336 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL October 



THE TEXAS QUEEN AND PACKAGE BUSINESS 



The Fourth Article of a Series Dealing With Beekeeping Conditions in the 



Lone Star State 



IN order to appreciate the prob- 

 lems of the queen breeders who 

 supply early orders for bees and 

 queens, one must know something of 

 the vagaries of the Texas climate. 

 While there are sections of Texas 

 that are hilly or mountainous, and 

 also sections covered with forest, 

 for the most part the State is a 

 monotonous level stretch of prairie. 

 Prairie countries are very sensitive 

 to changes in weather conditions, 

 and Texas is no exception to this 

 rule. The southern part of the State 

 is covered with a sparse growth of 

 low-growing, thorny shrubs and 

 small trees, which break the force of 

 the wind to some extent, but which 

 give scant protection as compared to 

 the dense forests of other regions. 



The climate is generally mild, on 

 account of the southern situation, but 

 the wind sweeping down across the 

 plains carries the cold and chill of 

 the "northers" clear across the State 

 to the Mexican border. In winter 

 and early spring, a warm and balmy 

 day will often be followed by a 

 "norther" and a raw wind, that chills 

 one to the bone. As in other sec- 

 tions, the weather of spring varies 

 greatly from year to year. In some 

 seasons, bees breed up early and 

 with no apparent setback. In other 

 seasons, "northers" are of such fre- 

 quent occurrence that the beekeeper 

 finds it difficult to get his colonies 

 in shape for early queen-breeding. 

 The farther south one goes, the more 

 favorable the conditions become, un- 



til in the lower Rio Grande valley we 

 find, perhaps, the most favorable 

 conditions for queen-breeding in the 

 United States. Even here the influ- 

 ence of the "norther" is felt, al- 

 though it seldom brings frost. 



In traveling from Dallas to 

 Brownsville, even though one is all 

 the time in Texas, he traverses a 

 greater distance than in traveling 

 from Chicago, III, to Nashville, Tenn. 

 One finds it hard to describe Texas 

 conditions generally, because of the 

 great variation in the different sec- 

 tions. This variation was touched 

 upon in detail in the June, issue. 



The southern breeder has a great 

 advantage over the man farther 

 north, because of his longer season. 

 It is the early orders that bring the 

 higher prices, and which are filled at 

 the best profit. As the season ad- 

 vances, prices tend to drop, until in 

 the late summer there is little mar- 

 gin to the queen-breeder at the 

 prices at which the queens are sold. 

 The man who is prepared to fill or- 

 ders in April and May finds an un- 

 limited market at profitable prices, 

 for either queens or bees in pack- 

 ages'. Although the writer has vis- 

 ited a number of the larger shippers 

 in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and 

 Texas, nowhere has he found one 

 who does not experience great diffi- 

 culty in getting his bees up to the 

 required strength to meet this early 

 trade, except in the lower Rio 

 Grande Valley. 



Callallen, Texas, is farther south 



T. W. B 



than any portion of any other State 

 except a part of Florida. The north- 

 ern beekeeper would expect to find 

 no winter problem there. Yet E. B. 

 Ault, who is extensively engaged in 

 shipping bees and queens, is experi- 

 menting with various kinds of win- 

 ter protection in order to get his 

 bees into prime condition as early in 

 spring as possible. The writer was 

 informed that the bees build up with- 

 out extra protection in plenty of 

 time for the honey-flow, but too 

 slowly for best results in queen-rear- 

 ing. Two pictures are shown here- 

 with, illustrating Mr. Ault's methods 

 of wintering. In one picture a row 

 of hives is protected with a bank of 

 dirt thrown up about the hives, and 

 held in place with boards. The en- 

 trances are open in the same way as 

 in the usual packing cases used in 

 the north. This plan would not be 

 advisable in a locality where rains 

 are frequent, as the dirt would soon 

 become saturated. The tar paper 

 cases shown in the other picture ap- 

 parently give as good results, and 

 are much more easily and quickly 

 prepared. The hive is not so easily 

 opened with this case. The protected 

 colonies build up about two weeks 

 earlier than the unprotected ones, in 

 spring, and save some honey in win- 

 tering. At first glance, we find here 

 a strong argument for protection to 

 all bees, even in this far southern 

 climate. However, the beekeepers 

 say otherwise, contending that the 

 bees build up in time for the honey- 

 flows anyway, and if they reach 

 maximum strength two weeks early 

 they will have the swarming fever 

 and consume more stores in exces- 

 sive brood-rearing, than will be 

 saved in wintering. 



At Sabinal, W. E. Edwards has 

 twenty colonies in double-walled 

 hives. He inclines to the belief that 

 the extra protection with him is a 

 decided advantage, and says that if 

 it were not for the extra cost he 

 would have all his bees in double- 

 walled hives. 



Whatever may be the case for 

 honey production, there can be no 

 question that anything the queen- 

 breeder can do to hasten the early 

 brood-rearing and save bees in 

 spring, is decidedly to his advantage. 

 The two weeks which Mr. Ault has 

 been able to gain in building up is of 

 great value at that early season, and 

 enables him to supply numerous or- 

 ders which would be otherwise im- 

 possible. 



In some parts of North Central 

 Texas, the first important surplus 

 flow comes from cotton, about the 

 20th Of June. In these localities, the 

 control of swarming is a problem, 

 since the swarming season comes in 

 April, nearly two months ahead ol 

 the honeyflow. Wherever there are 



