.iii.v 1, linr. 



BEEKEEPING IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS 



BY J. J. WILDER 



On account of poor transportation facil- 

 ities beekeeping' along the great Blue Kidge 

 section of our country has developed slow- 

 h', and it is a great pity tliat such is the 

 case, as it is so rich in honey resources, and 

 uuich nearer our very best honey markets 

 in the South. T have been along this great 

 lidge of mountains for several hundred 

 miles; and while much of it is very remote 

 so far as civilization is concerned, yet 1 

 was somewhat surprised to find that our 

 industry had not advanced an^- more than 

 it had. As a rule this great and almosi 

 unbroken forest is full of bees, and the na- 

 tives and visitors passing through this sec- 

 tion never cut all the bee-trees, as they find 

 they are so numerous. 1 have taken the 

 lead in many bee-tree cuttings while spend- 

 ing the summers up there, and I have never 

 seen bees in the forest in such good condi- 

 tion, such large swarms, and so much sur- 

 plus stored. The honey in point of quality 

 cannot be excelled. 



Notwithstanding the 



p o r transportation 

 facilities, our industry 

 has a great future 

 there as soon as mod- 

 ern hives.conveniences, 

 and methods are em- 

 ])loyed. In this way a 

 few are becoming in- 

 terested, and some have 

 bought modern hives 

 and are giving them a 

 trial. I have seen only 

 a few, and I never saw 

 better - filled sections 

 and supers. But log 

 gums stand at nearly 

 every mountaineer's 

 home, and the illustra- 

 tion here shows an 

 " ideal " apiary which 

 consisted of over 100 

 colonies, all in hollow 

 chestnut log gums, 

 .some very large and some very small, and 

 all with large " heads " and heavy rocks on 

 top. 



This ai)iary is one of tho.se owned and 

 operated by the Lamb Brothers, who make 

 beekeeping in this way their main line of 

 business. I saW some of their other yards, 

 but was unable to get good pictures of them. 

 It was only after much climbing up a very 

 steep mountain that T was able to get a 

 portion of tliis one, which was on a knob 



near the top of the mountain. The other 

 wing extended around on the opposite side 

 of it, with the honey-house and a great 

 spring in the center. Where they got the 

 idea of the honey-house I don't know unless 

 an entirely separate place for the packing 

 and keeping of it naturally suggested it- 

 self. 



Not being able to see the owners I learned 

 through their wives that they realized an- 

 nually more than $1.25 worth of honey per 

 colony, which Avas ])auled to distant markets 

 in ox-wagons. 



]t will be seen that there is no natural 

 shade for the bees, and that all about the 

 hives is perfectly clean. They claim that 

 shade is detrimental to the bees in that cool 

 climate, and for best results they needed all 

 the sunshine they could get. I asked if they 

 had ever tried the '' yellow " bees. They 

 remarked that they had, but not with good 

 results, as they swarmed too much, and the 

 honev thev made was too thin. 



Tlif climato in tlw 

 sary liut detrimental. 



innun'.ains is 



that sliade is not only unneces- 



The strangest thing with me about the 

 honey in these cold mountains is that it is 

 always cool, even during the time it is being 

 made, and the thin nectar will drop freely 

 from the comb as it is being handled. The 

 temperature in the brood-nest is very low, 

 and hardly noticeable by the hands. 



In fact, I don't see how bees even exist 

 in trees down in the steep ravines under 

 r-ool overhanging rocks where the sun never 

 strikes them, winter or summer. "S'et j.i 



