.Tantakv. 19-: 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In the Northwest.— Jhe past October 

 has been the 

 warnipst October for many years according 

 to the report of the Weather Bureau. The 

 rainfall has also been less than normal up 

 until the middle of November. Up to the 

 jiresent writing (November 29) there has 

 been no killing frost in many parts west of 

 tlie Cascades. Recent heavy snows in east- 

 ern Oregon and a silver thaw in the Port- 

 land section may have done some damage. 



Beekeepers who neglected to feed their 

 light colonies earlier in the fall should pre- 

 pare to give them frames of candy, made 

 after the recipe found in A B C and X Y Z. 

 The writer finds it convenient to use an emp- 

 ty but wired frame as a mould into which 

 the hot candy is poured. A cardboard is 

 tacked to one side to keep the candy from 

 running out until cold. When cold the 

 frame of solid candy is placed in the hive 

 near to the cluster. 



Honey is moving in a satisfactory way 

 and will apparently be well cleaned up be- 

 fore the new crop appears. 



American foul brood has recently been 

 found in Deschutes County for the first time. 

 Three samples have been determined by the 

 Bureau of Entomology. One sample came 

 from Tumalo and two samples from Sisters. 



Beekeepers should keep in mind the meet- 

 ing of the Oregon State Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, which is to be held at Pendleton, 

 Ore., January 26-27. H. A. Scullen. 



Corvallis, Ore. 



* * * 



Jj^ Texas There has been too little 



rain in November for the 

 best development of honey plants. Broom- 

 weed, asters, yellowtop and kinnickmick are 

 still in bloom and bees are still at work. 

 Beekeepers took advantage of the cool pe- 

 riod in the middle of the month to take the 

 remainder of the honey crop. Because of 

 dry weather very little honey has been taken 

 from the hives since the first of August — no 

 honey flows and robbing too fierce. This 

 honey comes in very handy now, as the de- 

 mand for bulk comb is yet strong and the 

 supply is almost exhausted. The latter part 

 of the month the bees were extremely busy 

 collecting propolis from Mexican persimmon. 

 It looks as if they expect winter soon and 

 intend to be ready. 



Our first frost occurred the morning of 

 November 28, but was not severe enough to 

 hurt anything. The honey plants are in 

 good condition. Horsemint seedlings are 

 numerous and of good size. Huajilla has 

 put on the growth required to give a bloom- 

 ing next spring. Agarita, altho not rating 

 as a surplus honey plant, is very important 

 as it furnishes much pollen and nectar for 

 brood-rearing. At the present time it is in 

 better condition than for years. This is one 



of the plants which, like the tvilip tree of 

 the East, is a surplus producer if the bees 

 are strong early in the year. 



Mistletoe, the plant that starts off our 

 brood-rearing, is just ready to bloom. This 

 plant is peciiliar in that it blooms in De- 

 cember and January, and ripens its fruits 

 the next December and January. The ber- 

 ries are now ripe, and the flower buds are 

 ready to burst into full bloom whenever 

 there comes a bright dry day. The pollen is 

 yellow-green, and for the next two months 

 on every warm day the bees will bring in 

 great quantities of it. While mistletoe is 

 a parasite, it is more prevalent than many 

 other species of bee plants. 



Another species of horsemint has shown 

 up. This is a perennial species with narrow 

 leaves and flower resembling those of .1/. 

 Pioictata but smaller. It blooms from April 

 to December and bees work it all the season. 

 Its habitat, so far as known,' is the sandy 

 land of the Gulf Coast prairie. It is be- 

 lieved that this mint exists in large quanti- 

 ties over a considerable area. This may 

 help to explain some of the peculiarities so 

 far unexplainable relative to horsemint 

 honey. <! 



Honey plants, often ones of considerable 

 importance, are continually being brought 

 to notice. This fall the hills of the Ed- 

 ward's Escarpment country were white with 

 the bloom of the bush-bonnet (Eupatorium 

 ageraiifoUum). This plant blooms in May 

 and then again in October and November. 

 This fall it bloomed heavily and bees worked 

 it heavily. As an ornamental this plant 

 should be in every yard. 



Thruout south Texas there is cultivated a 

 shrub called Russian Pea or Bird-of-Para- 

 dise flower. The plant is a near relative to 

 mesquite and retama. It is easily recog- 

 nized by its showy yellow^ flower and the 

 very long bright-red stamens. The plant 

 {Poinciana fjilUesii) is a native of West 

 Texas and New Mexico. In a few places 

 east of the Pecos it has escaped and seems 

 to thrive. This plant is peculiar in that it 

 secretes its nectar late in the afternoon. Dur- 

 ing the past summer bees would begin work- 

 ing this plant about 4 p. m. and continue 

 until dark. Where this plant is abundant it 

 is valuable, as the heat of summer seems to 

 increase the amount of bloom. 



A. H. Alax, state queen-breeder, and C. 

 S. Hear, bee inspector, have spent a month 

 inspecting bees in Wilson County. They re- 

 l>ort tlie bees of that county in fine condi- 

 tion and foul brood not so prevalent as com- 

 monly supposed. They say that the honey 

 plants are in fine condition, horsemint being 

 especially good. 



The movement of honey is quite rapid, 

 and the demand is growing stronger. Little 

 horoy, however, ip in tho h.and!> of the pro- 



