October, 1921 



(? 1. K A KINGS IN B E K (' V 1, T U K K 



tlie sunuiier and part of the autumn the 

 Chayotillo (Sycios angulatus) and the wild 

 sunflower (Heliaiithus sp.). 



In the tropical zone there are plants pro- 

 ducing honey all the year round, such as 

 the different kinds of palm trees which 

 bloom in every month. Another important 

 honey producer of the tropics is the man- 

 grove (Avicermis Nitida). Besides the great 

 number of wild plants there are many culti- 

 vated ones which also produce honey, for in- 

 stance: alfalfa, chickpeas (garbanzas), or- 

 anges, limes, coffee, bananas, etc. 



A regular colony produces in the high 

 tablelands an average crop of from 75 tn 

 120 pounds of honey in a year, but in the 

 semi-tropical and tropical zones the crop is 

 almost twice as much. 



Preparation of Colonies for the Honey Flow. 



The colony should be ready for the spring 

 crop the first days of February and for the 

 autumn crop in the last days of August. 

 To get the bees into the right condition in 

 order to obtain the biggest crop possible, 

 six weeks before the honey flow starts I take 

 away all the combs with honey with the ex- 

 ception of two full ones, replacing them 

 with empty worker-combs. The combs with 

 honey are put against the walls of the hive, 

 one at each side and the eight empty work- 

 er-combs are placed between them. The 

 honey combs on the sides will protect the 

 bees from chilly nights. I then start to give 

 them every night a little thin syrup com- 

 ])osed of one part sugar and two parts 

 water. Honey may be used instead of sugar 

 if it comes from a healthy colony, but sugar 

 is better because it does not attract so many 

 robbers. Only a small amount of syrup should 

 be given in order to prevent the bees from 

 filling the cells again with honey. I use this 

 method when the colony is small. Of course, 

 the queen must be vigorous and the colony 

 not too small, otherwise it will be a failure. 

 A regular colony will build up by itself and 

 be in a good condition at the right time if 

 it has plenty of stores. 



Swarm-Control. 



Swarm-control, as in other countries, is 

 here one of the most difficult problems. The 

 natives who use small box hives have some- 

 times excessive swarming. The best way 

 to have some control over swarming is not 

 to use too small a hive. For this reason the 

 Langstroth hive is too small for Mexico. The 

 Jumbo hive with 10 frames is better adapted 

 to this climate, and possibly a hive with 1" 

 or 13 frames is still better. The Jumbo al- 

 ways gave me the best results, and when 1 

 was in the government service as a beekeep- 

 ing expert and propagandist I recommended 

 it always to my pupils, who adopted it almost 

 without exception. It may be said that the 

 Jumbo is here in Mexico the standard hive. 



The prevention of swarming by the 

 "shake" and "brushed swarm plan" gives 

 here the best results, especially when the 

 bees have alreadv shown some intention of 



swarming. Besides it is the right thing for 

 a comb-honey producer. 



When running for extracted honey I pre- 

 vented swarming with great success by the 

 following method: At the beginning of the 

 honey flow before bees have started queen- 

 cells, I open the brood-chamber of the 

 strong colonies and take out five of the ten 

 combs. Then I put in five frames with full 

 sheets of foundation, alternating them 

 among the brood combs. A queen-excluder 

 is then put on this brood-chamber, and an 

 empty body is placed on it containing the 

 five combs previously taken out and five 

 frames with foundation arranged in the 

 same way as in the brood-chamber. The 

 queen must remain below. In this way the 

 bees have plenty of room, and there is no 

 reason for their swarming. 



Apinry and workshop of the School of Agriculture 



and A'eteriiiary Science in Mexico City. A great num- 



lier of nuclei was sold every year and sent to various 



states of the Repuhlic of Mexico. 



The honey market is somewhat limited in 

 Mexico, because the Mexicans don 't eat very 

 much honey and only a few bakers use it. 

 The Mexicans think that honey hurts the 

 throat. This is because most of them have 

 tasted only dirty press-honey sold by In- 

 dians, which irritates the throat on account 

 of its impurities. Those who have had an 

 opportunity of trying pure extracted honey 

 sold by a modern beekeeper change their 

 minds immediately. 



Fortunately we have not so many diseases 

 in the Eepublic as in other countries. Ameri- 

 can and European foul brood are unknown 

 here. During the eight years I traveled thru 

 the country I never found a case. Modern 

 beekeeping has developed very nicely in 

 the last 10 years. When I entered the gov- 

 ernment service as the first beekeeping ex- 

 pert in Mexico in July, 1909, there were only 

 about five modern apiaries known in the 

 Republic, the rest being composed of old 

 box hives, which mostly belonged to In- 

 dians. At present up-to-date apiaries may be 

 found in many of the various districts of the 

 country. 



Mexico Citv, Mex. 



