking ad- 

 vantage of the special discount offered by 

 most dealers on collective orders. They also 

 plan to ship combless packages, one opera- 

 tor doing the work and shipping the bees 

 of all the members. The honey iow i.f the 

 eoiitheru part of this county is large and 

 p.-rtdolent. Huajillo is a verj' commoi. plant 

 and rarely fails to yield. In the irrigated 

 field along the river alfalfa blooms almost 

 the entire year. 



The summer Short Course of A. & M. Col- 

 lege will be given August 2-6. Professor 

 S. W. Bilsing will have charge of the work 

 in beekeeping. Lectures and demonstra- 

 tions will be given. The apiaries of the 

 (Jollege and Experiment Station can be vis- 

 ited by those interested. Professor Bilsing 

 will be assisted in this work by Dr. Tan- 

 quary, State Entomologist, C. S. Rude, State 

 Apiary Inspector, and others. 



During the Farmers ' Congress, which will 

 be held at Texas A. & M. College, August 9, 

 10, and 11, the educational section of the 

 Texas Honey Producers' Association will 

 hold its annual meeting. Besides the regu- 

 lar business, the following are some of the 

 I)apers that will be given: "Report of Dele- 

 gate to National Conference," W. C. Collier, 

 Goliad; "Interstate Beekeeping," W. O. 

 Victor, Uvalde; "Beekeeping Literature," 

 Louis H. Scholl, New Braunfels, Texas; 

 ' ' The Status of the Apiarv Inspection 

 Work," Dr. M. C. Tanquary, State Entomol- 

 ogist, College Station; "The State Experi- 

 mental Apiary," J. N. Mayes, Dilley; "The 

 Course in Beekeeping at A. & M. College, ' ' 

 S. W. Bilsing, College Station, Texas; "Side 

 Line Beekeeping, ' ' Ambrose Johnson, La- 

 redo; "The Combless Package Bee Busi- 

 ness," E. B. Ault, Calallen; "Economic As- 

 pects of Apiculture," R. R. Reppert, Exten- 

 sion Entomologist, College Station; "Out- 

 ai)iary Systems and Management," Arthui- 

 S. Sternenbei-g, Ijockhart. 



Thru the South and especially in Texas the 

 cowpea gives a very marked honoy flow. The 

 nectar is obtained from extra nectaries lo- 

 cated at the bases of the flowers and leaves. 

 The secretion is very early in the morning. 

 The honey is mild and when pure is dark 

 amber. The cowi)ea is one of the crops that 



