303 



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For the American Bee Journal. 



The Harvest of White Honey. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Our honey harvest usually commences 

 about June 20th, and closes from July 20th 

 to August lOtli, unless we get a yield of 

 buckwheat honey, and in that case it closes 

 about September 1st, we almost always hav- 

 ing a period of nearly two weeks scarcity 

 between the white honey harvest and buck- 

 wheat. The 4th of July is the earliest we 

 ever took off any box honey we believe, so 

 we will suppose that our swarming is all 

 done up by the time this reaches you, and 

 we are ready to look after the boxes. If you 

 did not forget to put your boxes which were 

 nearly full of comb in the center, on top of 

 each hive, you will now only need to look 

 after those to ascertain if any are fit to come 

 off, as those will certainly be the first fin- 

 ished. To do this, get your smoker, gently 

 pry the cases apart with a stout knife, blow 

 in a little smoke so the bees will get out of 

 the way, and you can see if they are com- 

 pleted. If they are, pry the cases off a little 

 at the bottom, and then lift out gently the case 

 holding the finished boxes, and give it a 

 quick shake, as you would a frame to dis- 

 lodge the bees from it. Shake the bees off 

 at the entrance so they may readily enter 

 the hive ; remove the boxes from the case, 

 and shake off from each separate box the 

 few bees that may still cling to the honey ; 

 fill the case with empty boxes provided with 

 starters, and put it in place again on the 

 hive. Set your honey in your wheelbarrow 

 or cart which you have to carry the honey 

 to your honey-room with, and go on to the 

 next hive, and so on till the apiary is gone 

 over. There is little danger of robbing at 

 this season, but if the bees seem disposed 

 to follow your honey, keep it covered with 

 a sheet. 



In a week start over the apiary the second 

 time, and so keep going over it once a week, 

 being sure that all tilled boxes are removed, 

 and thus your honey will be nice and the 

 combs as white as snow. If you use side 

 boxes, raise the partly hi led ones from the 

 sides and put them in place of the full boxes 

 taken off, and place the empty ones at the 

 sides. We usually place but-one tier of boxes 

 at the sides at first, and then when the bees 

 get well at work in them, push them out and 

 place the other tier between them and the 

 side of the hive, thus inciting the bees to 

 greater activity. As the season draws to a 

 elose, we raise the side boxes to the top and 

 close up the sides with the followers, so as 

 to get all boxes commenced in filled if pos- 

 sible. With the top-box hives, we crowd 

 the partly-filled ones together, placing the 

 empty boxes on the outside instead of the 

 centre, as at first. It usually takes us four 

 days to go over the apiary in the heighth of 

 the season, leaving us two days to look after 

 our nuclei and attend to the many duties 

 which devolve on the apiarist. 



Store your honey in a small, tight room, 



placed on scantling, so that the fumes from 

 burning sulphur can enter or pass between 

 each box, so as to kill the larva? of the wax 

 moth which always appear to a greater or 

 less extent, burning % of a pound of sulphur 

 to every 200 cubic feet contained in the 

 room. To bestdo this, your scantling should 

 be raised at least a foot from the floor, and a 

 kettle with some coals in it placed beneath. 

 Pour on the sulphur, close the room tight, 

 and leave it for fifteen minutes, when it 

 should be opened to let the smoke out, for if 

 it settles on the combs it will give them a 

 greenish tint, or if you burn more than the 

 above amount it wiil turn the combs green. 

 We have found it a nice point to burn just 

 enough sulphur ; if you use too much, it 

 hurts the looks of the honey, and if too little 

 all the worms are not killed. Burn your 

 sulphur two weeks after the boxes are re- 

 moved from the hives, as the eggs are 

 generally all hatched by that time, and if 

 you store all in the same room, sulphur once 

 in two weeks till the last is off. Your honey 

 should be assorted, as piled, into about three 

 grades— first, second and third quality. Put 

 nothing but A No. 1 in the first, the colored 

 combs and the mixed in the second, and 

 the buckwheat in the third. By this way 

 you will be saved trouble when you come to 

 crate it for market. In short, have an eye 

 to business, as this month is the harvest 

 time for bee-keepers in most localities, and 

 leave no stone unturned that will give you 

 a pound more honey. 

 Borodino, N. Y., June, 1879. 



Florida Sun and Press. 



Bee-Keeping in Florida. 



BR. G. W. DAVIS. 



Bee-keeping in Florida has not re- 

 ceived that attention which its impor- 

 tance deserves. The improved hive, 

 and modern treatment of the honey-bee 

 has been little thought of and seldom 

 employed in this state. Until very 

 recently the improved stock, or Italian 

 bees, have never been introduced. 

 People have been content to get their 

 supply of honey from the wild colonies 

 of the woods or from the old-fashioned 

 bee-gum of centuries ago. 



There are many localities in the state 

 where the apiarist might succeed, but 

 as a whole we do not regard Florida as 

 the best state for the successful cultiva- 

 tion of the honey crop. The principal 

 drawback is a want of bee pasturage. 

 True we have many plants and flower- 

 ing shrubs and trees that afford an ample 

 store of nectar in their season, but there 

 is not that succession of honey-produc- 

 ing flowers, and such a range of pastur- 

 age as may be found in more northern 

 states. The cotton regions and dense 

 hammocks undoubtedly afford the best 

 pasturage for bees; next comes the 

 orange, palmetto, melons, etc. 



