46 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Fig. 1.— Marchant's home yard of 400 colonies. Along the Appalachicola liiver as many as 500 colonies 

 can sometimes be supported in one yard. He has had as high as 600. 



BEE-KEEPING 



ON THE APPALACHICOLA 

 RIVER. 



Something More About that Wonderful Honey 

 Country; the Extent of the Tupelos; the Suwanee 

 River, Famed in Song; Orange-growing Success- 

 ful in Northern Florida where it Often Freezes 

 Hard. 



BY E. R. BOOT. 



In our Dec. 15th issue I told something 

 about the wonderful Appalachicola River, a 

 region where nearly 2000 barrels of honey 

 has been produced in a single season from 

 an area that is smaller, I venture to say, 

 than almost any other area that has pro- 

 duced only one-fourth of that amount of 

 honey. Our friend A. B. Marchant, at Mar- 

 chant's Landing, where I showed that big 

 row of barrels on page 753, is almost in the 

 heart of this wonderful bee country along 

 that remarkable river, fringed as it is with 

 the honey-bearing tupelo. 



In this connection permit me to say that, 

 so far as I can ascertain, the tupelo grows 

 along the banks of all those rivers of North- 

 western Florida, including the Suwanee Riv- 

 er, made famous by that song that for many 

 years has charmed millions and millions of 

 people. If it is true that the tupelo and 

 the gallberry grow in these regions it is a 

 wonder to me that bee-keepers of the coun- 

 try have not known more about this territo- 

 ry before; and it is a greater wonder to me 

 that Northern people should be flocking to 

 the north and east coasts of Florida, where 

 most of the lands are poor, when the soil in 

 Northwestern Florida, at least along these 

 rivers, will grow practically any thing and 

 every thing. For the last few days 1 have 

 been eating oranges sent me by my friend 

 Marchant, near Marchant's Landing. When 

 I saw his beautiful orchard where he had 

 taken off time and again from 1500 to 2000 

 boxes of oranges, I said, "Why, I didn't 

 suppose you could raise oranges as far north 









1 .o. ... Another view of the home yard, showing the extracting house. 



