404 



chanced to catch sight of a small boy 

 entering a house with the missing 

 rim in his hand. With proper re- 

 pairs, we made good time for another 

 dozen miles, when the car suddenly 

 came to a stop, and refused to be 

 moved. Investigation revealed the 

 fact that there was a broken rear 

 axle, and New Braunfels 15 miles 

 away. Everybody piled out, picked 

 up his grip and started down the 

 road. It was only a few miles to a 

 small railroad town, and the last 

 train for the day was nearly due. It 

 was a good, stiff walk, but we made 

 it just in time to catch the train. 

 With a party three hours over-due 

 and dinner getting cold, one could 

 expect to find a nervous housewife, 

 but Mrs. Scholl made the best of the 

 situation, and her reception compen- 

 sated for all the delays encountered. 



Scholl has about fifteen hundred 

 colonies of bees in 31 yards, which is 

 probably the largest number under 

 one management in Texas at present. 

 In this section cotton yields nearly 

 every year and is the source of the 

 principal surplus of market honey. 

 The apiaries are scattered in three 

 directions from New Braunfels, those 

 farthest out being about 25 miles in 

 each direction. 



Although within the cotton belt, 

 mesquite is still an important source 

 of honey for some distance north of 

 New Braunfels. Horsemint is another 

 important plant, which contributes 

 much to the success of beekeeping all 

 through the cotton belt. In favor- 

 rble seasons a crop of honey is also 

 secured from broomweed. This 

 honey is a poor market product, be- 

 ing strong in flavor and yellow in 

 color. In seasons when it blooms 

 freely all white honey is removed 

 from the hives, leaving the bees to 

 fill their brood-chambers with this 

 yellow honev for winter stores. 



Mr. Scholl is well known as an ad- 

 vocate of the divisible brood-cham- 

 ber. Most of his bees are in such 

 hives, although he has a few in the 

 La"<«troth. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



Waco is in the heart of the cotton 

 belt and one could not wish to meet 

 a more agreeable throng of beekeep- 

 ers than compose the local organiza- 

 tion there. Commercial beekeeping 

 is not largely followed in that section 

 of Texas, but there are numerous 

 persons who follow beekeeping more 

 or less seriously as a side line. If 

 space permitted, much could be told 

 of the long field trip to numerous 

 apiaries in that section, with several 

 automobile loads of beekeepers form- 

 ing a procession between apiaries, 

 and an impromptu convention at 

 each stop. 



Cotton seldom fails on the heaviest 

 black land in that section, but the 

 nectar secretion is uncertain on other 

 soils. Horsemint is the main stay for 

 honey, however, in seasons following 

 abundant winter rains, but little 

 surplus can be depended upon when 

 horsemint fails. Some seasons the 



The Scholl apiaries are arranged with hives in groups of In- 



average from horsemint in commer- 

 cial apiaries amounts to as much as a 

 hundred pounds per colony. Mesquite 

 was formerly, common, but has about 

 disappeared from the clearing of the 

 land for farming purposes. 



At Waxahachie we find cotton to 

 be the principal source of surplus, 

 with horsemint also important. On 

 the upland there is so little to be had, 

 until the cotton begins to bloom, that 

 the bees have to be fed to build up 

 for the cotton flow. Cotton begins 

 to yield about the 20th of June. Near 

 the streams there is a great variety 

 of honey flora from early to late, so 

 that there is a long, slow flow. 

 Swarming begins in April. As men- 

 tioned in our October number, T. W. 

 Burleson combines the selling of 

 package bees with the production cf 

 honey. Since he has no surplus flow 

 until near the end of June, he finds it 

 greatly t > his advantage to sell bees 

 early and produce honey later in the 

 season. In this way he has been able 

 to sell more than three "thousand 

 pounds of bees and thirty thousand 

 pounds of honey, this season. 



As Waxahachie is situated in the 

 natural gas region, Burleson has a 

 most satisfactory arangement for 

 heating his honey house. The build- 

 ing is insulated, and fitted up with 

 pipes for heating. It will hold about 

 thirty thousand pounds of honey, and 

 by keeping a steady temperature of 

 from 85 to 90 degrees, there is no 

 granulation of the honey in storage. 

 Heating with gas requires a minimum 

 of attention and costs about $12.50 

 per month. 



In the country about Roxton and 

 Paris, sweet clover is an important 

 source of honey. This, in addition to 

 horsemint and cotton, makes a fa- 

 vored region for honey production. 

 In this section we find more beekeep- 

 ers, and l.oncy production is more of 

 .i specialty than a side line. Unfor- 

 iiiii.itily, a heavy rain prevented us 

 getting out to the apiaries here. The 

 only apiary visited was that of H. D. 

 Murry, who recently moved here 



