18 



GLE^VXTXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



or nodes, near where the flower stalks or peduncles ' 

 grew, were, haunted trom niornine: till night. 1 

 looked in vain, however, lor any full combs of hon- 

 ci'. I found bees working on Cassia chamcecrista 

 (partridge pea), which is very plentiful here; on 

 Palaforia inteorifoUa, and on Elephnntdpus tumcn- 

 tums (elephant's foot). For a long time the woods 

 were yellow with many species 'of Compnsita}, 

 among the several species of goldenrod; only one, 

 however, that I could find the bees doing any thing 

 on— a coarse species of goldenrod {Solidnuo pilom), 

 which grew in low grounds. I saw my bees work- 

 ing on it very busily, two miles from here, and think 

 they would have done well on it if there had only 

 been enough of it. There is not enough cabbage- 

 palmetto near us for the bees to do much on. That 

 yields a good deal of nice honey, but grows mostly I 

 on low ground, near rivers, hammock land, and near 

 the sea coast. We came here on account of my 

 health, and I think the only healthful places in 

 Florida are on the high pine lands, several miles 

 away from any river or hammock land, and away 

 from any place where wells have to be dug thi-ough 

 shell formations. 



Eighteen miles oast of us is Mr. Hart's apiary, 

 near New Smyrna. There they have plenty of saw 

 and cabbage palmetto; and the mangrove islands, 

 when in bloom, rain down honey by the barrel full. 

 I have been there several times. The mangroves 

 are said to be limited to a few miles south of New 

 Smyrna, and two years ago when T was there with 

 friend Poppleton, from Iowa, we concluded that the 

 bee business was about all monopolized. I believe 

 Mr. Poppleton has since purchased land there; and 

 if he settles there he will undoubtedly meet with 

 success, as he is one of the most successful aplcul- 

 turists that I have ever met. There is better soil at 

 Smyrna, and plenty of oysters and tish, which are 

 all much more desirable than the malaria, mosqui- 

 toes, and millions of sand-flies ihat can be kept out 

 only by something as fine as cheese-cloth. Away 

 from the mangroves, I know of no place in Florida 

 •where honey can be raised in such paying quanti- 

 ties as it can be in the North; yet any intelligent 

 bee-keeper who comes here for his health, or to 

 raise oranges, would, in my opinion, make a mis- 

 take if he did not keep a few colonies of Italians. 

 In many places, pure mating would be a sure thing. 

 Every queen raised in our apiary during the past 

 season has proved to be a pure Italian. Two-band- 

 ed bees are as scarce in our yard as three-banded 

 bees are in the yards of some dealers. 1 once 

 visited an apiary w here there were only two or three 

 pure colonies of Italians, in over 5U colonics; the 

 rest were blacks and hybrids, drones flying from all, 

 and yet the owner was advertising dollar Italian 

 queens for sale (I believe he never advertised in 

 Gleanings). There were two colonies of blacks 

 near here, but 1 gave them two pure queens, and 

 settled that business. The old settlers in this coun- 

 try know very little about bees. They call the 

 (lueen a king, and think he rules the colony. 



Twelve degrees above freezing is the coldest 

 weather we have had yet. The weather averages, I 

 think, between CO" and 70°, but gradually gets a lit- 

 tle colder. We shall probably have frost in a few 

 weeks. Last winter we had none till January. 

 Sometimes, I believe, there has been no frost. 

 Those who have ambition enough to plant and prop- 

 erly fertilize are now having good vegetables in 

 their gardens. Cabbage, lettuce, radishes, beets, 



turnips, egg-plant, tomatoes, and onions, will be all 

 right till heavy frost kills the tender kinds. With a 

 little protection they can be had all winter. Straw- 

 berries begin to ripen in January, generally, but 

 seasons vary. Oranges and lemons are plentiful at 

 $1.00 to *1.5U per hundred. The soil in all healthful 

 locations is a very liaht sand, and will not produce 

 much witcout fertilizing. People who have money 

 enough to afford the trip, or who have bronchitis, 

 catarrh, asthma, rheumatism, or dyspepsia, will be 

 paid for spending some time in the pine woods of 

 Florida. It is not a good place for a poor man. 



Geo. W. Webster. 

 Lake Helen, Volusia Co., Fla., Nov. 24, nsi. 



KEEPING A SMOKER IN GOOD ORDER. 



AN IMPLEMENT FOIt C 

 THE 



JANINO THE SOOT OUT OF 

 tR-TUBE. 



TTp FTER using several kinds of smokers, I prefer 

 ^1^ the Clark to any other. I know some object to 



J^ so much smoke, sometimes, when we don't 

 ■*■ *^ need it; yet it does smoke when we do need it, 

 and it just sends it oil' where we wish; and if 

 we knock its nose against the hive or any thing, it 

 doesn't fall apart and spill Are and the whole con- 

 tents into the hive; and, again, it's so cheap that 

 every one can have one, even to drive mosquitoes 

 out of the house. Yet, like all others, there is a lit- 

 tle trouble that I have for some time been studying 

 on; that is, the wind-tube does, alter a time, clog 

 up with soot; and unless one gives it some atten- 

 tion and thought, he would say the smoker was 

 good for nothing. Well, I tried a number of ways, 

 and now I believe I've got what pleases me ever so 

 much. 



CHURCHILL'S 1MPL:5MENT FOR CLEANING SMOKER- 

 TUBES. 



Perhaps a wire of soft pliable iron may be better. 

 I send you a sample, which is spring wire. You 

 can clean out the tubes, also the nozzle of smoker. 

 Please give it a trial; and if it is of any good in 

 your mind, you can make as many as you wish (as 

 it is not patented). You will see at once they cost 

 almost nothing; but to me they have been worth a 

 great deal, and what few have used them say as I 

 do. E. P. Churchill. 



North Auburn, Me., Nov. 5, 1884. 



Friend C, you liave indeed struck on some- 

 thing very valuable, in my opinion, even 

 though it is quite simple. Our apiarist has 

 tried it on the smokers lie had in use, and he 

 says that every Simplicity smoker should 

 have one. We have ordered a lot of wire 

 from the wire-mills, made just right, and 

 will get out the necessary machinery for 

 makuig them rapidly, and hereafter we ex- 

 pect to send one along with every smoker 

 we si'iid out. We credit you five dollars for 

 tiie invention, and tender our thanks be- 

 sides. Those who want one for smokers 

 they already have in use can have them for 

 5 cts. each ; 35 cts. for ten, or S^i.OO per hun- 

 dred. If wanted by mail, 2 cts. eacli in ad- 

 dition, or 5 cts. for each package of teu- 



