1064 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



canal proposition is a good one for the large 

 capitalist or corporation. Any practical far- 

 mer can buy a small tract of land, dig his 

 own well, and raise water by windmill, 

 steam or horse power, according to his abil- 

 ty. Irrigated crops mature quickly, and 

 come in quick rotation, each crop or vegeta- 

 ble requiring irrigation equivalent to only a 

 few good rains. 



It is to be expected that, with more irri- 

 gation, and alfalfa, new locations will be 

 opened for bee-keepers. 



In another issue of Gleanings I will show 

 the readers a larger map of this country. 

 Southwest Texas. This map will show the 

 counties, towns, railroads, and other things 

 of interest to bee-keepers, especially those 

 who are interested in this section of country. 

 I shall try, also, to tell the readers some- 

 thing more about the different districts, and 

 where the main bee-keeping centers are lo- 

 cated. 



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About two years ago I published a list 

 of foreign bee- journals. As that list has 

 changed so much since then, I have in view 

 a new one, to meet the numerous requests 

 of our readers who came from Europe. 

 More bee journals are published now than 

 ever. 



So far as honey is concerned, Spain is 

 probably the most unfortunate country in 

 the world just now, and that statement 

 might include nearly every thing eatable. 

 A frightful drouth has been devastating 

 that once favored land. In Andalusia, the 

 southern part of the peninsula, some 85,000 

 people have starved to d«ath, and a million 

 more are starving, while famine stalks over 

 a good deal of the rest of the country. 



Russia seems to have the best future 

 before it for honey of any country in Europe 

 or Asia. In the southern half of Siberia, that 

 vast land of camels and icebergs, oranges 

 and frozen oceans, there are plains of flow- 

 ers as unlimited, apparently, as the sea, and 

 quite good honey-yielders, too, that are 

 never trodden by human foot except in the 

 roads through those vast fields. With the 

 freedom for development we have here in 

 America, Russia could put enough honey on 

 the market to surprise the whole of us. 



A recent number of Centralblatt, a Ger- 

 man bee journal of wide circulation, informs 

 its readers that foul brood has, to the horror 

 of all bee-keepers, broken out in several 



apiaries in Hanover. A writer in a later 

 issue, however, seems to think the situation 

 is not so bad as represented; but it is bad 

 enough to warrant the most stringent pre- 

 caution against its spread. We shall soon 

 see whether foul brood in Europe is any less 

 fatal in its results than in this country. 



The great number of conventions held by 

 bee-keepers in Europe within the last year, 

 especially among those speaking German 

 and French, is surprising, and ought to set 

 the pace for Americans. An account of the 

 proceedings of these conventions occupies 

 much of the space in foreign bee journals. 

 Their attendance is probably ten times what 

 it is in our own conventions ; but that is 

 largely due to the fact that so many of the 

 members live in a comparatively small 

 space, and hence can attend more easily. 

 Besides, if a convention is to be held in 

 Brussels, for instance, it is at a time when 

 a large fair is held there, thus offering addi- 

 tional inducements to leave home. 



I have watched the foreign bee-journals 

 quite closely this summer and fall to note 

 whether the crop has been good or indiffer- 

 ent in Europe. I am sorry to say that the 

 reports have been of a decidedly "blasted 

 hopes" variety, gleaning my information 

 from at least a dozen different sources. 

 While reading these reports I noted that 

 some heath honey is so thick that it can not 

 .be extracted. I'd like to get about ten 

 pounds of real Scotch heather honey. In 

 speaking of good crops and large apiaries, 

 however, the Europeans seem to know no- 

 thing of the jumbo affairs we have in this 

 country, like those of E. W. Alexander, 

 W. L. Coggshall, M. H. Mendleson, and a 

 score more I could mention, whose crops 

 are measured by the ton. In speaking of 

 these large crops the foreign bee journals 

 often describe them in terms of the great- 

 est amazement. 



The Fourth Annual Report of the Illinois 

 State Bee-keepers' Association has been 

 published, compiled by Jas. A. Stone, Sec. 

 I think it is the most complete report of the 

 kind I have ever seen, containing.as it does 

 192 pages. It almost seems useless to at- 

 tend conventions when such complete knowl- 

 edge of their proceedings can be obtained 

 and read at one's leisure. But how much 

 will there be to read if everybody stays at 

 home? Many things aside from what is said 

 about bees make it a paying investment for 

 the bee-keeper to attend these meetings. 

 The book in question is a verbatim report of 

 all that was said and done at this conven- 

 tion. It was printed at the office of the 

 American Bee Journal, and I rather suspect 

 that Mr. York's careful sub-editing of the 

 manuscript has had much to do with the ex- 

 cellent literary style of it, causing it to pre- 

 sent a decided contrast with similar reports 

 I have seen in some cases. Whether one 

 lives in Illinois or not, it will, if he is a bee- 



