1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1195 



from broomweed; and often we do not see 

 them again until our spring examination sev- 

 eral months afterward, unless we make an 

 extra late fall examination for winter condi- 

 tions. 



TEXAS BEE-KEEPEllS' CONVENTION. 



The annual meeting was held at College 

 Station, July 28-25, and was a successful one. 

 Every member present was enthusiastic, and 

 wore a smile this year, due to the fact that a 

 good crop was made and prices were also 

 good. There was not a large number pres- 

 ent, but there were many intei'esting discus- 

 sions. The officers elected wei'e: W. O. Vic- 

 tor, Hondo, President; D. C. Milam, Uvalde, 

 Vice-president; Louis H. Scholl, New Braun- 

 fels. Secretary and Treasurer. 



The annual place of meeting is at College 

 Station, in connection with the Texas Farm- 

 ers' Congress, the bee-keepers' association 

 being one of the affiliated sections of some 

 twenty agricultural and kindred organiza- 

 tions forming that body. This congress is 

 one of the greatest organizations of its kind, 

 and is doing great things for the betterment 

 of all the industries represented in it. 

 ^r 



THE DEATH OF L. STACHELHAUSEN. 



Never before did the bee-keepers of Texas 

 and the whole South mourn a greater loss 

 than that of our most highly esteemed friend 

 and fellow-bee-keeper, Mr. L. von Stachel- 

 hausen. He was a bee-keeper of world-wide 

 reputation, and a gentleman — honest, stal- 

 wart, and upright, so characteristic of his 

 race — the German. 



Mr. Stachelhausen was a near neighbor, 

 living only fifteen miles away, and the way 

 to some of my apiaries led by his home. He 

 was always an intimate friend of mine, and 

 none can feel his departure more than I do. 

 I will always remember him, because he came 

 to see me when I was in a critical condition 

 in one of San Antonio's hospitals last year, 

 and because of the first words he uttered, in 

 the German tongue, "I heard of your being 

 here only late last evening, so I came right 

 away to see you." And only a month later 

 he himself ha<l to take my place in a similar 

 institution. He was unable to see his friends, 

 however; but our correspondence was kept 

 up regularly, he often writing me while con- 

 fined to his bed. His sufferings wei'e unim- 

 aginable; but he stood them, and did not 

 give up hope. It was not until he had re- 

 turned to his home on the Cibolo that I saw 

 him once more, just previous to his death. 

 The Texas Bee-keepers' Association loses in 

 Mr. Stachelhausen one of the most highly es- 

 teemed members; and at the last meeting, in 

 July, at College Station, the members as- 

 sembled half an hour in memorial service on 

 Wednesday forenoon of the 24th to commem- 

 orate his loss. He was held in reverence by 

 all, and proper resolutions were read and 

 adopted. 



BEE DEMONSTRATIONS. 



Such things are profitable if rightly man- 

 aged. If any thing will hold a crowd a dem- 



onsti'ation with live bets will do it. 1 had 

 this experience recently at the annual meet- 

 ing of the Texas Farmers' Congress, making 

 "a complete demonstration of the bee busi- 

 ness with a hive of bees, alive, on the stage." 

 A medium-sized colony of hybrid bees was 

 taken from the College apiary, "tamed" 

 with smoke in the usual way, then carried 

 to the assembly hall and simply set on the 

 stage without ivire cages or other preparation. 

 They behaved nicely and gave no trouble. 

 Still, I would not recommend such proced- 

 ure under all conditions. Many congratu- 

 lations were received for the way our dem- 

 onstration was arranged. There was a reg- 

 ular program, and several persons on it tak- 

 ing up different phases of bee-keeping, in- 

 stead of leaving it all for one person to do. 



Mr. W. O. Victor was selected to act as a 

 chairman, and announced each subject of 

 the program as it was taken up by the dif- 

 ferent persons who assisted in the demon- 

 stration. For instance, a short talk on the 

 scientific side of bee-keeping; the kinds of 

 bees and their functions; organization of the 

 colony, etc., was the opening part given to 

 my brother, Ernest Scholl. assistant and api- 

 arist in the Department of Entomology of A. 

 and M. College. J. W. Pharr, an extensive 

 queen-breeder, spoke briefiy on queen-rear- 

 ing, value of good queens, introducing, etc., 

 and was followed by W. H. Laws on raising 

 queens and bees for sale and shipping, both 

 local and carloads. This gave sufficient time 

 for F. L. Aten and the writer to get the bees 

 and extracting-outfit ready for our part of 

 the demonstration. 



The writer then took up practical bee-keep- 

 ing and honey production as a business— who 

 should keep bees; in country and city; pur- 

 chasing the first bees and supplies, and prep- 

 aration of hives; location for apiaries; swarm- 

 ing and hiving swarms; comb-building and 

 foundation; relative cost of wax and honey 

 production; different kinds of honey; yields: 

 marketing. This was followed by the 7'eal 

 demonstration, for which evei'ybody anxious- 

 ly waited. The bees, having been in plain 

 sight throughout the performance, held the 

 crowd admirably. Everybody wanted to be 

 there when that hive was opened, and see 

 the fun. 



How to open the hive, emphasizing the im- 

 portance of a few whiffs of smoke into the 

 enti'ance, and a few more upon I'aising the 

 cover, thus inducing the bees to fill them- 

 selves with honey, was gone through with 

 to answer the first question asked by Prof. 

 J. H. Connel, President of the Congress, who 

 said he wanted to know first how we tamed 

 those bees. The most of the audience did 

 not believe that they were tame. 



Combs of honey were removed, uncapped, 

 and extracted, and again returned to the 

 hive, each phase being briefiy explained. 

 With the assistance of Mr. Aten the honey- 

 extractor was tilted forward after the combs 

 were put in, so all could see the reversible 

 baskets, and what would happen to the combs 

 of honey was explained. This I found the 

 most satisfactory way to exhibit the work 



