SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 51 



begin to swell with new sap the bees are present on them, and so they 

 thrive together during spring, summer, and autumn, and again rest to- 

 gether in winter. And it is interesting to note the condition the earth or 

 soil is in when honey-plants are secreting honey. It is also interesting to 

 note the atmospheric conditions under which the honey-plants secrete their 

 nectar, sparingly or heavily. 



Our bee-pasture is an interesting subject, and studying and learn- 

 ing it is very essential to successful bee-keeping; and every bee-keeper 

 should' master as nearly as possible, the sources, of honey and pollen in 

 his location, and note the times during the season when these particular 

 plants begin to bloom, the duration of their blooming, and the amount 

 of pollen and honey the bees usually secure from them, etc., in order 

 that he may operate his apiary accordingly, have his bees built up to a 

 honey-gathering condition by the time the honey-plants begin to bloom, 

 and to have them supplied with proper room. While Mother Earth has 

 blessed some sections and localities with more honey-plants than others, yet 

 there are but few localities in the South that will not justify beekeeping if 

 they are the right kind of bees, and receive the proper culture. 



An inferior run-down race or strain of bees will make a poor loca- 

 tion anywhere. I remember that back in my earlier bee-keeping days, 

 the queen-breeders often mailed me price lists of their queens, and I 

 also saw them advertised in bee journals, but thought they just wanted 

 to speculate on me ; but finally I did place an order for a few, and in- 

 troduced them to colonies around in the apiary in early spring. I did not 

 get any more honey from them during the spring flow, but they swarmed 

 not a little. At the end of the spring flow I put the supers back on all 

 hives, and got busy at something else; and when I went back in the fall 

 to remove the supers and look over the apiary I found to my great sur- 

 prise the supers on the hives where I had introduced the queens, and the 

 supers on the hives I had put new swarms in, all full of capped honey. 

 I removed these heavy supers and examined the brood-apartments, and 

 found them full of sealed honey, and the queens nearly crowded out. 

 I distributed the most of this honey around in the apiary, for the old race of 

 bees was nearly on the point of starvation, while the new race was heavy 

 with stores and had a large surplus, the source of which I did not know 

 at that time, but found out the next season that it was mostly from 

 the cotton-plant; and I have been obtaining a good surplus from this source 

 each season since, from the prolific varieties of bees. 



Dear reader, I mention this to help establish the fact that you do 

 not know the value of your section as a honey location until you have tried 

 it with prolific bees. The idea of poor locations without ever testing them 

 has burdened bee-keeping in the South. There is a wrong prevailing 

 idea about bee pasture among those less experienced in bee culture; and 

 that is, that they should plant something for their bees to gather honey 



