A SOCIAL INSECT— THE HONEYBEE 



237 



The second method is by means of an acid board. A piece of cloth 

 is tied over a metal frame the size of the hive top. Carbolic acid is 

 sprinkled on the board and the combination laid over the open hive. 

 If the day is warm and sunny, the acid will evaporate as the metal be- 

 comes hot, and the strong fumes will drive the bees down into the brood 

 chamber. Only five to ten minutes is necessary for the acid to drive the 

 bees down from the honey. 



The color and flavor of the honey depend upon the species of flowers 

 from which the nectar is gathered. The color varies from water-white 

 of vetch, basswood, or locust, through white of the clovers and alfalfa, 

 to the light amber of tupelo and gallberry, to amber of rattan and buck- 



Photo by Winchester 

 Fig. 16.5. Close-up of one of the honey storage sections of a beehive. 



wheat. Buckwheat produces a nearly black honey with a strong flavor, 

 but in spite of this it is very popular in New York state. Each part of 

 the country has a honey which is especially popular locally. In Florida 

 it is orange blossom, in southern Georgia it is gallberry, in California 

 it is sage, in the southern Alleghenies it is sourwood honey, in Wash- 

 ington the honey from firewood is most popular. However, over most 

 of the eastern part of North America, clover honey is the most esteemed 

 as well as the most abundant. Today most of the honey is sold in liquid 

 form, although comb honey is still produced in some localities and brings 

 higher prices. 



Beekeeping today has become a big business. Enterprising opera- 

 tors move their bees from one place to another as different plants bloom. 

 Fruit growers and other farmers hire beekeepers to move hives often 



