80 



Cleanings in Bee Culture 



BEE-KEEPING ON THE APPALACHICOLA RIV- 

 ER, FLORIDA. 



Locating Whole Apiaries up on Stilts or Benches, 

 above the High-water Mark. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



In our previous issue I told you some- 

 thing about the wonderful possibilities in 

 the way of honey production along the 

 banks of the Appalachicola River, and I 

 promised to take you to some of the apiaries 

 where the hives are located clear up in the 

 air on benches above the high-water mark 

 of the river. Before doing this I wish to in- 

 troduce to you our host, Mr. A. B. Mar- 

 chant, whose apiaries we have been visiting, 

 and whose methods for taking honey we 

 have been considering. He is only slightly 

 older than myself, and that means he is 

 still a young man, of course, even if I am 

 within five months of being half a century 

 old. I do not need to say any thing more 

 about Mr. Marchant as a bee-keeper, more 

 than to mention that he has taken as high 

 as 250 barrels of honey in 26 days. A man 

 may know how to spin fine theories. He 

 may be, indeed, a fine bee-keeper; but un- 

 less he can make those theories and that ex- 

 pert knowledge pan out into residis, he is 

 not a successful bee-keeper. Mr. Marchant 

 is not only a bee-keeper, but a honey-pro- 

 ducer. 'Nough said. 



He invited me to take a trip with him 

 down the river in his gasoline-launch, and, 

 of course, I accepted the invitation. In this 

 Appalachicola region an automobile would 

 be out of the question, mainly because of 

 deep sand and lack of roads; but a gasoline- 

 launch is almost a thing of necessity, for 

 with it a bee-keeper can visit his yards as 

 often as he pleases, and haul his supplies 

 and honey back and forth with the greatest 

 convenience. 



We walked down the wharf where we saw 

 those big loads of honey, and stepped aboard 



A. B. MARCHANT. 



his launch called the Dixie, and glided out 

 into the river, the engine going " tuppy, 

 tuppy," as we went. The water is clear and 

 deep, and the fishing superb. 



As the little craft goes down the stream 

 toward Appalachicola, beautiful scenery 

 opens up at every turn of the river. Here 

 and there a little stream empties into the 

 big one, and up almost any of them one can 

 find a good place to locate a bee-yard, pro- 

 viding, of course, he has the money and 

 time to put his apiary up on platforms, six, 

 eight, or ten feet above the ground. As we 

 sat in the bow of the boat Mr. Marchant 



pointed out 

 the t u p e 1 o s 

 along the riv- 

 er. I said: 



"Mr. Mar- 

 chant, why 

 don't we see 

 more b e e - 

 yards in this 

 country?" 



" Largely," 

 said he, "be- 

 cause there 

 are few places 

 in which to 

 put bees." 



The banks 

 of the stream 

 are heavily 

 covered with 

 timber. Oc- 

 cas i ona 1 1 y 

 here and there 



Mai(liaiU"s Ka.soliue l:iuiR'li lur yuiny to and Iruiu'bee-yards and to town. y ' 



