,1lM,v, 19-2'2 



(I I. 10 A N I N (i S IN 15 ]•; K C U L T U li K 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



blooming {jrofuscly at this time, wliii'li is 

 two weeks ahead of normal. Flower buds 

 on biisswood are quite large, and it is like- 

 ly that the bloom in the vicinity of Madi- 

 son will come on ])efore the first of July. 



There is little local movement of honey 

 at this time, and a few beekeei)ers still have 

 from 500 to several thousand pounds to 

 dispose of. hi spite of the beekeeping 

 slump of last year, most of our beekeepers 

 are attending the local meetings, and the 

 attendance this year is considerably better 

 than was the case in 1921. 11. F. Wilson. 



Madison. Wis. 



# * * 



Tj- Texas ^'^^ weather of April and 



May has been as extremely 

 wet as that of February and March was 

 dry. With the rains came cold northers 

 and continued cloudy weather. Some bee- 

 keepers lost colonies in the flood, and hard- 

 ly an apiary escaped heavy loss from 

 chilled brood. The only men not reporting 

 large amounts of chilled broods are those 

 who did not examine their bees during this 

 time. While the loss of bees was great, 

 it was offset by a much improved condition 

 of the honey plants. Horsemint and gail- 

 lardia, which promised nothing, so far re- 

 covered as to give fair flows. Mexican per- 

 simmon, guaucan and valley sage were bet- 

 ter than usual. Huajilla was killed back 

 by frosts in March and* made about one- 

 fourth of a crop. For the first time in 

 many years the mesquite gave a fair yield 

 from the April bloom. Eeports from over 

 the state show the crop to date to be very 

 spotted, some localities showing above nor- 

 mal and others having nothing at all. Con- 

 ditions at present are such that no predic- 

 tion can be made on future honey flows. 



As stated in this column three months 

 ago, the writer is in the process of estab- 

 lishing an experimental bee laboratory 

 near San Antonio. This will be the head- 

 quarters for all bee work done under the 

 State Experiment Station. As this work 

 was formerly done at College Station, the 

 change of location calls for the moving of 

 all the bees and laboratory equipment and 

 the construction of suitable buildings. The 

 bees were moved in April by truck. The dis- 

 tance to be hauled is about 175 miles- hut 

 because of floods over 500 miles had to be 

 covered to make the trip. The bees were 

 caged four and one-half days and had the 

 rough ride of their lives; but, strange as 

 it may seem, only a few combs were broken 

 down and few bees and no queens were 

 lost. The first time the writer feels funny 

 he expects to write a dissertation on being 

 stuck in the mud with a truck-load of bees 

 and 200 miles of mud ahead. 



One of tlie prominent beekeepers of soutli- 

 west Texas has always said: "When the 

 Mexican persimmon blooms wc liave a cats- 



claw honey flow." The above statement 

 was true this spring. Large amounts of 

 the early spring honey, which is commonly 

 to come. from huajilla, this year came from 

 valley sage, guaucan and Mexican persim- 

 mon. Where the bees were in good condi- 

 tion some large averages were taken very 

 early. One party took 40 lbs. average from 

 250 colonies on April 23. Another, 27 lbs. 

 from 100 on April 18. Were it not for 

 cloudy weather and rain, a crop could be 

 obtained every year from these early bloom- 

 ing plants. It costs little to keep the bees 

 in good condition; and if an extra 20 lbs. 

 of bulk comb is added to the crop but once 

 in five years, it will pay for the work. 



From the advertisements it appears that 

 there is an epidemic of price-cutting when 

 it comes to queens. The men who sell 

 queens at 65 cents a head certainly do not 

 make much. The prices on the queens 

 raised in the state yard are going the other 

 way. In the coming year they Avill prob- 

 ably be double the price asked now. The 

 queens are the excess produced in experi- 

 ments in selection of heavy honey-producing 

 strains. The result obtained are such and 

 the demand large enough to warrant the 

 change of price next season. 



San Antonio, Texas. H. B. Parks. 



« * « 



In Arizona. --The months of April 

 and May have proven as 

 favorable as was hoped for in southern 

 Arizona, with the result that colonies have 

 come through the critical spring period in 

 generally good condition. Catsclaw and 

 mesquite began to blossom about Tucson by 

 the middle of May and now (June 6) both 

 are in full bloom. The bees are working 

 both plants for nectar, but are much more 

 abundant on the catsclaw, indicating a 

 probability that the honey will be of good 

 quality, somewdiat above the average for 

 the so-called mesquite honej'. Mesquite 

 lioney, in the writer 's opinion, is practically 

 always a mixture from these two most abun- 

 dant and important native sources of nee- 

 tar, the relative amount of each in the 

 mixture varying with the season. In addi- 

 tion to the fact that bees are working more 

 on catsclaw, it is a very noticeable fact 

 that this plant is blossoming much more pro- 

 fusely this season than is the mesquite. 



Conditions within the hives indicate a 

 good flow in quantity and bear out the 

 above-mentioned probability as to quality. 

 Local supplies of old honey are about 

 cleaned up, and new honey is appearing on 

 the local market. Some of this is light 

 amber, evidencing a mixture of early wild 

 flower or mesquite nectar, wliile some is 

 nearly white, tlie latter doubtless derived 

 almost wholly from catsclaw. Market con- 

 ditions appear to be favorable. 



Tucson, Ariz. Chas T. Yorhies. 



