1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



949 



work that would require years to complete, 

 and work that would almost surely benefit 

 greatly, not only our own bee-keepers but 

 the bee-keepers of the whole world — work 

 that almost surely, if carried to completion, 

 would result in giving us improved bees. I 

 bethought me at once that here was a most 

 excellent place to put a considerable sum of 

 this Carnegie research fund. The work will 

 take years, and should be continued by one 

 person. The one in charge should have high 

 scientific instincts, culture, and enthusiasm. 

 The work has great promise. From past 

 action on the part of the committee in charge 

 we may believe that this work with bees 

 will surely appeal to them. I feel sure that, 

 if our wideawake editor of Gleanings, act- 

 ing in conjunction with Dr. Phillips, at once 

 makes a movement in this matter, back- 

 ed as he may and will be by the two power- 

 ful national organizations, and aided, as he 

 should be, by letters from individual bee- 

 keepers of every State, and, so far as is pos- 

 sible, from every county in the United States, 

 written to the committee, we may almost 

 surely count on certain success. I have 

 written to two other papers whose editors 

 will push their readers to action. I hope 

 Gleanings will act at once. I believe here 

 is a golden opportunity to do a most valua- 

 ble and lasting service to our art. Through 

 Dr. Phillips, give us the names of this com- 

 mittee, and then suggest, surely I need not 

 say urge, the afore-mentioned societies, and 

 bee-keepers everywhere, to aid in persuad- 

 ing the committee to rhake the needed ap- 

 propriation. Surely if we do not succeed it 

 will be because of lethargy or inaction among 

 those who should be tremendously interested 

 in this matter— the bee-keepers themselves. 

 We may rest assured that Gleanings, true 

 to all her history, will rise to the occasion 

 and stretch to her full height. 



A TACHINA FLY, 



The supposed "bee" from Mr. D. La 

 Berge, St. Louis, Mo., is a tachina fly, and, 

 of course, belongs to quite another order 

 than the bees. It has but two wings, like 

 the common house-fly and mosquito. It be- 

 longs to the order Diptera, instead of Hy- 

 menoptera. It not only lacks one pair of 

 wings but has quite a different mouth. Flies 

 can only sip or suck ; bees, wasps, etc. , can 

 both sip and bite. This is why we see flies 

 about flowers. They are, like the bees, there 

 for the nectar. These flies, then, help bees 

 in the great work of pollinating flowers. 

 The fact that flies keep company with bees 

 in visiting flowers causes them to mimic 

 bees, so that this is not an exceptional case 

 of a fly being mistaken for a bee. In my 

 next 1 will explain this mimicry, and give 

 some very striking cases. These tachina 

 flies are our decided friends. They are par- 

 asitic, laying their eggs on other insects. 

 The maggots which hatch from these eggs 

 penetrate the insect, which is thus victim- 

 ized, and soon devitalize it, as they destroy 

 its entire viscera. Thus the army-worms of 



California, which, in occasional years, as in 

 1895, do terrible damage in the gardens and 

 alfalfa-fields, are cut short by these valuable 

 tachina flies. 



BEEKEEPrNO IN THESOITHWEST 



BY LOUIS H.iSCHOLL COLLEGE STATION TEXAS 



THE GREAT SOUTHWEST, KNOWN AS THE 



BEST BEE-KEEPING,' STOCK-RAISING, 



FRUIT AND TRUCK GROWING, AND 



GENERAL FARMING SECTION 



OF TEXAS. 



Southwest Texas is one of the best sec- 

 tions of the Lone-star State where a man 

 with brains and brawn can make an honest 

 living. It is the bee-keeping part of Texas, 

 and is known as such far and wide through- 

 out the United States. Some of the largest 

 bee-keepers are located here. For the di- 

 versificationist, those who wish to raise other 

 things in connection with the product of the 

 bee-hive. Southwest Texas offers a good op- 

 portunity as well as the specialist in apicul- 

 ture. 



Southwest Texas is situated in the famous 

 coast country of the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 climate is delightful and healthful. 



BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS. 



Southwest Texas is a wonderful bee coun- 

 try. It is mostly of an arid nature. The 

 growth covering it is mostly shrublike, with 

 not many large trees, except along the riv- 

 ers and lowlands. Strange as it may seem, 

 nearly all of these shrubs are honey-yield- 

 ers, and some of them— guajilla, catsclaw, 

 mesquite,whitebrush, and some others— rank 

 among the most valuable honey-producing 

 plants. Besides these there are many small- 

 er weeds and flowers of importance. A pe- 

 culiarity is that these yield better during a 

 very dry season than a moist one. ' ' The 

 dryer the season the better the honey crop, " 

 say the bee-men of this section. These 

 shrubs take up moisture the previous fall 

 and winter, and store up sap upon which 

 they thrive the next season so that rains 

 during the honey season are only detrimen- 

 tal. Another peculiarity is that, when the 

 flow has once begun, swarming ceases, and 

 the whole energy of the bees is bent toward 

 storing honey. 



There are many flne locations in many of 

 the counties of Southwest Texas that are 

 not occupied. Some can still be found along 

 the railroads; but the best are further in- 

 ward. Some of our largest bee-keepers are 

 running ' ' strings of apiaries ' ' in such lo- 

 calities, and freight their crop to the near- 

 est shipping-point by wagon with profit. 

 With the coming of railroads new territory 

 will be opened for the location of apiaries. 

 This country is a good one for the diversifi- 



