452 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



that State is like a new book on a new subject, and 

 can not be learned in a brief period of time. If pos- 

 sible to do so, 1 would earnestlj' recommend all in- 

 tending settlers to live for as many months as pos- 

 sible with families who are on their homesteads. 

 More can be learned this way about the details of 

 Florida life than by any other means I know of. 



There has been so much romance thrown around 

 Florida by writing's and traditions, and various land 

 agencies have sent out such njagniflecnt descrip- 

 tions of its climate and scenery, that nearly every 

 one feels bitterly disappointed on entering the 

 State. Its flat, sandy pine lands and swamps look 

 dismally barren at first sight, and few indeed but 

 feel very much disappointed during their first 

 month's residence there. The unlovely and un- 

 written - about side of Florida first appears; the 

 other and more pleasant part being appreciated 

 only after getting ac<iuainted. Unless this import- 

 ant fact is borne in mind by settlers, many will 

 leave the State in disgust before they are capable 

 of forming any correct judgment of what they do 

 want. I remember now of meeting only one per- 

 son while in the State who was satisfied during his 

 first month there, and I do not now remember a 

 single person who had resided there three or four 

 j'cars who had any desire to permanently remove 

 north. This is an almost unheard-of state of things 

 in any other new country. This looks as though 

 Florida were like some people we know— not very 

 impressive at first sight, but who stand acquaint- 

 ance well— one of the highest compliments that 

 can be paid any one. 



Pioneering in any new country means a certain 

 amount of hardship and privation. Florida pio- 

 neering is no exception to the general rule, and 

 none but these whom nature or native resolution 

 has fitted for such work should try. 



The impression I have formed about California is, 

 that whoever makes a business of bee-keeping there 

 has to isolate himself among the mountains more 

 or less, and contend with many ditficulties and 

 hardships. I judge that these difiiculties, hardships, 

 and the isolation, will be found no worse in the 

 honey districts of Florida than they are there, 

 while a good honey location in Florida has one very 

 marked advantage over California— that of a much 

 more even annual yield of honey. The mangrove 

 has its roots in tide-water, and can not be affected 

 by drought, and is certain to give a good i)aying 

 crop of honey every season. 



I hope to be able some time to investigate tlie 

 resources of the southern coast of Florida; but 

 friend Hart and others are likely to be able to do 

 it before I shall be. Let us hope that some one 

 will soon do it thoroughly. 



All that we now know of the honey resources of 

 that 303 miles of wild coast is, that the possibilities 

 — yes, probabilities— of the future honey produc- 

 tion of that region are as immense as our actual 

 knowledgeof their e.vtent is at present inflnitessinal. 



O. O. POPPLETOX. 



Williamstown, la., Feb. 15, 1885. 



I am sure, friend P., we are all very iimcli 

 (iblij^ed indeed for your very candid and 

 faitiiful account of "tliis attractive field for 

 our industry. We are not all ^oiufj to move 

 to Florida, it is true ; but I believe a great 

 many of us have in mind some time of taking 

 atrip down there— tliat is, if ( Jod prosv)ers us ; 

 and we are therefore interested in knowing 



all abotit Florida. There is one point, I be- 

 lieve, in your letter, not touched, of much 

 interest to bee-men ; that is, will the {piali- 

 ty of tlie mangrove honey, or any other, 

 compare witli tlie California mountain sageV 

 Some of tlie Florida Iioney is very fine, I ad- 

 mit ; but to my mind there has nothing 

 ever .been furnished from any point on the 

 face of the globe, of such extpiisite flavor, 

 color, and body, as the finest specimens of 

 California mountain sage. 3Iay be people 

 lire of it after a while, and I sh()uld like to 

 know how the mangrove honey compares in 

 this respect. Does it " stand acquaintance,'' 

 as you aptly term it, say as well as oiu- 

 white-clover honey of the Northern States? 



GERMAN CARP, AND THEIR HABITS. 



HOW TO SEE THEM IN YOUR POND. 



T was the 13th day of .June before I ever 

 had a l(M)k at our (Tcnnan carp ; and one 

 reason was. that I did not know how to 

 look for Iheni. It is with carp as it is 

 witli finding queens, in looking for eggs 

 in cells— yes, and in finding strawberries. A 

 good maiiy would go and look and say there 

 was not any ([ueeii there, or there were no 

 eggs nor brood. Your children, or perhaps 

 your hired help, will say your strawberries 

 are all picked. The man who owns a 

 carp-pond will tell you he has looked and 

 looked, and has never been aV)le to catch a 

 sight of one, and yet they are perhaps visible 

 at every hour of the day. It is this same fac- 

 ulty of learning to see what there is to be 

 seen in this beautiful world of ours, that we 

 all want to cultivate. 



Last Saturday evening I sat down by the 

 pond after the labors of tiie day were over, 

 and thought to myself that, wiih the num- 

 bers of fisii there were in that body of water, 

 I certainly ought to be able to see at least 

 some indications of them. The setting sun 

 was on the opposite side from me, and every 

 ripple and tiny v.ave was most plainly per- 

 ceptible. Pretty soon I began to notice pe- 

 culiar eddies, almost like little whirlpools, 

 and sometimes the water would seem to 

 boil up in certain spots ; and I noticed, too, 

 around those spots that the weeds and wa- 

 ter-plants were swayed in an eccentric sort 

 of way. At first I supposed this swaying w.as 

 simply caused by tlie breeze ; but pretty 

 soon it was evident that something was nos- 

 ing around at the roots of the water-plants. 

 Yes. it was the fish, and no mistake. The 

 pond has always been mudily. so that we 

 can not see much below the surface. Some- 

 body said the carp make it muddy by root- 

 ing around in the bottom. Well, pretty 

 soon one of these eddies appeared within a 

 yard or two of the grassy bank wliere 1 sat. 

 Then the grass began to be jostled about 

 near my feet. Pretty soon something like 

 tlie snout of a ])ig appeared just above the 

 surface of the water, and then I saw it was 

 the mouth of one of the large fish. lie was 

 nosing around, sucking in various substanc- 

 es, expelling such as did not seem to suit 

 him. Well, when I began to understand 

 what it was I was to look for, here and 

 there I could see movements of the water, 



