1903 



THE AM ERIC A\ BEE-KEEPER 



99 



FLORIDA. 



Mr. Heddon Tells Our Readers of Things He 

 Sees and Hears in the Land of Flowers. 



(James Heddon). 



IT \\'AS indeed a great plensure to 

 assist the editor of this journal in 

 looking over the colonies in his 

 neat and tidy apiary, 300 miles south of 

 the north line of Florida on the justly 

 celebrated Indian river, at Fort Pierce. 

 The accompanying picture was taken 

 while Mr. Hill and myself were dis- 

 cussing the breeding qualities of one of 

 his fine queens, and at the same time 

 the peculiar tendency of bees in this 

 climate to store their honey closely 

 over and around the brood, often leav- 

 ing the outside combs nearly dr-" and 

 empty. It was on the 8th of March 

 when the bees were gathering penny- 

 royal honey quite rapidly and the hives 

 averaged about five combs of brood 

 each. This was quite a different ap- 

 pearance from what might be seen in 

 the hives at mj- home in Southern 

 ]\Iichigan. 



In many localities this wild penny- 

 royal blooms from December to 

 March, inclusive, and often some good 

 surplus honey crops are taken from 

 this plant alone. The honey is light, 

 of heavy body and of very good flavor. 



The next source for surplus is the 

 saw or scrub palmetto, growing pro* 

 fusely all over the country. It is a 

 little palm, usually called saw palmet- 

 to because of saw-teeth along the 

 stems. It varies in height from three 

 to six feet, averaging about four to 

 five. The honey from this plant is of 

 a dififerent flavor but very agreeable 

 to the taste. 



Next, about June 15th to 20th, and 

 sometimes as late as July ist the black 

 mangrove blooms, remaining about six 

 weeks, as does also the scrub palmet- 

 to, its predecessor. The mangrove is 

 confined to low marshy ground, always 

 salty, so it is found mostly on the is- 

 lands of Indian river and on the nar- 

 row strip of land dividing the river 

 from the sea. The honey taken from 

 this tree is white, of a mild and deli- 

 cious flavor as I know by sampling it, 

 but I learn from Mr. Hill and other 

 Florida bee-keeoers that it is of light 

 body, and many of them use dififerent 



methods of evaporating it before it 

 goes to market. This tree may be 

 called the basswood of Florida but as 

 it usually grows in places not desirable 

 for homes, many Florida bee-keepers 

 move their apiaries to it, which prac- 

 tice is very safe and practical because 

 of this excellent water-way — Indian 

 river. Then the cabbage palmetto, a 

 palm tree, blossoms almost simulta- 

 neously, yielding much the same quality 

 of honey as does the mangrove, but it 

 is not as certain a yielder. 



Then there are numerous minor hon- 

 ey-yielding plants blooming all the 

 year round, of which the Spanish need- 

 le is among the best. Bees here gather 

 some pollen and perhaps honey from 

 some source every week in the year. 



I have visited all the sources above 

 mentioned and sampled the honey 

 therefrom, but, of course, haven't seen 

 many of them in bloom, not being 

 here at the right time of year. I can- 

 not conceive why Florida honey should 

 be graded as second class without ref- 

 erence to the source and way it is 

 handled. I cannot imagine anything 

 nicer than properly handled mangrove 

 honey in the comb. 



L am firmly impressed with the be- 

 lief that many locations in Florida are 

 excellent for the pursuit of apiculture, 

 I bqlieve colonies can be increased 

 more rapidly and with greater certain- 

 ty than in the northern states. I fur- 

 ther believe that more bees die from 

 neglect here than in the north and 

 more from that cause than all others. 

 There is this difference: The watch- 

 ful apiarist has more control over evil 

 causes here than in the north. 



The readers of this journal are likely 

 aware that the production of oranges, 

 pineapples, bananas and other fruits is 

 followed to no small extent all along 

 this west shore of Indian river. Truck 

 gardening is also profitable, principally 

 because of the fancy prices received for 

 cabbages, tomatoes, s,tringbeans, etc., 

 grown during the winter season. 



The experience of tourists here, as 

 well the vital statistics of the state, 

 show the climate to be healthful al- 

 though in many localities mosquitoes 

 and flies are very annoying during the 

 summer months. Everything here is 

 dififerent from conditions in the north, 

 and not a few who change locations 



