GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



beekeepers and all will wish him the suc- 

 cess that is clue him. 



During the past year honey has been 

 brought to the attention of the public as 

 never before; every advantage of honey has 

 been told again and again. People who have 

 been brave enough to venture have found 

 out that the claims were true. This will 

 undoubtedly result in an increased demand 

 for honey in the United States. If the pres- 

 ent conditions are maintained, the American 

 people again will be without honey. The 

 foreign governments have representatives 

 who have gone thru the country contracting 

 for the big shijjments of honey at a margin 

 on the market price. 



It is, indeed, too bad that there are so 

 many beekeepers who would rather hinder 

 co-operative efforts than assist and share 

 the benefits. The Texas Honey Producers' 

 Association is being fought by many who 

 should be giving the same efforts to boost- 

 ing. The benefits of co-operation are not 

 new, but to some they are not conceivable. 

 Co-operation is bound to succeed — everyone 

 better receive his share of help. 



College Station, Tex. P. B. Paddock. 



* » # 



In Florida Reports from Florida bee- 

 men are, taken on the 

 whole, encouraging this month. The flow 

 from saw palmetto has been exceptionally 

 good, furnishing in many instances as large 

 a surplus as did the orange. From the Tam- 

 pa district come reports of 60 pounds per 

 colony and ' ' double the amount secured 

 from orange. ' ' Also a report of a small sur- 

 plus from persimmon, which is unusual in 

 Florida. On the creeks and swamps of the 

 southern part of the State a good crop is 

 being harvested — ' ' two to three extracting 

 supers. ' ' In this immediate neighborhood we 

 have not done nearly so well, and, tho we 

 have some honey, very little will be extract- 

 ed until we see what the prospects are from 

 cabbage palmetto and partridge pea in July. 

 We have been disappointed so often that, 

 this year of all years, we cannot afford to let 

 our bees get to the state where they can 

 not say, "there are millions of honey at 

 our house. ' ' It will not hurt us beekeepers 

 to Hooverize and eat substitutes, but our 

 bees will fare better on their regular diet, 

 and we may buy more Liberty bonds later 

 than we would if we squeezed the last drop 

 from our bees now. 



As to the quality of the crop of palmetto 

 honey, it is fine, equal in every respect to 

 the orange. If the honey secured in other 

 localities is equal to that made in my own 

 yards, it should class even higher than tho 

 orange, for orange honey this year was not 

 up to standard. Some honey I tasted at my 

 swamp yard this week is of such exceptional 

 flavor that it should rank as high even as the 

 orange honey of 1914. This was a blend of 



palmetto and basswood, and there is reason 

 to expect that all honey produced on the 

 swamps thruout the State will be of the same 

 high grade. 



Many beemen are kicking themselves for 

 selling their orange honey at from 15 to 18 

 cents per pound. Now they find that the 

 buyers were expecting to pay 20 cents f . o. b. 

 shipping point. The tendency now will be to 

 start the price at 20 cents, and get all they 

 can above that. 



From northern Florida and south Georgia 

 reports are conflicting. Some localities speak 

 of good crops from tupelo and black gum, 

 others of partial failure. The gallberry was 

 badly hurt by the late, cold weather. 



A few blossoms are now open in the cotton 

 fields and the bees are already paying at- 

 tention to them, some going into the blooms 

 for pollen, but more working on the outside 

 nectar glands at the base of the bloom. It 

 is uncertain if cotton will prove to be a hon- 

 ey-producer in this part of Florida, for there 

 has never been enough planted to make a 

 showing until this year. Those whose bees 

 are within range of the cotton fields this 

 year are watching it closely. 



Apopka, Fla. Harry Hewitt. 



L. W. Tii'^lity, widely known as an agricultural 

 writer for The SiUional Stockman and Farmer. 

 He is also a beekeeper as the picture of him shows. 



