Junk, 191S G T. R A N I N G S 1 N B R E C U L T U K E 359 



ffi) FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



ilow outside of the irrigated alfalfa may 

 eoiiie from iiicsquite. In east Texas the 

 horsemint is better than for some years and 

 the condition of all honey plants is good. 

 Tlie prospects are good for a honey crop in 

 this region. The central region has honey 

 plants that are in fair condition with the 

 exception of horsemint, which probably will 

 not appear this year. In north Texas the 

 lioiiey plants are in poor contlition and the 

 J fospects are not good. Cotton, the main 

 source of honey, is late this year. 



As yet, very few offers have been made 

 for this year 's crop, and these have been 

 with an indefinite price. The local price that 

 will prevail for honey varies greatly, from 

 13 cents to 19 cents for extracted honey in 

 cases. In small quantities, 20 cents will 

 prevail in many sections for honey of good 

 quality. 



A development of interest to beekeepers 

 in general has just occurred in the negotia- 

 tions with an express company, relative to 

 pound-package shipments. The company 

 contends that the heavy losses in the past 

 have been due to the shippers not using 

 cases large enough or strong enough. The 

 strength is apparently very necessary in 

 spite of the fact that the shipper pays rate 

 and one-half because extra care is necessary 

 in handling this commodity. The express 

 company further contends that some claims 

 which have been presented are not fair at 

 all, and future claims will be watched more 

 closely. r. B. Paddock. 



College Station, Tex. 



In Florida 



Little news is available 

 from Florida beemen this 

 month. The big producers have shut their 

 mouths tight, and are keeping them shut, 

 locked, bolted, and otherwise guarded.; They 

 have made good this spring, and seem afraid 

 that some one will jump in and rob- them 

 of their range. They need have no fears on 

 that score, if they will give their record for 

 the last ten j^ears, and especially for the last 

 two years, of partial or total failure. Flor- 

 ida has no great inducement to offer bee- 

 keejjers. Honey production is like truck 

 farming, in that we make bare expenses or a 

 loss three years and a good crop one year. 

 The outsider hears nothing about the losses; 

 but the big money made oil one crop of 

 celery, lettuce, or tomatoes is brought to his 

 jiotice, and he comes with high hopes t6 

 Florida— and is "busted." - 



Florida has made a big crop of orange 

 honey, and has got a big price for it, 18 

 cents to 20 cents f. o. b. shipping ^point. 

 Those who sold for less were too hasty, or 

 w^ere ignorant of market conditions. One 

 beekeeper drove a good many miles to 

 Apoj)ka and sold 16 gallons at $1..50 per gal- 

 lon. If he had taken Gleaniuiirs and followed 



the market prices, he would have received 

 $14.40 more for Ihat one small lot, and saved 

 the expense of hauling aiul bottling. In Or- 

 lando, a few weeks ago, I saw honey selling 

 retail in the grocery stores at 50 cents per 

 quart bottle. This honey bore, the label of 

 an extensive producer, who for the last few 

 years has been an occasional contributor to 

 the columns of Gleanings and who runs sev- 

 eral apiaries on the St. Johns River. The 

 man who sold at $1.50 in Apopka can be 

 excused, for he did not know any better; 

 but there is no excuse for the other, and we 

 can only hope that the wholesale buyers will 

 pay him the smallest possible price for his 

 present and future crops. Such men do not 

 deserve the consideration of buyers or their 

 fellow beekeepers. 



As could be expected after a successful 

 season, beekeepers are springing up like 

 mushrooms all over Florida, and the question 

 arises as to whether they should be encour- 

 aged or discouraged. Many of those already 

 engaged extensively in beekeeping look with 

 disfavor on all who are making a beginning 

 in a small way, and will give neither advice 

 nor help in the way of obtaining supplies. 

 They may be right in a few cases, but per- 

 sonally I do not agree with them. I see too 

 many bees in boxes and home-made hives of 

 varying sizes, which, with a few words of 

 timely advice and unselfish co-operation 

 from the experienced beekeeper, would now 

 be in standard hives and in shape to take 

 their places in the apiary of the specialist 

 when he buys out the small beginner, as will 

 undoubtedly happen in very many cases. 

 There is but a small percentage of those that 

 start with bees that remain in the business 

 long. They get tired of the occupatipn .or 

 move away and have to sell, and then it 

 is up to the specialist to buy hives that are 

 nothing but drone factories. T have been 

 told that it is the beginners who spoil our 

 markets and overstock our ranges, but my 

 experience has been that the beginner es- 

 tablishes the use of honey in more homes 

 than he can possibly supply, and the big 

 producer gets the benefit of the other's en- 

 ergy as an advertiser. As to the overstock- 

 ing of our pastures, there is little danger of 

 small apiaries crowding us when they are 

 situated more than half a mile away. 



It is too early yet to state what the pros- 

 pect is for a crop of palmetto honey. There 

 is more bloom this year than in the last four 

 years put together; but it does not appear to^ ., 

 be yielding much. Basswood and red bay 

 seem to be doing better, and those whose 

 bees are near the swamps should secure 

 some surplus. There is a good average of. 

 cotton planted in Florida this year; but 

 whether it yields much nectar in the sandy 

 soil remains to be seen. ITarry Hewett. 



Apo])ka, Fla. 



