4S4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 • 



My first stop on my return was at Fort 

 Pierce, the home of Harry Hill, editor of the 

 American Bee-Keeper. Friend Hill has been 

 so far away from the editors of the other bee- 

 journals that we have not become acquainted 

 with him, for, as a matter of course, he can 

 not well attend our annual conventions. I 

 found him at work at his hives, and greatly 

 enjoyed talking over the bee-journals, our 

 special industry, and other things. "When I 

 got off at Fort Pierce I inquired at the hotel 

 for a bee-keeper named Perry Saunders. The 

 lady at the desk said she did not know any 

 nia7i by that name, but there was a little boy 

 there by that name who went to school. A 

 juvenile near by replied, "Oh! that's him, 

 ma. He's got bees and rears queens, and 

 makes lots of money." 



When I found friend Hill in his bee-hive 

 workshop. Perry Saunders was also present. 

 When I was introduced, friend Hill remarked 

 that he wouldn't wonder if that boy was the 

 youngest subscriber to Gleanings, out of the 

 whole 12,000. Sure enough, he was a little 

 fellow in short pants, but full of enthusiasm. 

 He subscribed for Gleanings with his own 

 money, has bought the ABC book, and read 

 it over and over. Just when I met him he 

 was directing his father and a neighbor how 

 to cut the boards for some hives. It was amus- 

 ing indeed to see this little fellow giving di- 

 rections to a couple of gray-haired men. Per- 

 ry had, last season, half a dozen colonies of 

 bees. He has raised queens successfully, and 

 produced quite a crop of honey, and is full of 

 enthusiasm in planning for a larger apiary 

 and more extensive operations during the com- 

 ing year. 



Mr. Hill (like a good many other bee-keep- 

 ers) is quite an expert in photography, and he 

 has sent us some views of branches of orange- 

 trees, with the foliage and the fruit in natural 

 colors. I believe it was his own coloring. 

 The world has not yet got up to the point of 

 giving us a picture in natural colors that can 

 be printed in bee-journals. When it does, 

 friend Hill will have something rare and fine 

 to show us. 



Gifford Station was my next point, and I 

 was pained to find my old friend Harry Gifford 

 suffering from the effects of a gunshot wound. 

 A brief notice of this sad affair is given on 

 page 294. Fortunately, however, friend Gif- 

 ford was recovering rapidly, expecting to be 

 around again in a few days. He has done 

 quite a little in the way of Florida fruits dur- 

 ing the past six years, and is also getting to 

 be quite an extensive bee-keeper, having about 

 half a dozen out-apiaries. Like most bee- 

 keepers he has some peculiar notions of his 

 own. For instance, he says queens should 

 always be sent by mail just as soon as possible 

 after mating, and before they begin to lay. 

 He firmly believes that a queen is more or less 

 injured by taking her out of the hive when 

 she is doing her best at egg-laying during the 

 middle of the season. To prove his position 

 he purchased, during the season of 1900, 200 

 queens of H. G. Quirin, of Parkertown, Ohio. 

 The understanding was that these queens were 

 all to be shipped as nearly as possible before 



they began <^o lay ; and he says they gave him 

 better results — that is, considering such a long 

 trip from Ohio to Florida, and that he was sat- 

 isfied that that is the right way to send queens. 

 This makes a pretty heavy testimonial in favor 

 of my suggestion of several years ago, that 

 all queens should be shipped to purchasers at 

 a low price before they are tested, letting each 

 individual do his own testing. 



Friend Gifford furnishes us a fact in bee 

 culture that, so far as I know, has never been 

 recorded before. When saw-palmetto was in 

 full bloom, his whole apiary started off toward 

 midnight by moonlight, and actually did a 

 large business for several hours in gathering 

 honey. I forgot to ask him at the time if they 

 labored during the day as usual. There has 

 been quite a little speculation as to whether 

 bees sleep or not. In this case they actually 

 worked both night and day. Perhaps the 

 moon did not come out in full splendor until 

 toward midnight. At any rate, he says they 

 stopped work at dusk as usual ; but along to- 

 ward midnight on two separate occasions, 

 when the honey-yield was very large, the 

 weather sufficiently warm, and the moonlight 

 at its very highest splendor, they actually stor- 

 ed honey by night as well as by day. 



The little postmistress that I mentioned on 

 my trip six years ago is still postmistress ; but 

 now she is a blooming maiden of 18. I did 

 not find her quite as sociable and communica- 

 tive at 18 as she was at 12 ; but she not only 

 knows how to manage Uncle Samuel's busi- 

 ness, but she makes such beautiful nice bis- 

 cuits that they have a reputation in the neigh- 

 borhood under the name of ' ' Ruby ' ' biscuit. 

 With fresh fish, such as only the Florida 

 homes can furnish, we had a little " spread " 

 that was fit for a king. Her brother, his wife, 

 and Ruby, made up the company. If I am 

 correct, it was here I met another of my hap- 

 py surprises. Some beautiful-looking sauce 

 was dished out and passed around. It looked 

 a little like cranberries. When I tasted it I 

 uttered an exclamation of surprise and de- 

 light. 



"Why, what is this new and delicious 

 fruit?" 



" Well, Mr. Root, since you seem to like it, 

 suppose ^o\x guess what sort of fruit it is." 



" Why, it looks a little like cranberries ; but 

 there are no seeds, and it is certainly more 

 delicate and enticing than cranberries or any 

 other berry I ever tasted in my life." 



" Mr. Root, it is not a fruit at all, and it is 

 not a berry at all." 



You may be sure my curiosity was aroused 

 when they told me it was what is called Ja- 

 maica sorrel. It is a plant that is known in 

 catalogs as " Roselle." It is quite common 

 in Florida. The part that is used as a sauce 

 has a sort of fleshy husk inclosing the imma- 

 ture seeds. We gathered some seeds, and I 

 sent them home and had them planted in the 

 greenhouse ; but at the present writing only 

 two of them have come up. I feel sure it can 

 be grown all through the North by starting 

 the seeds in a greenhouse (exactly as we do 

 tomatoes, peppers, etc. ), and possibly by plant- 

 ing the seeds now in the open ground. 



