370 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



ers with orders and corespondence. 

 After working all of the hours of 

 daylight in the apiary, they some- 

 times had to sit up until midnight 

 answering letters, and even then 

 found it difficult to keep up with cor- 

 respondence. 



Dyersburg is in the northwestern 

 part of the State, and there we found 

 quite different conditions. Between 

 Nashville and Dyersburg we crossed 

 a high ridge of very poor, gravelly 

 soil, like some portions of the Ozark 

 region. Along the western border of 

 the State the land, for the most part, 

 is quite fertile. A very good meeting 

 was held there, in spite of a rain, and 

 a goodly portion of those present 

 were members of the girls' clubs, 

 which are under direction of Miss 

 McPhee, the demonstration agent. 

 The last meeting was held at Mem- 

 phis, in the southwest corner of the 

 State. Here the party was made up 

 of beekeepers from Mississippi, as 

 well as Tennessee, and the whole 

 crowd took a hike into Arkansas to 

 see a little apiary in the cotton fields 

 of the Mississippi River bottoms. The 

 bottoms are covered with a luxuriant 

 growth of vines of great variety, in 

 addition to gums and the usual 

 heartsease and Spanish needles. 

 There, for the first time, the writer 

 saw the climbing boneset, which 

 grows luxuriantly over fallen logs, 

 fences, etc. The blossoms are very 

 similar to the other bonesets, and the 

 bees were working them freely. We 

 later found the climbing boneset com- 

 mon in lowlands across the northern 

 part of the State of Mississippi. 

 Sourwood 

 The sourwood tree is worthy of 

 more than passing notice. So much 

 has been written about the quality 

 of its honey and the quantity of the 

 yield from this source, that beekeep- 

 ers living in other regions may well 

 wish to become more familiar with it. 

 The 'botanical works give its range as 

 from southern Pennsylvania and 

 Maryland to Florida, and west to In- 

 diana and Louisiana. While the tree 

 may be found in this large region, it 

 is seldom heard of as an important 



Bentley's class in beekeeping getting firsl-liand instruction in the apiary 



source of nectar except in the higher 

 regions of Tennessee and the Caro- 

 linas. It reaches a much larger growth 

 on the highlands than in the river 

 bottoms. 



The numerous small white flowers 

 in terminal racemes give rise to the 

 name "Lily-of-the-Valley tree," in 

 some localities. Since the tree is 

 sometimes planted for ornament as 

 far north as Massachusetts, it would 

 seem that beekeepers generally might 

 do well to introduce it into new lo- 

 calities for lawn and street planting 

 and for parks, cemeteries, etc. 



Sourwood honey is regarded by 

 many people as the finest flavored 

 honey produced in America. Although 

 it is produced in enormous quantity 

 in some sections, it is seldom found 

 on the markets outside the region 

 where it originates. This is due to 

 the fact that local markets pay a 

 premium of a few cents per pound 

 over prices generally prevailing for 

 white honey, to get it. It is thus 

 nearly all consumed near where it 

 is produced. It is said to be one of 

 the most dependable sources of nec- 

 tar, and in regions where sourwood 

 forests abound, the beekeeper rarely 

 misses a harvest. The honey is light 



in color, of heavy body, and is slow 

 to granulate. 



Memphis beekeepers resting under a bridge after a hike into Arkansas. Ttic piL-kaninics were 

 there when the beekeepers arrived. 



THE AMERICAN HONEY PRO- 

 DUCERS' LEAGUE 



By Colin P. Campbell 

 Section 2 of the Constitution of the 

 American Honey Producers' League 

 provides: "The object of this organi- 

 zation shall be the furtherance of 

 the interests, activities and rights of 

 beekeepers, in all lines, and in any 

 manner, not inconsistent with public 

 policy." 



Under this broad power the League 

 proposes to promote better methods 

 and systems of marketing, by aid- 

 ing co-operation wherever possible, 

 and by standardizing containers and 

 the grading of honey. The League 

 also proposes to assist local organiza- 

 tions of beekeepers, in providing 

 speakers for meetings, and in promot- 

 ing the organization of beekeepers' 

 societies, where active organizations 

 are not in existence. Along with 

 this it is the intention of the found- 

 ers of the League to co-operate with 

 the State and National departments 

 of agriculture in research and experi- 

 ment, and to promote instruction in 

 beekeeping in agricultural colleges. 

 In addition to these things, it is the 

 League's intention to protect bee- 

 keepers so far as possible in the 

 matter of the purchase of supplies, 

 queens and package bees, and in the 

 sale of honey and wax, by investigat- 

 ing and exposing fraudulent dealers, 

 and by providing committees of arbi- 

 tration to adjust disputes concerning 

 prices, grades, and the like. Along 

 this same line the League proposes to 

 undertake, by the ofifering of rewards 

 and the posting of signs, to assist in 

 the protection of outyards from tres- 

 passers and thieves, and to aid mem- 

 bers in resisting unjust and discrim- 

 inatory city and village ordinances, 

 and in the collection of claims for 

 loss by the negligence of common 

 carriers. Efforts will also be made to 

 secure uniformity in legislation de- 

 signed to assist the eradication of 

 bee diseases nd to obtain federal 

 legislation governing the transporta- 

 tion of bees and bee products, so as 

 to interfere as little as possible with 

 the fre>. transportation of such 



