332 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



In Florida, bee-keeping Is not done as 

 we do In the North. I have seen none 

 but the natives, or black bees, and If 

 they survive the millers all right, and if 

 they gather any surplus, all right ; and 

 if they do neither, it seems to be all 

 right any way, in this careless going 

 State. Very little care is ever given 

 them. 



Now, being lonesome, and weary with 

 aching, longing for some bees, I have 

 fitted up a hive, frames and all, filled 

 part with guide-combs, and have dis- 

 covered a bee-tree. Now I am happy, 

 and next week I will try the transferring 

 from a rotten old tree, away in the 

 swamp and water, to a new hive, clean 

 and bright. I long to have them hum 

 under my window, even though they are 

 black. I have often transferred from a 

 barrel, box, and nail-keg, but a rotten 

 log is a " new deal." At some future 

 time I will report progress. 



Here in Florida, it is claimed that the 

 honey from the yellow jessamine is pois- 

 onous, or at least makes people deathly 

 sick who eat it. I should like to know 

 as to the truth of this claim. 



C. F. Greening. 



Orange Park, Fla., Feb. 23, 1893. 



An Aged Bee-Keeper's Flan to Intro- 

 duce Queens. 



Mrs. Jennie Atchley : — I will say in 

 the first place that I am in my 73rd 

 year, so I am not able to get around 

 much, but so far as I know, bees are 

 kept upon the let-alone principle here. 

 We are having very heavy weather in 

 Spanish Fork at present, and we thank 

 God for it, as it means plenty of water 

 this year. We have but little rain in 

 Utah, so we must irrigate our crops. 



No, my plans of introducing are not 

 too good to give away, and if I give 

 them to Jennie Atchley I know what she 

 will do with them. What? Why, she 

 will give the plans to everybody else, of 

 course. 



Here is one way : I put the queen in- 

 to a spiral-wire cage, with a cork of 

 comb to keep her in the cage. I then 

 go to the colony I want to introduce her 

 to, kill the old queen, put the cage with 

 the new queen between two combs, have 

 by my side a cup of honey, put some of 

 it on each side of the cage, and all I 

 wish on top of the frames. I do this 

 about four or five o'clock in the after- 

 noon. That is one way. 



Here Is another : Take a nucleus with 

 its queen, and introduce to any colony 

 that has no queen, or you can go to the 



colony you wish to introduce to, and re- 

 move the old queen. Now, have with 

 you a sheet of paper — any kind of thin 

 paper will do, or a newspaper is good. 

 Lay it over the top of the hive, and 

 place the nucleus with the queen on top. 

 The bees will do the rest. 



I suppose these plans are as old as 

 Adam, but I have never lost a queen 

 with either way, but I have with all 

 other plans that I have tried. 



Chas. W. Leah. 



Spanish Fork, Utah. 



Bees in a Hive with Crooked Combs. 



Mrs. Atchley : — I write to ask you 

 if you would advise me to set an empty 

 hive over a colony that has combs so 

 crooked that I cannot handle them ? I 

 see that is the way Root's " A B C of 

 Bee-Culture " says to do, and I ask what 

 you think about it ? F. A. Gardiner. 



Friend Gardiner, I would not think of 

 setting an empty hive over one with 

 their combs built crooked, as that is a 

 very slow way, and does not always 

 prove satisfactory. Just take off one 

 side of the hive and smoke the bees out 

 of your way, and cut out the combs, 

 brushing all the bees that adhere to the 

 combs into a new hive, and tack in (see 

 "Transferring," page 205 of the Bee 

 Journal for Feb. 16th) — only yours are 

 in a frame hive already, and it is box- 

 hives the directions are given for ; but 

 fasten in your combs the same. I will 

 add that it is best to leave out all drone- 

 comb, or place it in the outside frames ; 

 this I forgot in my transferring direc- 

 tions. J. A. 



Florida, the Land of Flowers. 



It does not seem possible that at the 

 North there can be so much snow and 

 ice, when here fruit-trees are blooming, 

 and the air is so soft and warm. The 

 bloom of peach trees is large, and of a 

 beautiful dark pink, and bees fairly 

 swarm upon them. The ti-ti is bloom- 

 ing, and very fragrant, and bees are 

 gathering beautiful white honey from it. 

 Wild sage is in blossom, and residents 

 say that it is the same variety that is to 

 be found in California. Yellow jessa- 

 mine is quite a favorite, and Is trained 

 up as an ornamental vine. All of the 

 bees that I have seen in this immediate 

 vicinity are small and black, and the 

 hives are non-de-script affairs. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



St. Andrews' Bay, Fla., Feb.27, 1893. 



