December, 1912. 



American ~Bae Journal 



upon extensive bee-keeping, ami beg- 

 ged me to give up my idea and go back 

 to the shop to work or to enter some 

 other line of business where the oppor- 

 tunities were great. Even my wife 

 joined with them, and said my mind 

 was a little overbalanced, but none of 

 these things moved me, and no regrets 

 have followed except that I wished 

 I had started sooner. 



I mention these things for no other 

 purpose than to show to what extent a 



person must be determined on a pur- 

 suit if he expects to succeed. 



The Partridge-Pea as a Honey-Plant 



The picture shown here is a snap- 

 shot taken by the writer while visiting 

 bee-keepers, and shows the partridge- 

 pea growing in all its glory. It shows 

 how it grows on the mountains in 

 Dixie. There are two well-known spe- 



Where the Partridge Pea Grows Kank. 



cies of partridge-pea. One that grows 

 on low, damp land where the water 

 stands near the surface. It grows 

 mostly in sections where there are 

 lakes and along the coast, and is dis- 

 tinguished from the other by its rag- 

 ged leaves, and it does not grow as tall. 



This species does not secrete nectar, 

 while the other plant grows from 18 

 inches to ,5 feet, and on higher land, 

 and is perhaps the greatest nectar- 

 yielding plant known. The plant 

 blooms profusely, but does not yield 

 its nectar through its bloom, but 

 through nectar-cells at the bases of its 

 leaves. Here it collects in drops and 

 runs down to the ground during the 

 night or damp, cloudy days. 



The greatest mystery about this plant 

 IS why the bees do not gather more 

 honey from it, as it yields so heavily, 

 and the duration is so long, about lUO 

 days. But the bees do store from one 

 to three supers during its flow of very 

 fine, light honey. The flow begins in 

 June and lasts until about the first of 

 October. 



The point I want to make is that a 

 very large section of Dixie would be 

 almost a desert so far as bee-keeping 

 is concerned were it not for this plant. 

 It grows out over the forest and uncul- 

 tivated land in the poorest sections of 

 our country; thus making bee-keeping 

 possible even in seemingly the most 

 unfavorable sections. It is not always 

 a sure " hit " for its honey, but by tak- 

 ing several seasons in succession it 

 makes bee-keeping profitable. Then, 

 too, there are two otlier minor honey- 

 plants which grow on the same kind 

 of soil, and these very often give a 

 yield of nectar that makes up fully for 

 .the partridge-pea during its off seasons. 



Contributed 



Articles-- 



Improving the Bee 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



Now, what do you think of a man 

 wanting to improve the bee ? Why, all 

 one has to do is to decide what kind of 

 a bee one wants, and pick it out. If 

 one is wanted that is kind, tractable, 

 quiet in harness, won't kick, bite, or 

 balk, select the Carniolans. They are 

 neat in their habits, do not daub up 

 their hive with propolis, and build 

 paper-white combs. To be sure, their 

 coat is but a somber black, trimmed 

 with soft, gray fur, not striking, but 

 good and serviceable. 



Or, if one wants a similar bee, but 

 one that properly guards its doors, 

 just take the Caucasians. Regular gum- 

 mers, these fellows, and one might, 

 perhaps, do well to keep them for the 

 business of raising varnish gum — 

 though he might have to dynamite his 

 hives to get the gum out. 



Or, mayhap, one prefers a thing of 

 beauty, the glitter of near gold, and 

 therefore piAs the sparkling goldens. 

 Nice, playful fellows, these, and one 



needs a fine quality of sheet steel armor 

 with them, for they are prone to be 

 very rough in their play. But they are 

 mighty nice to use when there are 

 other bee-keepers around you, for as 

 sneak thieves, they are far and away 

 ahead of anything yet invented, and 

 will pack their hives while those of 

 the neighbors grow beautifully light. 



If none of these suit, take some of 

 the old standby, leather-colored Ital- 

 ians. Nice, steady fellows, who mind 

 their own business and do not consort 

 with the festive bee-moth. .'\nd if you 

 get the right strain, you will have 

 good, heavy supers and a lame back. 

 We will not mention the sprained 

 fingers and wrists from trying to shake 

 these fellows from the combs, nor will 

 we say a word about the way they per- 

 forate cappings when we try to take off 

 the sections. 



You, who would specialize on comb 

 honey can pick out the good, old 

 blacks, the bee that gran'ther used to 

 keep. They shake olT so easily; in 

 fact, they fairly tumble over each other 

 and you, in their anxiety to get off of 

 the combs. It is real sport to find 



their queen, when one has not another 

 blessed thing to do for a whole, long 

 week. 



And yet there are those who assert 

 that the honey-bee is not variable, that 

 she is unchanged and unchangeable. 

 There rises to the mind's eye two api- 

 aries which it might profit the persons 

 who hold that view to visit. Both lots 

 are Italians, and beauties, too, well 

 cared for and well handled. The first 

 lot can be handled at any season in 

 any weather, flow or no flow, with 

 scarcely a vestige of smoke. An ideal 

 lot, assuredly. 



The bees of the second lot are most 

 excellent workers, but the Old Nick 

 himself couldn't stand their heat. They 

 meet you far from home, and escort 

 you most attentively. Blow smoke in 

 at the entrance and there rush forth 

 myriads of the ugliest stingers man 

 ever met, and no skill, no method, 

 serves to subdue them. .-Knd in the 

 face of this some persons would still 

 have you believe that the honey-bee is 

 not variable. 



In color, in habit, and in behavior, 

 the honey-bees vary as much as most 

 kinds of animals and plants. Some of 

 the traits of some races, and other 

 traits of other races, are of advantage 

 to us. If, by crossing and selecting, 

 we can combjne and fix the desirable 

 characters, and eliminate the undesir- 

 able, we " improve the bee." And there 

 is just as much possibility of doing 

 this with bees as with other animals. 



