PREFACE 



THE Information given in this bookis intended to clear the impressions 

 of many that the South is altogether an undeveloped region so 

 far as beekeeping is concerned and that one has only to move to 

 that magic region, "Dixie," to escape the problems common to beekeepers 

 living in the North. It is also intended as a defense of the southern 

 beekeeper, of whose methods and opportunities so much misinformation 

 has been spread. This volume is not intended as a manual for the be- 

 ginner, but to supplement standard textbooks so as to show what differ- 

 ences exist in beekeeping methods in the North and the South. 



An impression gained is that beekeeping operations differ but little 

 in the South from those in vogue elsewhere, except mainly in the time of 

 their application. We have little criticism of methods in vogue in the 

 South, except the lack of winter protection of any sort in too much of 

 this region. Box hives are too prevalent in many areas of the South, 

 but so they are in the North. An impression of southern beekeepers is 

 their eagerness to learn modern methods, where they happen to be 

 unknown, and to put them into practice. 



No agency has worked so much for the betterment of southern bee- 

 keeping as the extension service, both federal and state. The impressions 

 gained and recorded here, are the result of 17 months travel in the 15 

 Southern States for the U. S. Bee Culture Laboratory and the U. S. States 

 Relations Service by the writer. We vouch for the attempt at accuracy 

 in these pages and will hope for constructive criticism, as this volume is 

 a pioneer in blazing a way toward accurate information on beekeeping 

 in the Southern States. 



In compiling these pages, continual work and correspondence with 

 dozens of southern beekeepers has been necessary, over a period of nearly 

 two years. To credit the information to all the various sources is im- 

 possible for the lack of space. 



We are indebted to the men of the U. S. Bee Culture Laboratory, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, Dr. E. F. Phillips, George S. Demuth, G. H. Cale and A. P. 

 Sturtevant and to the U. S. States Relations Service, both for the oppor- 

 tunity to work in the Southern States and for guidance regarding these 

 investigations and their record. We are also indebted to each of the bee 

 culture extension men of the South, dozens of county and home demon- 

 stration agents of the U. S. government in the 15 states, south, and to 

 each of the state and experiment station entomologists who are interested 

 in bee culture. The Census Bureau, Bureau of Chemistry, Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, Bureau of Entomology and Forest Service of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture have given valuable assistance. 



Mr. Frank C. Pellett, associate editor of the American Bee Journal, 

 has been an almost constant advisor in the compiling of this volume and 

 without the assistance of Dadant and Sons, of Hamilton, Illinois, and 

 the G. B. Lewis Company, Watertown, Wisconsin, this volume could 

 not have been published. Kennith Hawkins. 



Watertown, Wis. May 18, 1920. 



