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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



to unload with teams at 6 p. m., the 

 whole car load suffocated at once; in 

 other words, in a very few minutes. 

 Second car, 320 colonies, billed from 

 Gypsum. Orange County, to Yaring- 

 ton, Nevada, by the Santa Fe R. R. 

 They held the bees up at Bakersfield 

 all day the 21st of July, 1911, ther- 

 mometer 110, waiting for certain ton- 

 nage before moving the train. At 4 

 p. m. the whole car load suffocated 

 with my complete shipping equipment 

 attached to all colonies. Standing in 

 one place was the cause of suffoca- 

 tion. Had those colonies been kept in 

 transit, moving along to destination, 

 unloaded at once and released, I 

 would have saved the bees. The third 

 car, 319 colonies in car, 245 lost; 

 shipped from Roscoe to Tehama, July 

 3, 1917. The car was left where I 

 could not unload the colonies from 8 

 p. m. to 8 a. m,. The delay and con- 

 finement in car was the cause of loss. 

 After a car of bees has been in transit 

 to their limit and stop, the colonies 

 should be unloaded at once and re- 

 leased. 



In February, 1902. I lost 1,200 colo- 

 nies by flood water in the Sacramen- 

 to Valley. On May 28, 1909, at Lind- 

 say, Tulare County, Calif., orange 

 belt, my migratory beekeeping came 

 to a sudden stand. By misfortune I 

 burst a blood vessel, developing into 

 a stroke of paralysis. I have all my 

 records since 1886 to the present day, 

 from San Diego County to Modoc 

 County, Calif., from Reno to Wells, 

 Nevada. I have explored nine of the 

 western bee States, Old Mexico and 

 Argentine Republic, all for the love of 

 the dear little industrious honeybee. 



THE DISMAL SWAMP 



By John J. Lewis 

 Under the heading "The Dismal 

 Swamp for Beekeeping" you ask for 

 information. I used to keep a yard 

 of Italians on the northeastern edge 

 of the swamp, at Magnolia, Va. There 

 is an almost uninterrupted period of 

 blooming of what are listed as honey 

 plants from early spring to late fall, 



but in that region many plants listed 

 as honey producers do not yield nec- 

 tar, for instance, although sweet bay 

 is most plentiful, I never saw a bee 

 on the blossom. Red maple blooms 

 in January or February when the 

 weather is too cool to yield much. 

 Yellow jessamine does not yield and 

 the gums, although covering most of 

 the swamp, do not yield much. I 

 think it is too far north for them to 

 yield well. Tulip poplar also is not 

 much of a yielder. Rattan is in the 

 shade too much for the bees to get to 

 it. Cotton docs not yield either. 

 Water ash yields well, but is not com- 

 mon enough to amount to much. The 

 colonies gain 5 to 10 pounds while it 

 is in bloom. The surplus is all from 

 May 1 to June 15, from blackberry, 

 holly, crimson clover and persimmon. 

 Something gives the honey a bitter 

 taste and amber color. I always 

 thought it was from holly. Mr. Geo. 

 Rea said that, farther in the swamp, 

 where Root tried wintering bees for 

 early spring shipments, the honey did 

 not have the bitter taste, although 

 there is holly there. The only advan- 

 tage I could see in keeping bees at 

 Dismal Swamp is for early queens or 

 early pound packages of bees, and 

 that is questionable. Bees need win- 

 ter protection, as it goes considerably 

 below freezing at times. As they are 

 active all winter, rarely over a week 

 passing without their flying, they 

 consume an enormous amount of 

 honey in winter. A 10-frame Lang- 

 stroth does not hold enough honey 

 for a strong colony to come through 

 to clover, and must be fed in spring. 

 1 used to have a botanical survey of 

 the Dismal Swamp, but cannot find it 

 at present. I would not advise anyone 

 to go there to keep bees for honey 

 production, and neither for package 

 bees. European foulbrood is also 

 there. Paralysis and pickle-brood are 

 prevalent, probably on account of the 

 damp climate. 



> The surplus per colony is less than 

 in the North, and bees require a great 

 deal more care. 



I am not a novice, although I don't 

 claim to be a professional beekeeper. 

 What I have just given you is not 

 guess work, but observation. 



Last, but not least, don't forget ma- 

 laria and mosquitoes. I used to take 

 my quinine regularly. 



List of honey plants to which my 

 bees had access from one-half to one 

 mile : 



Soft maple very plentiful last of 

 January to late in February; valuable 

 for early brood-rearing. 



Fruit bloom not very plentiful; 

 valuable for brood-rearing. (April). 



Crimson clover. May 1 to 14; several 

 fields ; good yielder (surplus). 



Persimmon, few trees; good yielder, 

 but not enough trees to amount to 

 much. 



Blackberry, May 10 to 30; best 

 honey plant; quite plentiful (sur- 

 plus). 



Holly, May 20 to June 10; plentiful, 

 good yielder (surplus). 



Black and cotton gum, very plentiful 

 in May; some honey. 



Tulip poplar, plentiful; never saw 

 any amount of bees on it. 



Cotton, after July 4, very plentiful; 

 does not yield honey. 



Sumac (mountain), plentiful. 



Partridge pea. 



Gallberry. some in June, some honey. 



White alder, some; no honey. 



Ash, September, some; some honey. 



Goldenrod, September; very plenti- 

 ful; yields some nectar. 



Aster, October, very plentiful; yields 

 some honey. 



Bay, in June; very plentiful; yields 

 nothing. 



New York. 



Moving in Tcisk Uislritt, i^aucaaus. Cylindiital wicUir luv<.s 



MOVING BEES TO A NEW SPOT 



By E. P. Stiles 



Last year, about the middle of the 

 horsemint honey flow, or a little 

 later, I moved my little apiary to this 

 point, in Central Texas, from the 

 coast. Considerations other than bee 

 welfare caused my removal from the 

 coast, but in moving at that time I 

 expected to get a larger share of the 

 horsemint crop and to get in addi- 

 tion, later, the mesquite and sumac 

 crops, and enough bitter honey to 

 winter the bees on. Much too much 

 to expect of this locality. 



Previous to moving those colonies 

 here they had been used all spring 

 for rearing and testing queens and 

 furnishing bees for pound packages; 

 consequently they were much run 

 down. The confinement to the hive 

 and enforced idleness during the 

 journey of about 200 miles and, pos- 

 sibly, change of climate — from sea 

 level to 500 feet, from moist to dry 

 atmosphere — seemed to invigorate 

 them. 



Owing to the expense of expressing 

 the equipment of the yard, all ma- 

 terial, except the hive bodies con- 

 taining the^ bees, w^s shipped by 

 freight, and "this was much longer on 

 the road than was expected. During 

 this time the bees were without hive- 

 lops or bottoms. Upon their arrival, 

 the l)ees were luovcd to the new 

 yard, the ground where the hives 

 were to stand, raked smooth, the 



