March, 11)16. 



91 



American l^ae Journal 



W)> ^f^mr^ 



FIG. 71. -HOPS ON A ROADSIDE FENCE 



A Venture in Southern Bee- 

 keeping- The Season's Work 



BY J. F. ARCHDEKIN. 

 (Continued from February number.) 



THE spring of 1915 was a very back- 

 ward one all over the South. Old 

 residents of this section told me 

 that it was the latest spring in 30 years. 

 Our bees had a fair amount of stores, 

 but as soon as brood-rearing started 

 in strong and the population of the 

 colonies began to increase, these stores 

 diminished rapidly. There was some 

 bloom out, but it was so cold and 

 cloudy that the bees could hardly get 

 a chance to fly. When a nice day did 

 happen along they brought in large 

 quantities of pollen from a small yel- 

 low flower that grows all over the 

 fields and from wild berries and wil- 

 low. But the nectar secured was neg- 

 ligable, so that by the middle of March 

 we had to begin feeding sugar syrup. 



The feeding was done in the open 

 from wash tubs, so the wild bees, of 

 which there are immense numbers in 

 the woods, were fed gratuitously, I was 

 kept busy every day making syrup and 

 looking after the yards, so that shop 

 work had to be neglected. It was very 

 discouraging, to be sure, but as the old 

 saying !goes, " Every cloud has a silver 

 lining," we determined to see the game 

 through. By the first of April a good 

 part of our colonies were in fair shape 

 as to strength, but none of them had 

 more than two or three days' supply of 

 stores. They were down to their last 

 biscuit, so to speak. If only the tupelo. 

 whose buds had been swelling since 

 March 1 would open, all would yet be 

 well. 



Then all at once the weather cleared. 

 Willow, which had been in bloom for 

 some time, began to yield. A day or 

 two later the tupelo opened and such a 

 scramble I never saw among bees. In 

 just three days colonies which had 

 been in a starving condition were 



crammed with honey and the queens 

 honey bound. An apiary was the bus- 

 iest place I had ever been in. To hear 

 the noise one would imagine a first- 

 class job of robbing to be in progress. 

 All the bees old enough to fly went to 

 the fields, so that on opening a hive it 

 appeared to have lost half of its popu- 

 lation, and cross ! I never saw bees as 

 cross in my life. They were about as 

 sociable as hornets. 



White clover began to bloom in a 

 few days, so that we had Ihree sources 

 of white honey at the same time. The 

 best of these were tupelo and willow. 

 White clover does not seem to yield 

 here like it does in the Central States, 

 although it is as plentiful here as I have 



ever seen it anywhere. The rush con- 

 tinued 10 days, during which time our 

 bees stored a fair crop of honey. Then 

 we had rain and a cool spell for a day 

 or two that practically ended the tupelo 

 and willow. Soon after this a red col- 

 ored honey began to come in a light 

 flow which lasted all summer. This 

 long summer flow is the finest thing 

 imaginable for queen-rearing and mak- 

 ing increase. Combined with the 

 Afarm, even temperature of this climate 

 it makes thequeen-breeder's life happy. 



By Aug. 1 we had a fair crop of red 

 honey on the hives, and were on the 

 point of splitting our colonies in two 

 for increase when I was seized by an 

 attack of appendicitis. We started for 

 New Orleans the night of the 10th, and 

 the next morning I underwent an op- 

 eration. I was in a desperate condi- 

 tion but am happy to relate that I came 

 out fine, although there was some 

 doubt for a few days. It was a harrow- 

 ing experience. 



This ended my bee-work until the 

 middle of October. Although I got 

 home Sept. 4 I had to lay by and have 

 done very little work until lately. 

 About Sept. 10 the fall flow came on in 

 earnest, but the hives were already 

 packed with the summer flow, and so 

 this crop was lost. The fall honey is a 

 light amber and is very delicious. This 

 lasted until Nov. 1. Bees are still at 

 this date (Dec. 10) bringing in pollen 

 on warm days. 



The sources of the honey flows and 

 some other interesting features have 

 been mentioned only incidentally. I 

 will now endeavor to tell what I have 

 been able to observe during the short 

 time we have been here. I have no 

 technical knowledge of botany and am 

 not able to give the names of many 

 flowers which are important honey 

 sources here, and some sources I have 

 not located yet. 



This locality is surrounded by swamps 

 on both sides of the 3ayou. In these 



FIG. 7J-SINGLE PEONIES PRODUCE QUANTITIES OF POLLEN 



