542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



IN THE SOUTHWEST 



(jfcy LOUIS 5CH0LL 



KEEPING HONEY IN CELLAR. 



Yes, Dr. Miller, there is always some secret 

 in connection with keeping honey safely in a 

 cellar. Some years ago, while spending a 

 day in company with Frank Benton and the 

 late Dr. Mason at the home of Mr. Herman 

 Rauchfuss, of Denver, Colo., some beautiful 

 alfalfa comb honey was served at the table. 

 This, Mr. Rauchfuss told me, he had kept in 

 his cellar over the season to keep it from 

 candying, and it was in as fine condition as 

 could be. The secret in this case was that 

 the cellar was warm and dry, together with 

 the dry weather conditions outside during 

 the time. I think we are about right in be- 

 lieving that the average cellar is a poor place 

 to keep honey, and should be condemned, 

 at least for beginners and those of lesser ex- 

 perience. Most of the cellars are cool and 

 more or less damp, hence not at all adapted 

 for keeping honey in them. 



CLEANING SUPERS OF PROPOLIS. 



" When the mercury stands at from ten to 

 twenty degrees above zero, wearing overcoat 

 and mittens to keep warm if necessary, ' ' G. 

 M. Doolittle instructs us, p. 313, supers should 

 be cleaned of propolis, using an old chisel 

 with its edges ground square and sharp. 

 This leaves us "Southerners" wondering 

 how often we'd get a chance to clean our su- 

 pers. The mercury in our thermometers 

 does not often go so far down; and if it should 

 we'd be hugging the stove "to keep warm if 

 necessary." But does it really take weather 

 so cold as that to make propolis "fly"? A 

 tool with sharp square edges is a good one 

 for the purpose. I have been using, and 

 prefer, a tool made of a thin piece of steel 

 about 5 inches long, from a thick saw-blade 

 inserted in a short stout wooden handle. 

 The blade should be about 4 inches wide, 

 with edges filed perfectly square. This is 

 best done by laying the file flat on top of the 

 edge of the blade, lengthwise, and holding 

 the file level while tiling. Such a scraping- 

 tool, resembling a huge stout putty-knife, 

 can be used with much force, and makes 

 ■propolis fly on cool days. Besides, such a 

 tool can be used as a hive-tool and for many 

 other purposes. It is excellent for opening 

 hives and prying apart supers, etc., and can 

 be conveniently carried in the hip pocket. 



THOSE BEE-SPACES IN DIVISIBLE HIVES. 



Even authorities differ in regai'd to the ob- 

 jections that have been mentioned about the 

 space between sections of divisible- brood- 

 chamber hives interfering with the laying of 



the queen. While Dr. Miller, page 307, does 

 not believe that objection valid, C. P. Da- 

 dant, on page 316, gives some facts to show 

 that a sectional frame interrupts the laying 

 of the queen in many instances. Although it 

 is difiicult to deny these facts so plainly 

 pointed out, it is a puzzle to me why my di- 

 visible-brood-chamber colonies are as strong 

 in every I'espect as any colonies on solid deep 

 combs — not only of the L. depth but the 

 Jumbo size, which is exactly the size of hive 

 the Dadants use. 



Another factor I have often found is that 

 many colonies in box hives are real "whop- 

 pers ' ' as regards strength in bees, while their 

 combs may be ever so "divisible," cut up in- 

 to all kinds of crooked pieces, the most of 

 them no larger than a man's hand. I have 

 recently been at the outyards and found the 

 bees in divisible hives in the best condition, 

 with brood in several sections of each hive. 

 The many advantages that such hives pos- 

 sess over others, for me, are so great that, 

 even if the queens were hindered by the space 

 between the sections, I could still well afford 

 to use them profitably. 



CACTI AS HONEY-PLANTS. 



The "prickly pear," the common name 

 for our large-leafed cacti ( Opuntia engel- 

 manni Palm.), is sometimes of much impor- 

 tance to the bee-keeper, especially during a 

 season of partial drouth. Several years ago 

 a late "cold snap" destroyed various kinds 

 of bloom in the latter part of March, and re- 

 tarded the blooming plants for April so much 

 that there was nothing for the bees from 

 which to replenish their stores, which were 

 soon consumed, since heavy brood-rearing 

 had been going on during the extended fa- 

 vorable weather previous to the frost. It al- 

 so happened that the season so far had been 

 a dry one, and there had not been an over- 

 abundance of bloom. This, together with 

 the late frost, made all a very discouraging 

 situation, and I was ' ' figuring ' ' on now 

 many barrels of sugar I should nave to feed, 

 when, lo and behold! a light rain saved me. 

 The "prickly-pear" cacti came into bloom 

 and yielded such an abundance of nectar 

 that not only the brood-chambers were filled 

 but some was stored in the shallow extract- 

 ing-supers in a little more than a week's 

 time. The bees built up with astonishing 

 rapidity to rousing colonies in a short space 

 of time, and were in the best possible condi- 

 tion for the main mesquite flow, which com- 

 menced early in May, since it was also de- 

 layed for about a month on account of the 

 frost, otherwise blooming in April. These 

 cacti are very common throughout Southern 

 and Western Texas. In Southwest Texas, 

 where the photo on page 558 was taken, the 

 ranches were covered over large areas with 

 a thick growth of prickly pear, so that nei- 

 ther man nor stock could pass through ex- 

 cept along the cleared roads or certain open 

 paths. Often, as far as we could see, there 

 was nothing but prickly pear and mesquite- 

 trees, the cacti sometimes towering from 8 to 



