108 THE FLORIDA BUGGIST 
operating two large apiaries in the groves of the Atwood Grape- 
fruit Ranch at Manatee, where the bees were intended primarily 
for the fertilization of the orange and grapefruit bloom. Mr. A. 
I. Root, the celebrated founder of the largest bee supply estab- 
lishment in the world, and one of the foremost authorities on 
beekeeping, has for years operated apiaries in different sections 
of the State. Mr. Root spends his winters in Manatee County, 
and aithough he is 79 years old, he can still be seén plugging away 
at his winter home near Bradentown. 
Even on the western side of Lake Okeechobee, Mr. C. C. Cook 
produces some of the most wonderful crops of honey ever heard 
of (mostly from gallberry). 
While the main harvests of honey were formerly produced in 
the western portion of Florida, in the bottom lands of the Apa- 
lachicola and Choclahatchee Rivers, and in the southern portion 
of Walton County, the opportunities for this industry have in 
recent years been found present in practically all sections of the 
State. 
The mild winters in Florida tend to make beekeeping more 
profitable than in the northern and western states. The low cost 
of operation is largely due to the fact that the bees have a 
chance to gather a little honey during almost every month. Then 
there is the large number of honey-producing plants; most de- 
sirable of which are the orange, palmetto, tupelo, titi, mangrove, 
partridge pea, goldenrod, gallberry, Spanish clover, and cotton. 
(Cotton produces about 32 per cent of all the honey made in the 
Southern States.) 
It is not even necessary to have a farm on which to keep bees; 
they seem to do just about as well in cities and towns (where 
the number of colonies is limited) as they do in the country. f 
happen to know of one gentleman in Jacksonville who has four 
or five hives on top of a five-story office building, and I have 
heard of similar instances in Tampa. 
Right here within the city limits of Gainesville, which section 
is not by any means considered well adapted for bee culture, there 
are to my knowledge 9 men who keep bees; these 9 men have a 
total of 48 colonies and there are undoubtedly others. As a rule, 
these gentlemen have had very good harvests of honey during the 
past year. One of them, who has but 2 colonies, made 172 pounds 
of surplus honey and comb. My own bees (I have six hives in 
my back yard) made an average of 70 pounds surplus per colony 
