296 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



the northern States the beekeeper 

 can anticipate approximately the 

 time of his honeyflows and prepare 

 accordingly. In the southwest, the 

 blooming periods are likely to occur 

 at almost any time, depending upon 

 the weather. The soapbush blooms 

 after the rains in both spring and 

 fall, and the time of the rains will 

 thus determine its time of bloom. 

 Whitebrush is an important source 

 of honey over much of this part of 

 Texas, and it is said to bloom several 

 times during the year, in favorable 

 seasons, always following the rains. 

 Should the season be dry throughout, 

 it will yield no honey, while in sea- 

 sons when there are frequent rains 

 it will yield several times in the same 

 year. 



At Goliad, the Collier brothers have 

 about a thousand colonies of bees. 

 They report that brazilwood is the 



Southern Kansas. It is not depend- 

 able every year, but is abundant fol- 

 lowing wet winters. The moisture 

 serves to germinate a new crop of 

 seed. In the Rio Grande valley it is 

 reported as sometimes yielding as 

 much as 20 pounds surplus per col- 

 ony, average. The importance of the 

 plant seems to increase as one moves 

 northward. The time of bloom is re- ' 

 ported as varying in different parts 

 of the State. Several beekeepers 

 mentioned horsemint honey as hav- 

 ing a tendency to ferment in wet 

 seasons. Unless great care is used 

 in ripening, the beekeeper has trou- 

 ble after the honey is in the cans. A 

 few cas.es were reported where it 

 even soured in the combs. 



This part of the southwest is de- 

 ficient in rainfall. Most of the plants 

 on which the beekeeper depends 

 yield with but little rain. A light 



Fig. 2. The soapbush is ahl 



best all-round source of honey in 

 their locality. It blooms sometimes 

 in spring, sometimes in fall. Some 

 years it blooms several times and 

 yields at irregular periods. Mesquite 

 also blooms at two or more periods 

 during summer. The cactus or 

 prickly pear, which is so common 

 everywhere in the southwest, is val- 

 ued especially for pollen. Its period 

 of blooming is reported as more regu- 

 lar. Beginning in July, it blossoms 

 in to six weeks About one 

 year in four it yields some surplus 

 honey, but the flow is usuallj verj 

 short, continuing but four or live 

 days. The honey is peculiar in ap 

 pearance, granulating in large crys- 

 tals in clear liquid. It is often 

 spoken of as buttermilk horn 

 cause of this peculiarity. E. ' i Li 

 Stourgeon reports one year an av- 

 erage yield of 87 pounds per colony 

 from prickly pear in Atascosa 

 county. 



Horsemint is found in every part 

 of Texas which I visited. It is re- 

 garded as an important source of 

 nectar from the Rio Grande valley to 



shower is all that is necessary to 

 bring some of them into bloom. It 

 sometimes happens, as was the case 

 last year, that the flora remains dor- 

 mant to the extent that little bloom 

 is open. Then bees suffer severely. 

 In 1917-18 the losses were from 25 to 

 75 per cent in many counties in 

 southwest Texas. The losses were 

 most severe at a distance from the 

 streams, where the upland flora fur- 

 nished the entire dependence. The 

 most serious feature at such times 

 is the shortage of pollen. At some 

 points in the western portion of the 

 mesquite region, the bees were un- 

 able to continue brood-rearing when 

 fed with sugar syrup, and swarmed 

 out and left the hives in large num- 

 bers. Along the streams where some 

 pollen was available, the losses were 

 much lighter, and in some cases 

 there were none. 



At some points along the Nueces 

 river, there was a secretion from live 

 oak balls which saved the bees in 

 1917. George Schmidt, at Crystal 

 City, reports this as occurring in dry 

 seasons. He thinks his bees gath- 

 ered an average of 25 pounds per 

 colony from this source in 1917, 

 most of which was used to carry 

 them through. He took off ten cases 

 of this live oak honeydew. It was 

 amber in color, very thick, and tasted 

 strongly like molasses. 



There is a great variation in the 

 yield of honey in different parts of 

 the mesquite region. In some lo- 

 calities the beekeepers are unable to 

 secure more than twenty-five pounds 

 as an average surplus, one year with 

 another. In other places, they re- 

 port that in a normal season they 

 get 100 pounds per colony. The es- 

 timates of yield differ with different 

 localities, from 25 to 100 pounds. 



A few miles often make a great 

 difference in the yield, depending 

 upon the local showers of the season. 

 At Sabinal one man, J. A. Simmons, 

 has eleven yards. The extremes are 



