have an inexhaustible supply for a 

 month or more. This palm is best 

 known as the emblem of the State of 

 South Carolina, and like the saw pal- 

 metto, grows in great abundance. It 

 sends out long sprigs 5 or 6 feet, covered 

 with yellowish white flowers, and fur- 

 nishes large quantities of clear light 

 honey of excellent quality ; the supply 

 usually stops about August 10th, and 

 practically ends the season, though 

 later comes, with other minor supplies, 

 plums of the saw palmetto which 

 exudes a sticky syrup, that is eagerly 

 gathered and stored by the bees. These 

 plums are of the date family and of 

 intensely disagreeable taste ; they are 

 sometimes pressed and an oil and syrup 

 obtained by boiling, which is one of the 

 most valuable of remedies for lung 

 complaints and dyspepsia. 

 Beck Hill, Florida. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Seeking for the Best Hive. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Very many inexperienced bee-keepers 

 expect too much from the hive. That 

 is, they imagine if they only get the 

 best hive all trouble is over and success 

 is certain. Such is not the case, how- 

 ever. Another extreme is, that it makes 

 little difference what hive one uses if 

 the manipulation is only right. This is 

 not true, either. It seems to me that a 

 good workman will use good, sharp 

 tools; if he. cannot buy them, he will 

 make them. Again, good, sharp tools 

 have a tendency to educate their user. 



So far as I have observed, I have 

 always found the bee-keeper's success 

 in keeping with the value of his time. 

 Awkward and ignorant honey producers 

 use awkward and clumsy hives. The 

 hive that will give satisfaction to the 

 amateur, will not do at all for the honey 

 producer with many colonies. The out- 

 fit of tools required to produce five or 

 ten tons of honey, is not the same that 

 gives satisfaction to the novice. The 

 same is true with regard to hives. To 

 keep from 200 to 500 colonies of bees 

 all the time busy, requires the steady 

 manipulation of several attendants dur- 

 ing the producing season. These men 

 will not have any time to open and shut 

 side-doors, pull little tin slides, or cut 

 out four or rive sets of queen cells every 

 fifteen days from all these colonies. 

 Let me tell you how to save labor. Go 

 to bed early, lie on your back, shut your 

 eyes, turn your mind to your apiary in 

 July, and to hive No. 21. This is a 

 strong colony of dark Italians, or a cross 



between them and the large brown bee, 

 rapid comb-builders, great workers, and 

 peacefully inclined. Now, imagine this 

 colony getting everything full, and just 

 " out of a job," and also 249 more com- 

 ing along rapidly on the same road. 

 You see something must be done, and 

 that quickly, too, for there are 219 more 

 jobs of the same kind following in rapid 

 succession, which must be done just 

 right and at the proper time or great 

 loss will ensue. What is to be done ? 

 Now, in your imagination look at the 

 hive ; its condition, and see, had that 

 hive been made properly, if part of these 

 conditions would not have regulated 

 themselves. Take another look, and 

 see if all the work that you must do 

 could not have been accomplished with 

 the manipulation of the surplus depart- 

 ment only, had the whole structure been 

 made just right. You will see that it 

 could. Now, if you did not eat too 

 much supper, your blood will circulate 

 to and from the brain freely, and your 

 imagination have become sharper by 

 this time. The next thing is to get a 

 clear idea of the best surplus arrange- 

 ment to facilitate clean, quick removal 

 and readjustment with the least disturb- 

 ance of the bees. This accomplished, 

 you feel a wakeful-sleepiness, a kind of 

 active-tired condition, and part of the 

 weight is off your mind. You then go 

 to sleep. Do you dream of hives ? No; 

 you dream of' burglars ; awaken about 

 3 o'clock just a little scared, which very 

 soon gives place to that bee hive again. 

 You think, "•What a fool I was to get 

 scared, and also to worry my nerves 

 about a bee hive ; but that is a good ar- 

 rangement, if it's all right for winter." 

 By this time your mind is fully into that 

 hive again, and you go through fall ma- 

 nipulations, and then become a colony 

 of bees ! You get into it and imagine 

 yourself down cellar four months ; then 

 you are a honey-man again (on the road 

 to fortune), carrying" the concern o\it of 

 the cellar in March. You like the hive 

 because it has a tight bottom and is 

 light ; it don't fall to pieces, but goes 

 right on its summer stand as easily and 

 as quietly as can be wished for. If 

 there are a few dead bees in it, the live 

 ones will carry them out ; if there are 

 very many, the frames should come out, 

 even if the bottom was loose. The 

 special bee-keeper must have a hive 

 that is as near self-operating as can be 

 made, if he expects to compete with 

 those who have such hives and have 

 been longer in the business. 



If some one hive embraced all the 

 valuable features that we desire, we 

 would recognize it at first sight ; but to 

 rig up just right to gain one point neces- 



