JANUARY 15, 1913 



He claims for tliem many advantages, chief 

 of wliicli is the ease of diagnosing the con- 

 dition of the colony without disturbing the 

 cluster. The glass requires cleaning about 

 every two years. Two hives with the glass 

 in place are shown in Fig. 4. 

 Boulder, Colo. 



BEEKEEPING IN WEST FLORIDA 



S. S. Alderman a Progressive Beekeeper for Forty 

 Years 



BY J. J. WILDER 



This year I had the opportunity of mak- 

 ing a 3600-mile tour or ramble visiting bee- 

 keepers over the Southeast, and it was my 

 great pleasure to meet some of our old 

 landmarks in beekeeping; and among oth- 

 ers were Mr. J. K. Tsbell and S. S. Alder- 

 man, near Wewahitchka, Fla. Both gave 

 me something of their rii^e experience in 

 beekeeping, and Mr. Alderman gave me his 

 l^liotograph and soiiie data regarding his 

 experience. His letter follows : 



The first bees I owned were bought in 1872. The 

 apiary was located at the " Old Fort " place, 7 miles 

 from the postoffice now known as Wewahitchka, Cal- 

 houn Co., Fla. This embryo apiary of 70 hives was 

 turned over to the care of a young man, J. B. 

 Roberts, who was a natural apiarist, but he knew 

 nothing of the advanced methods of beekeeping. I 

 persuaded him to try new hives, and we worked to- 

 gether for twenty years, during which time we in- 

 creased tlie number of hives to 700 at the "Old 

 Fort " place. At this period I began to scatter the 

 apiaries, placing the bees near the feeding-grounds, 

 until I had six apiaries, numbering in all about 

 1400 stands. The yearly yield from this number 

 was 84,000 lbs., which was extracted and shipped in 

 barrels to New York and Boston. 



The principal flora from which the crop is gath- 

 ered is the tupelo gum and the orange bloom. This 

 latter flower is a favorite of the bees, and suggested 

 to me my trade-mark, " Orange Bloom," which I 

 had patented about 1880. The "Orange Bloom" 

 has one great advantage over any other honey, it 

 will keep for ever without granulating. This "Orange 

 Bloom " honey took the first premium at the Atlanta 

 Exposition, and I was awarded a medal. 



I was born in Marianna, Fla., March 19, 1835. 

 My parents were both born in England. I have been 

 engaged in the honey and orange business for more 

 than 40 years, having been blessed with fine health 

 most of the time. 



Mr. Alderman was a good beekeeper the 

 year I was born, or 40 years ago, and all 

 the way down the line of years he has been 

 a good and progressive beekeeper — not in 

 and out, but year after year he has con- 

 tinued in his main line of business, that of 

 producing " Orange Bloom " honey. He 

 has produced trainloads of it, and has there- 

 by gathered up around him considerable 

 of this world's goods — at least enough to 

 make him very comfortable in his old age. 

 He spends the summers up in the moun- 

 tains of North Carolina, and the winters at 



S. S. Alderman, of Wewahitchka, Florida, an up- 

 to-date beekeeper for forty years. 



his Florida home, which is a beautiful one 

 located on an island on the Chipalo River. 

 His home is surrounded by a beautiful or- 

 ange-gTove on the east and south side, and 

 along by the front flows the beautiful river. 

 A more beautiful or more modern home 

 can not be found in our Southland. 



A glance at the face of tliis veteran bee- 

 keeper will show that he has been wonder- 

 fully blessed with health. It is strange that 

 he has not been a great writer on bee cul- 

 ture, for he is very intelligent. A better 

 type of beekeeper can not be found in all 

 beedom. 



Cordele, Ga. 



WHY ORDERS FOR QUEENS CAN NOT AL- 

 WAYS BE FILLED AT ONCE 



BY PENN G. SNYDER 



With reference to Mr. Lewis P. Tan- 

 ton's article, page 581, Sept. 15, 1 have made 

 it one of my business principles to reply 

 as soon as an order is received. I use a 

 printed post card that requires only *he 

 name of the purchaser and date the order 



