41! 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



BEEKEEPERS BY THE WAY 



Geo. Schmidt of Crystal City, Te 



From the West Texas Desert 



On the banks of the Nueces river, 

 not far from the little town of Crys- 

 tal City, Te..as, lives George Schmidt, 

 one of the most successful beekeep- 

 ers of that region. Schmidt lives all 

 alone in his little house on the river 

 bank. On each side of the house is 

 a well-kept apiary. The one shown 

 in the picture has no natural shade, 

 and an artificial one is provided. The 

 other one is in the shade of trees 

 growing along the river bank. The 

 ventilated honey house, situated be- 

 tween the two apiaries was shown 

 in the November number of this 

 journal. 



At the time of the writer's visit, 

 the drought had been so severe and 

 so long continued that the cactus 

 and much of the tree flora had died, 

 yet Schmidt had secured sufficient 

 honey to keep his bees in good con- 

 dition, with a small amount of sur- 

 plus. He is a rare combination of 

 naturalist and beekeeper, with a 

 wonderful fund of information con- 

 cerning the natural history of the re- 

 gion in which he lives. Not a house 

 is in sight of his apiary, except his 

 own, and the country roundabout is 

 still in the wild. A day with him is 

 one full of interest and long to be 

 remembered. 



Bee-Keeping <*> For Women 



Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Mareneo. 111. 



Moths 



I bought a swarm of bees in May. 

 Yesterday I looked at them and they 

 are alive with worms; some of those 

 worms arc two inches long. Why 

 did these bees let anything like thai 

 live in there? I cannot find any 

 queen. Do you think this •.warm was 

 sent me without a queen? I am send- 

 ing now for one. 



I have read my beebook and also 

 read everything in your paper, but 

 cannot sec where anything so awful 

 as this has happened anywhere. Have 

 l)r. Miller answer me by mail, and 

 if there is any charge let me know. 

 If I get a queen will she see to it 

 that th' 'Si terribli « i irms get out ? 

 I killed a moth miller in the upper 

 super. I do not think I have more 



than a quart of bees. If I have 

 enough honey will they pull through 

 the winter? I will also send you a 

 sample of the mess they have made, 

 and one of those worms. I am a new 

 hand at this, so anything you can tell 

 me will be very much appreciated 



When 1 gel the queen shall I put 

 her right in the middle section, riu'lit 

 or the comb? MRS I EATON 



A beginner in beekeeping wl 



the ravages that can be made by the 

 bcemoth when it has things mostly 

 or altogether its own way. is likely 

 to think thai the moth is entirely re- 

 sponsible for the trouble, and that 

 there would be no trouble if there 

 ome way of keeping the moth 

 away. If one utterly without experi- 

 ence were for the first time to see 



the carcass of a dead cow being de- 

 voured by birds of prey, and then by 

 maggots, such a one might say, "too 

 bad that the crows and maggots have 

 ruined that fine animal," while all 

 the while something else has caused 

 the death, and the crows and the 

 maggots have only come in as scav- 

 engers to clean up and make the air 

 at least a little less offensive. 



It is somewhat the same way with 

 the beemoth. When you have a 

 strong colony in good condition there 

 is hardly more fear it will be de- 

 stroyed by the beemoth than there is 

 that a vigorous animal will be de- 

 stroyed by crows. But let a colony 

 become queenless or weakened in 

 any way, so that it can no longer de- 

 fend itself, and the moth will take 

 possession and your fine combs will 

 become a mass of webs. There is, 

 indeed, this difference between the 

 crows and the beemoth, the latter 

 does not wait for the death of the 

 colony, but in most places it is on 

 hand at all times ready to attack 

 wherever it can. Indeed it seems 

 rather mysterious how it can gain 

 entrance even into strong colo- 

 nies, for it is a common thing for 

 those who work for section honey, 

 especially with certain kinds of bees, 

 to find some sections more or less 

 wormy after being off the hive and 

 kept in a warm place for two or 

 three weeks. 



Yet a strong colony of Italian bees 

 may be considered capable of tak- 

 ing care of itself, all the harm the 

 beemoth can do it being a negligible 

 quantity. That word "Italian" is 

 used advisedly, for Italians are much 

 better at fighting away the moth 

 than are blacks. 



Plainly, then, from what has been 

 said, the remedy against the bee- 

 moth is to have all colonies strong 

 and of Italian blood. A queenless 

 colony is a thing especially to be 

 avoided, both because it is likely to 

 become weak and because queenless 

 bees are likely to become so dis- 

 couraged as not to defend them- 

 selves vigorously. 



Although no attention nee^d be paid 

 to strong colonies of good Italian 

 blood, yet the beekeeper may render 

 some aid to colonies where the 

 "worms" have made some headway. 

 The "worm," as the larva of the bee- 

 moth is quite commonly called, 

 builds itself a silken gallery on the 

 surface of the comb or cappings, 

 where it is difficult for the bees to 

 get at it. Take a pin or a small 

 wire nail, and dig a hole in this gal- 

 lery at one end. Now dig a hole into 

 i lie other end, which may be three 

 inches or more away. The worm is 

 likely to be somewhere between 

 these two points. Beginning at one 

 of them, tear open the gallery as you 

 go, driving the worm ahead of your 

 nail point, and when it conns to the 

 hole at the other end it will come 

 out of that bole, when it will be at 

 your mercy, and you make take 

 vengeance upon it in any way that 

 may suit your fancy. 



If a comb thai is not in the Care 



of bees lie. 'S troubled with 



worms, the larger ones may be 



