267 



here, in so short a space of time, as at 

 the north, where linden and white clover 

 abound, but have it more regular. 



June is the poorest month. We first 

 have white or soft maple, about Febru- 

 ary 1st — a very heavy, thick, clear honey, 

 of fine flavor. Then gum February 15th, 

 and orange bloom about March 1st; 

 the honey from these I do not think can 

 be surpassed. Our greatest yield is from 

 cabbage palmetto, about the middle 

 of July. It makes a beautiful white 

 honey, of very good flavor. Some sea- 

 sons the showers of rain are so frequent 

 that the honey is mostly washed out, 

 which was the case here last summer. 



There is considerable interest spring- 

 ing up in this vicinity in bee culture. 

 Almost all keep a few, but mostly in log 

 gums. I bought 40 colonies last summer 

 in log gums, which I transferred to my 

 hive, " The Florida, 1 ' a very simple hive 

 having 8 Langstroth frames, two stories; 

 upper story can be used either for box 

 honey or the extractor. It is simpler 

 than Novice's Simplicity, and answers 

 every purpose as well, I think. I will 

 send you a description if you think it 

 worth while. Bees commence to swarm 

 in February, and if strong generally 

 swarm 3 times, if left to themselves, 

 and frequently cast swarms during the 

 palmetto bloom. I swarm mine arti- 

 ficially, with very good success. I have 

 5u old colonies. Quite a number of them 

 are light. They were small when I 

 transferred them, but are increasing 

 very fast now. I rear my queens on a 

 peninsula, with no black bees near, 

 and have as yet had no trouble from my 

 queens mating with black drones. I 

 am using foundation to a great extent 

 in my brood-chambers ; could not keep 

 house without it. 



The moths are very troublesome here, 

 but the Italians soon settle them. We 

 have an ant that is very troublesome, 

 so much so, that we have to set our 

 hives on stands with the legs in water. 

 The worst enemy the bee has here is a 

 kind of dragon-fiy, called mosquito- 

 hawk. It is very destructive, always 

 catching the returning worker with her 

 load of nectar, but never one bearing 

 pollen. 



I have one trouble that perhaps you 

 or some of the many intelligent readers 

 of the Journal may tell me the reason 

 of — that is, swarming out without any 

 visible cause. I have had swarms come 

 out and leave plenty of honey, with 

 brood in all stages from the egg up, and 

 perfectly free from moth or anything 

 else. Even swarms with the queen 

 clipped so she could not follow, desert 

 and join some other colony, and leave 

 her on the ground with a few faithful 



subjects. What is the matter? We 

 have no foul brood or dysentery here. 

 Daytona, Fla., Feb. 10, 1879. 



[The subject of abnormal swarming 

 was treated on page 199 of the May 

 number, and on page 257 of this issue, 

 to which Mr. M. is referred.— Ed.] 



(Etttuximtious. 



Central Kentucky Convention. 



The fourth Semi-Annual Convention of 

 the Central Kentucky Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, took place in Lexington, on Monday 

 and Tuesday, May 5th and 6th. H. C. Hers- 

 perger, President, in the Chair. Minutes of 

 last meeting read and approved, after which 

 John F. Bean, of Montgomery county, read 

 the following : 



Bee-Keeping in Kentucky. 



In Kentucky there is no branch of in- 

 dustry which is exciting more interest than 

 that of bee-keeping. Hundreds of persons 

 are rushing into the business without experi- 

 ence, expecting to realize fortunes in a few 

 years with but little expense or labor. 



From the hovel to the palace, the rich and 

 poor, old and young, farmers, merchants, 

 mechanics, and men of all classes seem to 

 have caught the mania, and like a mighty 

 torrent, with its angry billows sweeping 

 everything before it, the mania for bee- 

 keeping has spread from one end of our 

 land to the other. In this great rush into a 

 new business will it not be well for us to 

 pause a moment and weigh well what we 

 are doing ? Estimates show that about 80 

 per cent, of the men who engage in business, 

 after a few years, fail. Will such be said of 

 the men rushing into the business of bee- 

 keeping without experience ? It is a ques- 

 tion each one must decide for himself. It is 

 to be feared that in a few years, when the 

 excitment has subsided, and carelessness 

 and neglect shall take the place of vigilance, 

 reverses will come, hopes will be blasted, 

 the bright dreams of fortune will vanish 

 like the morning dew, and the business of 

 keeping bees for profit will be denounced as 

 a humbug. 



For every effect there is a cause. Let a 

 man engage in any business, his desire is 

 success. He looks into the future with fond 

 hopes and bright anticipations, struggling 

 and toiling to overcome every obstacle and 

 gain a competency. If after a few years' 

 misfortunes overtake him and failure stares 

 him in the face, he can trace his failure to 

 some cause. That many will meet with 

 failure in this new business, we do not 

 doubt, and the cause will, in all probability, 

 rest with the bee-keeper and not with the 

 bees. Three things are necessary for suc- 

 cessful bee-keeping : 



1. A taste for the business is very essen- 

 tial. Each one must determine for himself 

 whether or not he posseses this peculiar 



