1910 



GLEAXIXG8 IX BEE CULTURE 



859 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE SOUTHEAST. 



Chinkapin and Partridge Pea as Honey-plants; the 

 Former a Great Honey-plant. 



BY J. J. WILDER. 



the eight-frame Dovetailed hive. He claims 

 that frame manipulation did not pay him 

 when he had a small business, and that he 

 hasn't the time now. 

 Cordele. Ga. 



Along the high ridges of middle Florida 

 will be found these honey-plants in all their 

 glory, growing along together, and literally 

 covering a large territory of the earth. The 

 two plants are about the same in height — 

 from 12 to o6 inches. The chinkapin springs 

 up from roots and nuts, and the i)artridge 

 l)ea from its j^eas. Both make their api)ear- 

 ance about the same time in early sjiring, 

 after the forest is burned. This kills the 

 l)revious season's sprouts of the chinkapin 

 back to its roots, causing it to spread more 

 rapidly. By the first of May it is perhaps 

 two feet high, and begins blooming, and is 

 a solid cluster of bloom along the sj^routs 

 near the tops. It continues to bloom until 

 about the first of .Tune, and yields from oO 

 to oO lbs. of honey per colony. The honey 

 is blood color, but not at all wholesome. It 

 is shipped to the northern markets in ex- 

 tracted form, and brings about 5 cts. i)er lb. 



The partridge pea begins yielding about 

 the middle of Jnine, and lasts until October. 

 During its flow, bees usually store about 100 

 lbs. per colony of comb honey, which is 

 nearly water-white and of very fine flavor. 



The i^eculiarity of this great honey-plant 

 is that it does not yield its nectar through 

 its bloom, but at the base of each leaf. On 

 the top of the stem of the leaf is formed an 

 oblong cell large enough to catch and hold 

 a drop of nectar. This is very striking in 

 early morning and late in the afternoon, but 

 is reduced to about half its size during the 

 middle of the day unless it is cloudy, when 

 the drops will stand out prominent the en- 

 tire day. Xothing interferes with its yield- 

 ing throughout the season. 



The greatest wonder is that bees do not 

 gather a much larger amount of honey from 

 this source. For fifty yards or more the 

 cells of nectar can be seen sparkling like 

 dewdrops in early morning. Dviring the 

 night the nectar will collect in the cells in 

 such quantities that drops will leave and 

 run down the stems of the leaves, on the 

 limbs and main stalks, and wet the ground 

 for an inch or more around the base of the 

 stalks. It would take 1000 or more colonies 

 in one location to save this great supply of 

 nectar. 



Mr. R. W. Herlong, one of the leading 

 bee-keepers in this territory, is located at 

 P\)rt White, Fla. His home apiary consists 

 of about 200 colonies, located in single rows 

 about 30 feet apart, shaded with boards. 

 Mr. Herlong operates about 20 apiaries, and 

 produces several carloads of honey each sea- 

 son. He is with the bees over eight months 

 in each year, of which nearly six montlrs is 

 a honey-flow. He puts in from 14 to 18 

 hours of hard work each day, and perhaps 

 this is wliy he is one of the few bee-keepers 

 who have attained a great success. He does 

 not manipulate frames, although he uses 



INTRODUCING A QUEEN TO A FEW BEES 

 AND THEN TO THE ENTIRE COLONY. 



BY E. L. KIMBA.LL. 



We have been interested in the various 

 articles appearing in (iLEANiXGS in the last 

 few months on introducing queens, and al- 

 so in E. R. Root's article on the method em- 

 ployed by queen-breeders in ))utting up bees 

 to be sent by mail. Those who are afraid of 

 the stings may be interested in the method 

 we have employed in putting bees into mail- 

 ing-cages for introduction in our own apiary. 

 Taking a cage made of a coil of wire cloth, 

 about 34; inch in diameter, which has each 

 end stopped with a wad of tissue paper, we 

 go to the hive where it is desired tosujiplant 

 the queen, and find and kill her. We then 

 remove the tissue paper from one entl of the 

 coil cage, and, by scraping along the tops of 

 the frames or some other convenient place, 

 scoop into the cage as many bees as possible. 

 This coil cage containing the bees is then 

 placed in a dish or on a board right over a 

 few drops of honey; or a few drops of honey 

 are placed on one of the paper stoi)pers next 

 to the bees so as to give the bees in the cage 

 acceijs to the honey. By the time the cpieen 

 that we desire to introduce has been secured 

 from another hive, and placed in this cage 

 with the strange bees, all of these bees have 

 had their fill of honey. These few uniform- 

 ly accept the queen, "and, as evidence of the 

 fact, they immediately proceed to feed her. 

 If we are not in a hurry, we pause a minute 

 to watch this performance, which to me is 

 one of the most interesting sights connect- 

 ed with bee-keei)ing. 



X'^ext, removing the paper stoppers of the 

 coil cage one at a time, inserting a round 

 stick slightly smaller than the wire cage in- 

 to one end, and placing the other end over 

 the open end of the mailing-cage, we gradu- 

 ally contract the space in the coil cage and 

 gently crowd the bees and queen from the 

 coil cage into the mailing-cage. The en- 

 trance of the mailing-cage is then filled with 

 candy, and a small piece of comb-honey 

 section is also nailed over it. The mailing- 

 cage is then placed in the colony where it is 

 desired to introduce the queen. After IS to 

 24 hours the piece of section is removed, and 

 the bees then make short work of liberating 

 the queen, as only the candy obstruction re- 

 mains. In this way a colony need not be 

 without a queen over 24 hours. We have 

 used the plan on a small scale for three 

 years, and have always found it succe.ssful 

 when carried out as above indicated. It is 

 not necessary to take pains to select young 

 bees to place in the cage with the queen if 

 the bees are given an opportunity to fill their 

 honey-sacs with honey. 



Du'luth, Minn. 



