THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



177 



aiitee safe arrival by freight, and 

 trust the party for a short time for 

 pay. 1 have sold to parties 1 have 

 never heard of any other vvay. A 

 safer way would be to have the 

 cash, but do not think much would 

 be sold so, for a busy dealer would 

 not take time to llnd out your stand- 

 ing. Extracted honey I sell at 

 home if possible. I will peddle all 

 my honey before sending to com- 

 mission men. They may do the 

 best way they can but we are the 

 losers. The season is discourag- 

 ing ; bees are light and clover dy- 

 ing from drought. Have hopes of 

 a good linden flow for the trees 

 are full of buds. The Api is a tine 

 paper. The June number is worth 

 So to a practical bee owner. 



Mr.W. F. Clark.— -The hive you 

 want " would be a chaff-hive, vvith 

 movable upper stor}-, and movable 

 bottom, I think. 



Hopldns^ JSio. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



LETTER FROM TEXAS. 



Mks. Sallie E. Sherman. 



GLOOMY BUT BETTER PROSPECTS 

 FOR BEEKEEPERS IN TEXAS. 



The prospect for a good yield of 

 honey in this part of Texas is in- 

 deed gloomy ; though 1 am happy 

 to say thatour terribledrought has 

 come to an end. We had on the 

 2nd inst. a glorious rain and I am 

 in hopes that our bees will be able 

 to gather a living. Hoarhound is 

 in bloom now. Our only hope of 

 surplus, if we get any, will be from 

 fall flowers. I am just in receipt 

 of a letter from a beekeeping friend 

 in an adjoining county asking me 

 if I think it would pay him to move 

 his bees (about thirty colonies) 

 twenty-five miles to good pastur- 



age. I think it would, but would 

 l)refer Mr. Alley's answer to my 

 own judgment. The drought has 

 cut off all prospect for any surplus 

 with him as well as myself. He has 

 quite a lot of little ones dependent 

 upon him for sustenance. Quite a 

 number of i)ersons in and about 

 town that owned only a few colonies 

 of bees have lost all and would now 

 be glad to sell their empty hives for 

 a mere pittance, and let beekeeping 

 severely alone hereafter. Those 

 who have never passed through 

 such a severe drought as we have 

 just had cannot imagine how bad, 

 how terribly distressing, it was. 

 Water hauling was about all that 

 could be done. It looked like star- 

 vation staring us in the face, look 

 which way we would. Merchants 

 refused to credit, turned oft' their 

 clerks, reshipped their goods that 

 had been ordered and in many cases 

 closed their doors. Stock was in 

 danger of starvation. Horses that 

 were worth $100.00 could not be 

 sold for $25.00. There was no 

 demand for cattle that had hereto- 

 fore been cash in the spring. Every- 

 thing in the provision line went up. 

 Negro women were trying to hire 

 themselves out for their food and in 

 many instances failed. With all 

 these discouraging things to con- 

 tend with and witness, how could 

 I write for the dear " Api?" But 

 all is changed now. We have had 

 a good rain which made more glad 

 hearts in Bell Co., I dai'e sa}', than 

 ever was at one time belbre. Every- 

 body you see now wears a broad 

 smile and looks happy and all are 

 as busy as bees. 



Snlado, Texas, Nay 5, 1887. 



[I arivise moving bees if by so doing, a 

 good pasturage can be had. It is not an un- 

 usual tliiag lor beekeepers at the nortli to 

 move bees. Mr. L. C. Root, a few years ago, 

 moved several hundred colonies a few miles, 

 and In about two weeks lie was well paid for 

 the trouble, as by moving tlie bees to a new 

 location, several tons of suridus honey were 

 secured. 



We are glad to learn that the teriible drouglit 

 wliich lias prevailed so long in Texas has 

 been broken at last.] 



