THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



57 



"very early — most of its blossoms appear be- 

 fore apple bloom — and then entirely disap- 

 pearing. I think it could be easily intro- 

 duced here, and would prove a valuable 

 acquisition for early pollen and honey. 



During the S}-^ years following my arrival 

 in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, S. Caro- 

 lina, N. Carolina and W. Virginia. I found 

 the inass of the planters who possessed bees 

 more ignorant than the farmers of the 

 North, in regard to this subject. The old 

 bark or log gum is more generally used, and 

 the brimstoning method is more connnon 

 than here. Instead of securing the surplus 

 honey in boxes or supers placed over holes 

 bored in the tops of the hives — a method 

 commonly pursued among box-hive bee- 

 keepers here — they knock off the tops some 

 dark night and perform the operation 

 known as "robbing the bees," by cutting 

 out the honey as far down as the brood. 

 Every darkey — big or little — smacks his 

 lips when the word goes round: "We's 

 g'wine t'rob de bees tu nite." The popular 

 belief is, of course, that bees always gather 

 honey during the whole of the sunnner sea- 

 son, hence it is inferred that midsummer is 

 the best time to "rob the bees," because 

 then the hives must be full of honey, which 

 if then removed will leave space and time to 

 fill up before the winter season. The bees 

 are rarely looked after except when swarm- 

 ing and robbing times come. Often during 

 the summer months, especially the latter 

 part of summer, severe droughts and ex- 

 treme heat cut off all bee forage. Any in- 

 telligent bee-keeper can easily see that 

 great losses from starvation and robbing 

 must at times occur. I dare say that three- 

 fourths of the bees that die in the .South 

 during the winters die of starvation. Here 

 and there frame hives have been introduced 

 and bee journals and extractors are known. 

 Yet the patent bee-hive men have been on 

 hand with their moth-trap, sliding, combi- 

 nation, patent reversible fixtures, to the 

 detriment of the real movable comb prin- 

 ciple. 



It is my observation that the further 

 soutli one goes the poorer the quality of 

 lioney gathered, even though it may be 

 gathered from blossoms of the same species. 

 A few general and admitted facts will 

 prove this. Those who have tasted the 

 honey gathered in Minnesota all attest its 

 very tine flavor, in fact all call it "beautiful 

 honey." The honey of California is very 

 highly spoken of. Our own iMichigan 

 lioney is of superior quality. That gathered 

 in the mountain regions of Tennessee, N. 

 Cax-olina and Virginia more nearly resem- 

 bles in color and (lualitythat gathered in 

 the North. But when we came to the 

 plains of Georgia and the sandy, open por- 

 tions of S. Carolina, the honey becomes 

 dark and of a strong disagreeable flavoi'. 

 The specimens from Florida that I saw, 

 were very dark and strong. The honey 

 from Cuba it is well known is almost black 

 and unfit for food. It is sold in N. Y. City 

 markets for about UOc. per gallon, and is 

 used by bee-keepers for sj)ring feeding. 

 The fact is the flora of tlie North unfler the 

 influence of our occasional rains and milder 

 sun, is more vigorous while growing, and 

 seems more adopted to the production of 

 honey than the same or other plants grown 

 in the South. Not only is the quality bet- 

 ter, but in general the quantity produced is 

 gi'eater. The South is so sub"ject to floods 



and droughts that there is less dependence 

 to be placed on the yield of honey than in 

 the North. The bees hang idly about their 

 hives during 2 or 3 months. The common 

 white clover which furnishes our bees with 

 continuous pasturage during the summer 

 months, is eminently a plant of the colder 

 portions of the tt'm]ieiate zone, hence south 

 of Tennessee it is not abundant, in fact it 

 does not grow well in that State, though 

 l^eople there thinl; it does. They have 

 never seen the beautiful verdant clover pas- 

 tures of New York and Ohio. There are. 

 however, several honey-i)rodiieing trees antl 

 shrubs iM'ciiIiar to the South, as Sourwood 

 {O.rydeiidrinn (irborciiin, Oi'd. Ericucitf ), 

 related to our huckleberry and wintergreen. 

 and in the same family, the Laurels. They 

 have, too, the Honey Locust and Black 

 Gum. Cotton blossoms also furnish honey. 

 The Tulip-tree— called there, poplar— and 

 several kinds of astors thrive and furnisli 

 large yields. 



But "in bee-culture it is only in wintering 

 that I perceive the South can claim any ad- 

 vantage over the North. 



There are many reasons not within the 

 province of an article on bee-culture that 

 incline me to advise my Northern friends to 

 be content where they are. If we cannot 

 winter our bees successfully here every 

 time, then they may be shipped South in 

 the fall and back North the following 

 spring. Even with this pains to winter 

 them, if skillfully managed, they will re- 

 turn a good percentage oil the capital em- 

 ployed. Fkank Benton . 



lietroit, Mich. 



Coe's House Apiary. 



M;NT to the MICH. B. K. ASSOCIATION', 



BUT CAME ONE BAY TOO L.\TE TO 



BE THERE READ. 



The house apiary is a building used as a 

 Itermanent summer and winter receptacle 

 for one or more iiivesof bees; and may be 

 of any desired shape or size. 



The floor, walls, ceiling and roof aie 

 made up of a series of dead-air spaces, 

 which give ample jirotection against damp- 

 ness and extremes of heat and cold. A 

 house, 9xl."> ft. will hold 44 hives; one 11x84 

 ft. will hold lUO hives. The hives are placed 

 on shelves along the sides and one end of 

 the room; lower shelf 4 in. above the floor; 

 space between shelves, 30 in.; double door 

 in north end, window in south end. Alight- 

 ing boards, 9 in. wide, itrojecting outward 

 4 in. Passage from alighting board into 

 hive, ^gx'.t in. Outside or winter door to be 

 taken oft' in summer and a wire-cloth door 

 put on in its place, arranged to close itself; 

 close shutter over window outside, movable 

 wire-cloth screen inside. Frames of any 

 shape or size can be used, by hanging theiii 

 in a box without bottom or top. But the 

 most attractive and best hive t'or all ])iir- 

 poses is the "Observatory Hive," made of s 

 close-fitting frames, 13 in. wide and 14 in., 

 high, with board-end next the wall, and a 

 sash with SxlO glass for front end; openings 

 on top and at l>ottoni of each frame to admit 

 bees into top and side boxes. By taking 

 off sash, surplus boxes can also be put on 

 right against the outside brood comb. 



This style of hive gives the apiary a very 

 attractive' appearance, and is more reliable 



