Vol. LVI.— No. 10 



HAMILTON, ILL, OCTOBER, 1916 



MONTHLY, $1.00 A YEAR 



NOTES FROM TENNESSEE 



Glimpses of Dixie Beekeeping as Seen By Our Staff Correspondent 



Who has not heard the praise of 

 sunny Tennessee? In the north 

 are broad fields of grass where 

 graze sleek herds of fine dairy cattle, 

 while along her southern borders are 

 vast fields of cotton. Her corn crops 

 in some sections would do credit to 

 the most favored corn producing sec- 

 tion of Illinois, while in other coun- 

 ties tobacco and peiinu's are grown 

 in abundance. Tennessee lies in that 

 favored latitude where it is not too 

 warm for the crops which make the 

 north rich, nor yet too cold for the 

 staple crops of the southland. Few 

 states can equal her in the diversity 

 of her productions, and none can ex- 

 cel her in the multitude of good 

 things which she produces. In her 

 northern hills apple orchards of vast 

 acreage are found, while in her south- 

 ern counties figs may be gathered by 

 her people from their own trees. 

 Choose what you will, unless it be a 



semitropical fruit, almost anything 

 that can be grown with profit in the 

 United States, you will find a 

 place adapted to it in Tennessee. 



An invitation to the field meetings 

 of the Tennessee Beekeeper's Associa- 

 tion brought the desired opportunity 

 to visit a section which the writer had 

 long wished to see. Arriving at Nash- 

 ville a day ahead of the first of the 

 meetings gave time to visit the queen- 

 rearing apiaries of J. M. and Ben G. 

 Davis, father and son, who are among 

 the best known beekeepers of the 

 southland. We have been familar 

 with Ben Davis apples in the north 

 for many years but the Tennessee 

 Ben Davis declines the honor of being 

 the namesake of the apple or of hav- 

 ing it named for him. Whatever the 

 quality of the apple, the Davis queens 

 have a splendid reputation in many 

 states and it was a real treat to visit 

 the apiaries and learn something of 



THE ALLEN APIARY IN THE CITY OF NASHVILLE. TENN. 



the methods of the men who send out 

 from eight to ten thousand queens 

 per year. There were so many things 

 of interest to see. that we will have 

 more to say about their methods in 

 another article. J. M. Davis has been 

 engaged in queen-rearing for forty- 

 four years continuously and is prob- 

 ably the oldest queen breeder in the 

 States. He is now engaged in rear- 

 ing three-banded queens exclusive y, 

 since his son Ben took over the gold- 

 ens. The apiaries are several miles 

 apart to avoid possible mixing of the 

 golden and three-banded stock. 



The field meeting was held at the 

 home of the Dixie queen, Mrs. Grace 

 Allen, who is a most charming host- 

 ess. A good crowd was present and 

 the usual field day discussions were 

 followed out. Mr. and Mrs. Allen 

 treated the visitors to a picnic dinner 

 on the lawn, where the demonstra- 

 tions and discussions were continued 

 until late afternoon. A number of 

 prominent men whose names are famil- 

 iar were in attendance at the Nash- 

 ville meeting. Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture, Bryson, was present and wel- 

 comed the visitors to Nashville. State 

 Entomologist, Bentley, Dr. J. S. Ward, 

 the State Bee Inspector; J. M. Buchan- 

 an, secretary of the Association; the 

 Drane boys of Memphis who are at 

 present in the army, and numerous 

 others, assisted in the demonstrations 

 or talked on subjects of timely inter- 

 est. The meeting was fully equal to 

 the best which the writer has ever 

 attended. After the meeting a drive 

 with Dr. Ward about the city through 

 the parks gave an opportunity to see 

 some of the beauty spots of the region. 



Dr. B. F. Phillips and K. R. Root 

 were both present and together with 

 several of the Tennessee beemen made 

 quite a party the following day for 

 the meeting at Hollow Rock. Do"tor 

 Phillips, Mr. Root and the writer were 

 called upon at each of the three points 

 for talks, and everywhere we were 

 shown every possible courte-y. At 

 Hollow Rock the meeting was held at 

 the home of Mr. L. E. Smith, where all 

 the visitors were treated to a bounti- 



