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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



rial, p. 471. The term referred to is "one 

 brood" to be used instead of one frame of 

 brood; but I am just a bit afraid that there 

 might be some confusion. Suppose a swarm 

 is given "one brood" or "a brood," how 

 many combs of brood will " a brood " con- 

 tain? Really the term "one brood " or "a 

 brood ' ' would apply to the whole brood of a 

 colony, would it not? If " two broods " are 

 given to a swarm, then two colonies must be 

 deprived of their brood to supply the swarm. 

 And, again, in some apiaries in Southwest 

 Texas, "bottom-board" and "floor" are 

 two entirely different things. Bee-keepers 

 with large apiaries have "floors" under 

 their hives, yet no "bottom-boards." Their 

 hives rest on rims three inches high, placed 

 on the hard soil, and filled nearly level with 

 dry earth. The floor of the hive is the bare 

 earth. There is a floor but no bottom-hoard. 



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WATER FOR BEES. 



An ideal watering-place for bees we have 

 made here at the College apiary. A line of 

 small water-pipe was laid to a shady and 

 sheltered spot on the edge of the oak grove 

 near the apiary. A small faucet is placed 

 eight inches above the ground. Under this 

 is placed a shallow trough made simply of a 

 piece of lumber 2X12 inches by 2 feet long, 

 with several longitudinal grooves J in. deep 

 and IJ in. wide, running the length of the 

 board, but two inches shorter at each end. 

 These grooves are connected by several 

 transverse grooves to allow water to run 

 into all of them. A piece of gunny sacking 

 is tacked over the whole surface close down 

 in the grooves, and the faucet is turned on 

 so it will drip just enough to keep the cloth 

 wet and not allow it to run over. The bees 

 take readily to such a watering-place, and 

 there is no danger of bees drowning. Sever- 

 al arrangements have been tried, but none 

 as successfully as this one. The trough is 

 placed close to the ground. The bees seem 

 to prefer it, and the winds do not disturb 

 them as they did with the>^ troughs placed 

 several feet above ground. 



A FLOODED APIARY. 



One of our, experimental apiaries, owned 

 by Prof. R. F. Smith and myself, is located 

 on the Brazos River, fifteen miles from Col- 

 lege Station, where the country is low for 

 miles around. This " bottom " is a good one 

 for honey- production, as the extensive woods 

 are filled with honey-yielding flora, besides 

 the great cotton plantations that afford a 

 good crop from that source. Alfalfa is also 

 grown extensively. This whole area, how- 

 ever, is subject to floods whenever Texas is 

 blessed with abundant rains and downpours, 

 and at such times crops and life are endan- 

 gered. Such a flood spread over this coun- 

 try in the first week of May, and people, 

 stock, cattle, etc., were removed to places 

 of safety where the land was higher. The 

 bees, however, were the last to receive 

 proper attention, for, after several attempts 



by inexperienced persons, the saving of them 

 was given up in disgust on account of their 

 stinging. The method of procedure as dic- 

 tated over the phone was to place them on 

 scaffolds of some kind, out of the water's 

 reach, smoking the bees while doing this. 

 The scaffolding was soon made out of an old 

 heavy plantation wagon, and several other 

 structures that were handy, but the work of 

 placing the bees thereon was not an easy 

 task. It was even given up by some of the 

 faithful plantation darkies who had often 

 helped me at the work with the bees. The 

 bees seemed to have become infuriated at 

 the approach of the flood. Perhaps the 

 weather or the atmosphere may have had an 

 effect on them. A Mr. Simpson later put 

 the bees up at 25 cents per colony, finishing 

 the work late at night when the water had 

 already entered some of the hives. A trip 

 to that apiary a few days later revealed a 

 pitiful sight with the yard and the former 

 stands all washed up, and the colonies all 

 piled in one great heap several feet off the 

 ground, with the entrances turned in all di- 

 rections. A heavy honey-flow was on, and 

 the combs dripped with new honey when 

 handled. Some of the supers were nearly 

 full and the combs sealed over, therefore dis- 

 gust gave way to a turn of enthusiasm well 

 known to the bee-keeper, and the yard was 

 again restored to order after several days of 

 hard labor. Since the first flood it has re- 

 peated itself twice, each subsequent flood 

 coming a week after the preceding one; but 

 these did not reach the point of the first. 



Now for the questions. Is it profitable 

 to keep bees in such localities, and how can 

 it best be done? It is really the only coun- 

 try here where honey-yielding flora is pro- 

 ductive, as the surrounding higher upland 

 country is poor for bee-keeping. Profitable 

 honey crops can be obtained in these "bot- 

 toms." The only question is, how to over- 

 come the danger from the floods. These 

 happen every few years. The surrounding 

 high locations are out of reach of this area, 

 so that the apiaries can not be located there. 

 To place the colonies permanently on high 

 scaffolds has its objections. To work on 

 them is quite unhandy, and the bees do not 

 do as well as when the hives are close to the 

 ground. Therefore the building of suitable 

 scaffolds upon which the colonies can be 

 placed at the approach of a flood seems to 

 be the most satisfactory. Such can be eas- 

 ily made out of stout posts and two pieces 

 of scantling placed far enough apart to set 

 the hives across. These scaffolds may not 

 be needed for years, and then, again, several 

 floods may come in a season as m this one. 

 The only trouble that might arise is to find 

 a suitable person to put the colonies on the 

 scaffold, for it will be well to remember 

 that none but negroes are kept as laborers 

 on these "bottom plantations;" and the 

 overseer, who is a white man, has too many 

 other things to look after at such critical 

 times, for every thing is done on a large 

 scale on these plantations of several thou- 

 sands of acres. 



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