THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



59 



by about 80,000 Indians. The 

 country east of the meridian above 

 named is occupied by the live civi- 

 lized tribes and man}- remnants of 

 other tribes wlio are peaceably 

 inclined and makiug commendable 

 progress in the arts and sciences. 

 Tlie country here is mostly beauti- 

 ful and when "tickled with the 

 hoe" yields an immense harvest. 

 Here are undulating prairie lands 

 in perpetual bloom from spring- 

 time to frost, wliile the lowlands 

 through which the sluggish streams 

 course tlieir way produce rich 

 bloom upon busli and vine Avhich 

 3'ield honey of fine flavor when the 

 season is favorable. It is here 

 that I am building up Oklahoma 

 Apiar^'. It is situated on the 

 Atlantic and Pacific railway, four 

 miles into the territory, among the 

 "Wyandotte Indians. Joe and Mrs. 

 Schiffbauer have immediate charge. 

 Mr. S. is one of Germany's edu- 

 cated and worthiest sons, while 

 his queen-bee, Mrs. S., is an intelli- 

 gent and attractive Wyandotte 

 woman who makes a devoted wife 

 and motlier. Here they own a 

 farm upon which are grown thous- 

 ands of bushels of grain and many 

 tons of millet, tiuiothy and alsyke 

 clover every year. 



The prairie aflTords pasturage for 

 their Durham cattle, while abun- 

 dant crops of the various nuts with 

 which the lower lands abound, 

 make the breeding of Berkshire 

 hogs yield an immense pi-ofit. 

 Here, black bees abound in the 

 timber fringing the streams, and 

 were found here by the Indians 



when they first came to the country. 

 The Senecas, Wyandottes and 

 Shawnees, do not often keep many 

 colonies, and they are in cuts from 

 hollow trees, but they are rivals 

 when it comes to hunting wild 

 bees. They sometimes cut as 

 many as seven trees in a day. 

 Last year some Shawnees made 

 good wages hunting and assisting 

 in cutting bee-trees for $1 each. 



The moth is the acknowledged 

 drawback to profitable beekeeping 

 here, and when I tell the people 

 that Cyprian bees are moth-proof, 

 even here, for us, they accept the 

 statement with grains of allowance. 

 They think drones lay all the eggs as 

 do many of their pale-faced cousins 

 of the states. 



They never think of realizing 

 more than 10 to 12^ cents per 

 pound for their best comb honey 

 and barter away beeswax to border 

 traders for 16 to 20 cents per pound. 

 The natives here sell bees at 

 prices varying from $1 to $2 per 

 colony. Some of the old black- 

 eyed hunters tell fabulous bee and 

 honey stories. They have made 

 me believe this a country in which 

 bees sometimes starve in midsum- 

 mer, while on other occasions 

 honey-dew is so abundant that the 

 wild grass and the crops of grow- 

 ing grain are thickly coated with 

 honey-dew. In the near future 

 beekeeping must become one of 

 the popular and profitable pursuits 

 in this now almost unknown and 

 sparsely settled country. 



