LOCALITY. 



302 



LOGWOOD. 



months, he will have to make some jilans to 

 keep down brood-rearing after the honey- 

 flow, and arrange to get the bees in the best 

 possible condition for cold weather. He will 

 probably have to feed, and then in the 

 spring he will be compelled to stimulate 

 brood-rearing to a high pitch as soon as the 

 bees can lly, thus getting the colonies strong 

 at the beginning of the honey-flow. If, how- 

 ever, one is located in the South he must 

 see that his bees have a large amount of 

 stores ; for in a warm climate they will con- 

 sume more than in the North, where it is 

 cold. While the bee-keeper of the colder 

 regions tries to prevent his bees from dying 

 during the winter, he who is located in the 

 South endeavors to prevent his bees from 

 starving until the next honey-flow. 



THE BEST STATES FOK KEEPING BEES. 



We are very often asked the question as 

 to the best location in the United States for 

 keeping bees as a business. We usually 

 advise the inquirer to stay right where he 

 is. While bee-keeping in good seasons may 

 be very profitable in California, yet experi- 

 ence has shown that the honey-producers of 

 the Golden State have only one good year in 

 from three to five. Taking every thing 

 into consideration they do not average any 

 better than their brethren of the East 

 where the market is certainly better. Col- 

 orado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, 

 in the irrigated portions^ sometimes show 

 wonderful results in honey, but in all the 

 States named, where the bee-range is at all 

 good, the country is overstocked with bees 

 and bee-keepers, and one can scarcely get 

 into one of the places without buying out 

 somebody already in the field. 



Texas as an all-around bee proposition is 

 one of the best bee States in the Union. It is 

 not over-])opulated yet, and there are very 

 many desirable bee-ranges within its bor- 

 ders. The same may be said of Idaho and 

 Utah. Kansas and Nebraska are good bee 

 States, having usually good fall flows ; but 

 sometimes either or both have fearful 

 drouths that kill down nearly all vege- 

 tation, rendering farming as well as bee- 

 keeping, for that season, almost a failure. 

 Among the eastern States, New York is 

 one of the best because it has, in addition 

 to clover and basswood, immense acreages 

 of buckwheat, which on those hills yields 

 immense quantities of honey. Wisconsin 

 and Minnesota were formerly good locali- 

 ties for basswood ; but that desirable tree 

 for timber as well as honey is now being 

 rapidly cut off, and the main stay will be. 



as with the other States, white clover, with 

 a large sprinkling of sweet clover along the 

 roadsides and railways. Most of the north- 

 central States have conditions that are prac- 

 tically the same, reaching away from Min- 

 nesota to Maine, and continuing down the 

 Ohio River and Chesapeake Bay. While 

 the amount of honey secured in these local- 

 ities is less per colony, the price it brings 

 is higher, because in this i)ortion of the 

 United States the centers of population are 

 located. Throughout the South, east of the 

 Mississippi, the honey secured is very good, 

 mostly extracted, and the flow covers a long 

 period ; but the quality is not quite equal to 

 the honey of the North. 



LOCUST, HONEV {Gleditschia Tri<i- 

 canthos) is one of the best honey-yielding 

 trees in the United States, but, unfortunate- 

 ly, it is nowhere abundant. It is not so val- 

 uable as the black locust for timber, and is 

 seldom planted for that purpose except I'oi- 

 posts. It is frequently planted as an avenue 

 tree, and in Europe it is very popular lor 

 that purpose — much more so than it is with 

 us. It is also planted sometimes for a hedge, 

 and does well as a high windbreak. 



It blooms when quite young, and the odor 

 of the blossoms suggests honey, of which tlie 

 bees must extract a goodly amount, as it 

 comes between fruit-bloom and clover, just 

 when the weather is likely to be favorable. 

 It has been suggested that, when grown in 

 large masses for fence-posts, and where cli- 

 mate and soil are suitable, it might be pos- 

 sible to make its culture pay. It is frequent- 

 ly planted in pleasure-grounds and parks, 

 and in such position renders good service to 

 the bee-keeper. Probably the honey locust 

 will be more extensively planted in the fu- 

 ture than it has been in the past. 



ZiOG^tVOOD [Hcrmatoxylon Campediian- 

 uni) is the English name of a tree extensive- 

 ly used by dyers. The French term it cam- 

 peche,from the country of its nativity ; and 

 the Spanish, " palo pinto," the paint or dye- 

 wood tree. The wood obtained from it is 

 very valuable, hence it has been naturalized 

 throughout the AVest Indies, notably in Ja- 

 maica and Haiti, where it has become quite 

 common. It grows well in Antigua and St. 

 Lucia islands. It has been naturalized in 

 British, French, and Dutch Guiana, and in 

 Trinidad. Where tried, it grows well in 

 Florida. It is closely allied to the catclaw 

 and guajilla of Southwest Texas. Consider- 

 ing both the quantity and quality of the 

 honey produced by it, no idant can be said 



