GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1918 



ily in his remarks, it was sure to be brought 

 out by some one's question; and politely, 

 pleasantly, enthusiastically, Mr. Root an- 

 swered them all. And they were many, 

 likewise varied. Particularly pleasina; v/eve 

 Mr. Eoot 's jiersonal reminiscences and his 

 references to some of his father 's experi- 

 ences. Then thru it all there was his un- 

 faltering and contagious enthusiasm, and his 

 never failing friendliness. 

 » * ■» 



Referring again to black locust, which I 

 mentioned in January as being rapidly cut 

 out in this section, I notice in a daily paper 

 that the Forest Reserve, to prevent con- 

 fusion in identity, is calling attention to the 

 differences between the black locust and the 

 honey locust. ' ' In some localities, the 

 names applied are exactly reversed, the hon- 

 ey locust being known exclusively as black 

 locust, and the true black locust being 

 known as honey locust. ' ' It really isn 't 

 strange that the black locust is sometimes 

 called honey locust, for it is the nectar- 

 bearer, worked by the honey bee, while the 

 only claim of the honey locust to its name 

 lies in the gummy sweetish deposit in the 

 ripe pods. The true black locust (Robinia 

 Pseudaeacia) has close-grained, durable, 

 very hard wood, compound leaves with 

 smooth margins, short thorns arranged in 

 pairs, and seed pods from 2 to 4 inches long. 

 The honey locust (Gleditschia Triacanthus) 

 has coarse-grained wood of an inferior qual- 

 ity, leaves of the compound type but scal- 

 loped along the edges, thorns several inches 

 long, often divided into three or more 

 branches and often in great clusters on the 

 main trunk, and pods from 10 to 18 inches 

 long. If the wooden ship program is to be 

 abandoned, the demand for black locust may 

 slacken, as it has been used for treenails to 

 fasten the planking to the ship 's ribs. 



* « * 



What does one say when the weather 

 grows quite out of bounds of polite con- 

 versation, and there are no conventional 



phrases left that fit the need? That is my 

 present trouble. It had seemed as tho this 

 winter, from mid-December to date, deserved 

 comment as le'ngthy as vigorous. But some- 

 how I can 't find the words. However, it is 

 the undisputed truth that we have had some 

 weather. The thermometer, repeatedly flirt- 

 ing with zero, repeatedly fell. ' ' Ten degrees 

 below, ' 'the weather bureau reported one 

 time, and various lesser degrees below at 

 various other times. Now 10 degrees below 

 zero is a most un-Dixie-like temperature. I 

 wonder how the Dixie bees have fared thru 

 these weeks of frozen weather. This winter 

 should surely be a test of wintering condi- 

 tions. Altho I don 't know but a warmer 

 winter, with a great deal of rain instead of a 

 great deal of snow, might be worse; or a 

 winter with more frequent variation of tem- 

 perature, and more damp, thawing days, 

 might also be worse. We await the spring 

 with keen interest. 



* * * 



Go way, zero, don't you see 

 I'm an urnaacked Dixie bee? 

 Freezin blizzards aint no fun — - 

 Wind breaks ? Aint got nary one. 



******* 

 Mr. Root sezs some folks thinks 



That its morally surprisin 

 Bout the bees in winter time 



Bein bugs on exercisin ! 



Dixie Bees in January, 1918. 



A WEEK of 

 warm wea- 

 ther has at 

 last brought the 

 Florida bees to life, and they are now luist- 

 ling after water and bringing in hea\^y loads 

 of pollen. It was too cold in Januaiy for 

 them to work in the maples, but now the jas- 

 mine, willow and huckleberry are in bloom. 

 The wild cherry and plum trees are in bud, 

 the orange is showing the first signs of new 

 growth, and everything points to the com- 

 ing of spring and a busy season with the 

 bees. Let us hope that it will be a more 

 prosx)erous one than 1917 and 1916. 



The unusually cold winter has left bees 

 liere in first-class condition. Thev have used 



IN FLORIDA 



Reported by Harry Hewitt 



much less winter 

 stores than us- 

 ual; the colonies 

 seem strong as 

 they were in the fall and there are 

 no piles of dead robber bees in front 

 of the hives. The orange groves are 

 in fine shape, and prospects were never bet- 

 ter for a big bloom. Whether we get any- 

 thing from it remains to be seen. Yesterday 

 (Feb. 5) I was in tlie apiary and heard a 

 queen in the air. I chanced to stop at the 

 right hive and saw her alight. She then 

 took two other short flights before finally 

 entering the hive. This was an old queen, 

 raised last September — not a virgin. What 

 was she doing in the air at this time of year? 



