MAY 15. 1915 



A ride of six miles from Tiooz brought 

 us to Liege, where we remained for the 

 night. Here we found great excitement and 

 activity. All through the night the streets 

 were thronged with exeited i)eople. At 

 daybreak troops were marching through the 

 streets; peoi)le were congregating in crowds 

 outside the banks to obtain tlieir money; 

 horses were taken by the military authori- 

 ties from the carts in the stieets, to be led 

 to the nearest blacksmith shop to be shod 

 for immediate service, and automobiles were 

 commandeered for military use. Belgian 

 paper money was refused at places of busi- 

 ness, and American Express cliecks shared 

 a like fate at the hotels. Having learned 

 that the Belgian Government had issued an 

 order that no motor vehicles should leave 

 the country, our party was particularly 

 anxious to save its means of transportation. 

 After a hurried conference it was decided 



l!ial a start should be made for the nearest 

 point on the Dutch frontier in hopes that 

 the customs oflicial might not have received 

 the recently issued order, and that we might 

 succeed in getting the automobile into a 

 country more neutral than Belgium had the 

 a])pearance of being. Our run of 16.7 

 miles, on the morning of Aug. 1, tlrrough 

 Vise, landed our party, baggage and car, 

 across the border, and we congratulated 

 ourselves that we had planned and executed 

 well. 



As I write this article I naturally recall 

 to mind the surrounding's of the orderly and 

 well-kept apiary of Jos. Crutzen at the 

 " four roads " of Henri-Chapelle, and that 

 of the artisan of Trooz, and wonder wheth- 

 er they are still there as they were July 31, 

 1914, or have shared the fate of Louvain, 

 Malines, and Tremonde. 



Amherst, Mass. 



A CROP OF EXQUISITE ORANGE HONEY IN FLORIDA 



BY EDWIN G. BALDWIN 



The orange season this year has been the 

 most erratic that I have noted in ten years. 

 In the first place, the bloom was very heavy. 

 But the cold and inclement weather kept 

 bloom back, so that it did not open evenly, 

 and as a result it not only began late, about 

 the first of March, slightly, but also did not 

 yield well till end of March, and even then 

 was very uneven. For instance, a hive on 

 scales, here at Deland, showed only a pound 

 or two gain for three weeks in March, and 

 on one or two occasions it lost steadily for 

 three or more days, owing to cold weather. 

 We even had a slight frost on two occasions 

 in early blooming time, while some of the 

 bloom was out on the trees. But about the 

 last week in March weather began to im- 

 prove, and. for a wonder, the bloom held 

 out and yielded abundantly; in fact, it has 

 lasted till now, the 20th of April, and to- 

 day the hive showed a gain of three pounds. 

 That shows that the flow is easing off, and 

 will be gone entirely in a few days. T can 

 now form a pretty good estimate of the 

 flow and of the orange season. It will be. 

 for this locality, about half a crop, I think 

 — perhaps more, owing to local condition.'^ 

 and management, condition of bees at be- 

 ginning of flow, etc.; but for an average I 

 think about fifty per cent of last year will 

 be about right. Recall that last year was a 

 bumper crop. My best hive this year will 

 siive about 150 lbs. as against 200 for the 

 b«st hive last year. The average will not 

 be so nearly on a par with last year, how- 



ever. I find more unevenness in hives this 

 season. The cold weather gave powerful 

 colonies — colonies powerful early — a decid- 

 ed advantage that they would not have had 

 if the season had been normal in tempera- 

 ture. Not long ago I remarked, in the 

 Revievj, on the much later time of flow 

 from orange, in California, for there April 

 is their big month for the yield. Here I 

 have never before seen orange yield later 

 than April 10. This year fully one-half of 

 our honey came in after the 10th ! How is 

 that for a record of ten years' comparison? 

 Surely we never know what is in store for 

 us. Those who had their dish i-ight side 

 up got a good crop — more than an average 

 crop, perhaps, take it one year with anoth- 

 er. Of course it is not fair to compare al- 

 together with last year, which was very 

 extraordinary. 



One thing more 1 wish to note. The flow 

 this year would fluctuate in quantity, even 

 on days when bees seemed equally busy, 

 more than T have ever before noted. For 

 example, on one day the scales would show 

 a gain of 11 Vo lbs. (my best one-day yield 

 this year), and the next day it would drop 

 to four or five; then seven, then eleven, then 

 four, etc. I never saw it like that before, 

 and I admit it kept me guessing. Some 

 days I could about judge the cause. For 

 instance, one day it might be very hot and 

 dry. and a hot dry day shoi'tens the flow for 

 that particular day. because nectar dries up 

 readily in an orange-blossom when the air 



