10 A! AND M. COLLEGE APIARY. 



These expenditures were for the raw material in the shape of lumber 

 for the honey house, hives and supplies knocked down, etc. The honey 

 house, including a well-equipped workshop, has been built, painted and 

 thoroughly equipped, and all hives, supers, and other apparatus put 

 together and painted ready for instant use. In addition to this the bees 

 purchased, consisting of six colonies in all, together with one colony 

 kindly donated by Mr. W. M. Crook, of Cresson, Texas, have been in- 

 creased to twenty-one colonies, and a number of pure Italian queens for 

 these new colonies have been reared. It will be seen that this would 

 result in a marked increase in the valuation. As a matter of fact, the 

 present inventory (September 1, 1902) shows a cash valuation of 

 $729.10, or an increase in value of $229.10 between March 1 and Sep- 

 tember 1, 1902." 



The outfit of supplies purchased includes nearly all patterns or models 

 of hives, supers, frames, and sections of standard manufacture which are 

 in common use among bee keepers. These various models are being care- 

 fully tested to determine their relative value under Texas conditions, for 

 such qualities as protection from heat, honey-storing facilities, etc. 



As rapidly as possible the bees in this apiary are being bred to the 

 highest possible standard of excellence, both by purchase and by impor- 

 tation of the best three-banded Italian queens, and by careful selection of 

 drone mothers when breeding, and by carefully selecting only the best 

 queens in the yard for breeding purposes. Of each colony a careful rec- 

 ord is kept which shows the qualities of that colony relative to honey- 

 gathering ability, productiveness, vitality, docility, purity, comb-build- 

 ing ability, and ability to withstand drouth and unfavorable conditions. 



At the annual meeting of the Texas Bee Keepers 7 Association, held at 

 the Agricultural and Mechanical College in conjunction with the Farm- 

 ers' Congress July 16 and 17, 1902, by request of the entomologist, the 

 Association appointed a special committee to investigate thoroughly this 

 experimental apiary. The Committee reported as follows: 



"Your committee has investigated the apiary upon the College grounds 

 and has found the bees in good and healthy condition, a very neat honey 

 house and in it all necessary implements for the apiary. Our opinion 

 is that the small sum of money at the command of Prof. Mally was 

 invested in a very proper way for the purpose of creating the apiary, the 

 object of which is to serve as a medium of instruction to the students of 

 the Agricultural and Mechanical College. Especially were we pleased 

 with the orderly and systematic arrangement of the whole. We hereby 

 recommend that more money be expended upon this apiary, so that it 

 will contain at least fifty colonies and the necessary implements, as we 

 think the present number is not sufficient for the proper carrying on of 

 experiments. 



(Signed) "L. STACHELHAUSEN, 



"FRANK L. ATEN, 

 "MRS. C. E. WEST, 



"Committee." 



It is proposed, during the coming year, to make a study of the different 

 strains or races of bees. In Texas at the present time there are in use by 

 the various bee keepers the races known, respectively, as Three-banded 

 Italians, Golden Italians, Cyprians, Carniolans, Holy Lands, and the 



