124 



April, 1909. 



American Hae Journal 



gathered 3,000 pounds had it not been for a 

 dry spell we had after harvest. 



I think the humorous bee post-cards offered 

 by the Ainerican Bee Journal are a jrood thing. 

 Sending them to honey customers has helped 

 the sale of many a pound of honey. 



Catherine Wainvvright. 



Tilton, Iowa, Feb. 11. 



Sorry you did not mention how many 



colonies you began the season with. As 

 it was a very swariny season, and you 

 ended with 51 colonies, the probabilities 

 are that 2000 pounds was a big yield 

 for the number you started with. Let 

 us hope that you may make as good a 

 report in 1909. 



oufhcrif^ 



Conducted by LoLKs H. bCHuLl^, New Braunfels. Tex. 



The Honey Prospects in Texas. 



We are anticipating a banner honey- 

 year this year. From reports and places 

 visited, the majority of the bee-keepers 

 are "figuring" on a crop, as the pros- 

 pects are quite good. It is true some 

 localities are needing rain badly, while 

 others (our own included) have had 

 recent rains. Since we had rain during 

 last fall and in the winter, we may ex- 

 pect a crop of mesquite honey as a cer- 

 tainty, no matter how dry it remains 

 even after it has bloomed. "The dryer 

 the better for it providing we have had 

 a good fall and winter season," is an 

 old saying with the bee-keepers here. 

 Just so it does not rain during the 

 blooming period, for the mesquite blos- 

 soms are very delicate, and rains wash 

 them all to pieces. Early rains be- 

 fore this time are beneficial, however, 

 as they help other vegetation, and cause 

 the bees to be in much better shape for 

 the mesquite flow when it comes. 



I have figured this way for years: If 

 it is too dry for anything else, and we 

 have had much winter rain, so that it 

 is too wet for mesquite honey, we bend 

 all of our energies toward a crop from 

 the cotton fields, which, in that case, 

 would be of rank growing cotton 

 plants that yield honey abundantly. We 

 had just such a year in 1908, getting 

 very little mesquite honey, but much 

 of the latter. Since I, myself, have 

 not seen an entire failure in Texas, I 

 can not believe that such could take 

 place. The great "Lone Star" State's 

 locations vary so much, and there are 

 so many, that some honey will be got- 

 ten somewhere. 



Mulberry Shade for Bees. 



Where natural shade can not be ob- 

 tained I would prefer to plant some 

 rapid-growing, shade-producing tree 

 than to go to the expense and trouble 

 of making and continuously handling 

 shade-boards. There are a number of 

 different kinds of such shrubs or trees 

 that would answer the purpose nicely. 

 I would not select an evergreen, how- 

 ever, as I have found, after planting 

 an apiary with such, that it is unoe- 

 sirable. My preference is for a decidu- 

 ous trre — one that sheds its foliage in 



the late fall — so that the sun can warm 

 up the hives in the early morning and 

 other parts of the day. 



While visiting an apiary I found that 

 a common wild mulberry, growing here 

 in many places, was used for this pur- 

 pose. I was so well pleased with it 

 that I obtained a picture showing one 

 of these without the leaves in early 

 spring, and with its foliage in the sum- 

 mer. There is also a view of part of 

 the apiary of such trees. In the midst 

 of our hot summers it is a pleasure to 

 work in such a yard, and these are per- 

 manent shades. With shade boards one 

 must work right in the hot sun, handle 

 them every time a hive is to be opened, 



Mulberry Shade-Trees. 



and these have to be repaired frequent- 

 ly, making them an extra expense. 



Speaking of shade-boards, I have seen 

 hundreds of different kinds. Some were 

 very frail, and more inexpensive, while 

 I saw some made out of 2 x 12 inch 

 lumber cleatd together, making them 

 weign about 75 pounds each. Such are 

 a nuisance, if the lighter ones are not. 



Some Texas Notes and Comments. 



Sorry, Editor York, that old "Grippe" 

 has had you (page 38, February issue), 

 but if that's the cause of the extra-good 

 number of the "Old Rehable" gotten 

 out for February — I well, I don't wish 

 you would have the "grippe" again, but, 

 but, I'd be willing to wait a little longer 

 each issue. 



THAT REMARKABLE OVERFLOW. 



That flooded apiary of T. P. Robin- 

 son, of Bartlett, Tex., described on page 

 66, was indeed remarkable, as he says 

 very little loss occurred of bees, brood, 

 etc. I should have expected fully one- 

 half of the flooded colonies to have 

 swarmed out if they were not promptly 

 looked after, their combs dried, etc. 

 That has been my experience with 

 flooded bees. Perhaps, as he stated, it 

 was owing to the short time the hives 

 were in the water. 



PROSPECTS AT THIS TIME. 



Extremely dry weather is reported now 

 almost all over Texas, and it is be- 

 coming serious. It is now planting time 

 with the farmers, but no moisture to 

 bring up farm and garden seed in many 

 places. What effect this will have on 

 the future honey crop of the State, we 

 can't say. It is said, however, that dry 

 years are the best for honey in some lo- 

 calities here. Let us hope if the drouth 

 continues this will prove the rule rath- 

 er than the exception in all localities. 



BEES GENERALLY IN GOOD CONDITION. 



Bees have come through the winter in 

 extra-good condition all over the State, 

 so far as heard from. They are strong 

 in bees and well supplied with honey, and 

 if we have our usual honey- flows there 

 should be another large honey crop for 

 Texas. But who can tell what the fu- 

 ture has in store for us? I am forced 

 to admit thai prospects are anything but 

 bright for the apiarist, owing to the 

 drouth, which seems to be general over 

 the Stcite. 



PURE BLACK BEES DISAPPEARING, ETC. 



Out of 40 bee-trees myself and one of 

 my sons have found and cut the past 

 fall and winter, not one contained pure 

 black bees. They were all hybrids that 

 showed more or less yellow bands. A 

 few colonies showed all the markings of 

 pure Italians, but, in reality, they were 

 hybrids, too, as their disposition clearly 

 showed. 



My object in writing this is to show 

 that the true black bees of 40 years ago 

 are fast becoming a thing of the past. 

 Black bees may be the best for some lo- 

 calities and for some few people. I 

 think very few, however, here in the 

 South, would prefer blacks to Italians 

 after having tried both. It is true, we 

 have some hybrids that are the equal 

 of any bees on earth when it comes to 

 honey-gathering, but I am sure that 

 the improvement in these hybrids comes 

 from the Italians. 



HOW FAR DO BEES TRAVEL? 



Here are some of the things I should 

 like to see discussed in the American 

 Bee Journal by some one who knows. 



