American Vae Journal 



Conducted by LOUIS H. SCROLL. New Braunfels. Tex. 



Texas 1909 Prospects. 



The weather has been very changeable 

 for the last few weeks ; and although 

 unusually warm for this early in the 

 season, we have had several cold spells 

 every few weeks apart. These lasted 

 only a few days, generally, and then 

 "good old summer time" would reign 

 again. 



From a bee-keeper's standpoint the 

 season opened up too warm and early — 

 too far in advance of the bees. Every- 

 thing was beginning to appear spring- 

 like, and the buds were swelling to the 

 bursting point when the cold snaps came 

 and checked them. 



Laws writes this fr 



Mr. W. H. 

 Bee County : 



"The weather of a few weeks ago I believe 

 was a benefit to the bee-forage in this locality, 



are much more advanced with their 

 brood-rearing, and unusually strong for 

 this time of the year, and could perhaps 

 take care of an early season, the weather 

 conditions so early in the year are sel- 

 dom favorable. It is better then to have 

 both the bees and the forage in the best 

 condition when the April weather is at 

 its best. And with just such conditions 

 wouldn't the honey flow ? 



Apiary of Grant Anderson 



This apiary is stocked with the best 

 Carniolan bees. The foundation stock 

 was sent me from the Government Api- 

 aries at Washington. The camera 

 caught but a small portion of the apiary. 



While this is a queen-rearing apiary, 

 it also contains over lOO strong colonies 



bees, but I have never known a total 

 failure in the honey crop. In l'905 I 

 offered queens for sale and was fairly 

 successful, and my trade in queens has 

 increased each year. 



I have 6 apiaries located around Sabi- 

 nal, and keep 4 races of bees— j-Italians, 

 Carniolans, Banats, and Goldens. My 

 favorites are Banats and Carniolans. ' 



My honey seldom goes out of Texas', 

 but my queens go to all States in the 

 Union, except Maine, and quite a good 

 many to England and the West Indies, 

 Canada, and Mexico. 



While the honey crop in this county 

 never fails entirely. I don't know of any 

 one who has made a fortune out of bees. 

 In this locality the honey crop this year 

 is about an average. ]\Iy best colony, 

 an early swarm, gave me 185 pounds of 

 white comb honey. 



Gr.ant Anderson. 



Sabinal, Tex., Oct. 31. 



"Shaking" the Bees to Work. 



■ Regarding the above, Mr. Byer, page . 

 44, seems to doubt whether there is 

 nnich in it or not. He is quite right to 

 n certain extent, when he says that the 

 "shaking" so much advocated a few 

 years ago is not so popular now ; still, 

 I know that it is used to a more or less 

 extent by a great number of bee-keep- 

 ers. It is true, however, that there is 

 not such a how! made about it now as 



A C.=iRNIOLAN AFIARY BELONGING TO Gr.^NT ANDERSON. OK .SaEINAL. TEX. 



as it was colil enough to nip all the tender 

 growth that the previous mild weather had 

 forced out. .And if the cold had not come 

 when it did, we would undoubtedly have been 

 the loser, for the brush was too far advanced 

 for the season. Now it will be April, as it 

 should be, before the 'waheah' and 'catclaw' 

 will be anything like ready for the bees. And 

 we want April weather and balmy days when 

 the bees and forage are both right." 



The same holds good for the most 

 parts of the South. Although the bees 



run for honey. My bee-keeping experi- 

 ence dates back over 30 years, but I was 

 not in a good location, and did not try 

 to keep more that 50 colonies until 1908. 

 I am a blacksmith and carriage-builder 

 by trade, but was obliged to give up my 

 trade on account of my health failing 

 in 1903, when I moved to Uvalde Coun- 

 ty, with 80 colonies of bees. Like many 

 others I have ups and downs with the 



was made then. But is this not true 

 with all new (?) things? As they get 

 to be older — and even those that are 

 adopted and used extensively — they are 

 soon little talked about, or "are not 

 nearly so popular any more." Yet they 

 are quietly used by thousands of bee- 

 keepers the land over. 



It is the same with "shaking" bees to 

 accomplish one thing or another. I 



