30 Ten Texas Topics 



whom I had a conversation the other day. He is a man 

 who has had wide experience in the business. He is, too, 

 a man of close observation and of most excellent business 

 judgment. He was quick to recognize the profit prom- 

 ised in the culture of bees, and the natural advantages that 

 were plainly to be seen on every hand. My own experience 

 warrants me in indorsing every word that I have seen proper 

 to quote from him. He said: 



"Beekeeping is developing very rapidly in Texas, and it 

 is owing to the fact that this State is the natural home of 

 the honey bee. Nearly every plant that we lay our eyes 

 upon produces nectar, and there is no time of the year, 

 from February to December, even during drouths, when 

 the ground is not practically covered with flowers ; and in 

 the winters, which are always mild in Southern Texas, 

 there is scarcely a day when bees are not busily engaged in 

 their store-gathering. The attention of every passenger 

 who has ever ridden on the Sunset Route in its course 

 through South Texas has been attracted by the variegated 

 beds of flowers as they stretch out mile after mile ; and those 

 who are familiar with the sound recognize at once the hum 

 of the bees whenever a stop is made at any station. The 

 question is natural: 'Where do all these bees come from?' 

 and the answer is truthfully made: 'The woods are full of 

 them.' There is hardly a hollow tree or cave in all this 

 section that has not its colony of bees; and I have often 

 seen bees building long combs and rearing their broods on 

 limbs of trees. It is nothing unusual to find caves with 

 several barrels of snow-white honey stored in them. Ken- 

 dall, Kerr, Bandera, Edwards, and a number of other 

 counties are noted for their bee caves, and hunters have 

 great sport locating and robbing them. These facts have 

 attracted attention,, and the number of people who are going 

 into the business in a scientific way is daily increasing ; and 

 yet, in the light of present conditions, it is safe to say that 

 it is utterly impossible for there to be too many bees, or that 

 the supply of honey will be greater than the demand. As 

 it now stands, there are hundreds of carloads of the delicate 

 food going to waste every year, which could be saved and 

 marketed at a good price if the number of high class bees 

 were increased and received the proper attention. 



"Uvalde is now shipping boney by the trainload, and 

 the bee-keepers there, as well as in a number of neighboring 

 counties, are actually getting rich at the business. It will 

 not be many years before all the hollow trees are cut, the 

 caves are robbed and the bees put into up-to-date hives; 

 and then we may expect the producing of honey to be one 

 of our chief industries. It may surprise some to know that 



