A. AND M. COLLEGE APIARY. IS 



BEE KEEPING. 



A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL METHODS AND APPARA- 

 TUS USED IN SUCCESSFUL BEE CULTURE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



As stated in the above report on the Experimental Apiary at the Agri- 

 cultural and Mechanical College, there is a large call for reliable informa- 

 tion from farmers, fruit growers, and others who are keeping bees in a 

 small way, also from those who have a desire to enter this interesting 

 and usually profitable industry. As no publication has heretofore been 

 available for distribution in response to this call for information on 

 the subject, it is here proposed to give a brief description of the princi- 

 pal tools, hives, and other apparatus used in modern bee keeping, and a 

 brief discussion of their uses. 



In almost any locality of the State may be seen in many of the door- 

 yards a few "bee-gums" or box hives, as they are popularly called. These 

 are no more nor less than upright boxes, about twelve inches square and 

 from one to three feet in height. In each of these will be found dom- 

 iciled a colony of bees, with the earth for a floor, and a few auger holes 

 for doors. There is no way of examining them or ascertaining the con- 

 dition of the colony without first making a determined attack with 

 hammer and cold chisel in order to remove the top of the box -hive. This 

 done, a mass of combs, usually crooked, irregular and promiscuously 

 attached to the walls, greets the eye. The brood chamber, in which will 

 be found the queen, the young bees or larvae, and in which the household 

 work of the hive is carried on, is in the lowest part of the hive. To 

 reach this, one must cut out the combs in the upper part, which 

 results in the honey flowing down over the bees below, and fre- 

 quently in severe mashing and breaking of the brood combs themselves. 

 Once opened, the combs cannot be replaced and the inhabitants must 

 right matters as best they can, often requiring for them weeks or even 

 months of time and labor. In many cases the result of "robbing," as 

 this process is called, is to so weaken the colony that the wax-moth 

 gains access to the hive and deposits eggs, which later hatch into 

 "worms," or larvae, that destroy comb and honey so rapidly that the col- 

 ony in a short time dies out. The owner has no means of assisting the 

 bees in their battle against the "worms" and the result is that the latter 

 win the battle. In a southern climate, such as prevails in Texas, the 

 wax-moth is peculiarly abundant, and its growth and reproduction is 

 rapid. In many localities its ravages have been so severe that it has 

 destroyed more "than the natural increase of the bees resulting from 

 swarming. The author recently asked a bee keeper how many colonies 

 he had. Reply : "Seventeen in box hives. * * * Had sixteen three 

 years ago. * * * Worms killed them out. * * * Think I have 

 done well." The natural increase from sixteen colonies in three years 



