134 



GLEANINGS NI BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



known of large apiaries of black bees down there 

 in common box hives, and have seen some beauti- 

 ful white honey; but nothing- is known, as a rule, of 

 modern bee culture, the Italian bee, extractor, mov- 

 able-frame hive, etc. Dr. Blanton and a few others 

 keep bees scientifically, in this valley. My conclu- 

 sion from my observations is, that its honey re- 

 sources are immense; and my aim is to establish 

 an apiary there as soon as practicable. As honey 

 is a very general product of nature, it might be 

 expected that a country with such exuberant for- 

 est growth, and inexhaustible and unsurpassed fer- 

 tility, should yield largely the vegetable nectar 

 which the bees refine and evaporate into honey. 

 The climate, too, is highly favorable to large seci'e- 

 tion of honey each year, without fail. The Swamp 

 is pre-eminently the cotton section of Mississippi, 

 liut I have never known bees to gather honey from 

 cotton to any extent. The cypress and willow and 

 honey-locust and black gum are very abundant, and 

 yield much honey. The rattan is everywhere, and 

 is alive with bees in early spring. Attracted by the 

 hum, I have at times stopped, spellbound, for a long 

 while to watch the bees gather honey from this 

 plant. The cross-vine, or swamp woodbine, is very 

 luxuriant, and its rich festoons of white flowers 

 hanging from tall trees furnish much forage to the 

 bees in midsummer. But my attention has been 

 most attracted by the tupelo gum. This is a tree 

 with large base, but with small, tall, and tapering 

 body above, that grows only in very rich sloughs, 

 where the roots are under water. The flowers are 

 white, and grow in large festoons. They send out 

 a delicious fragrance to a long distance upon the 

 air, and yield much beautiful white honey. I might 

 also mention the persimmon, hackberry, and other 

 trees and plants; but the above enumeration will 

 give a general though very imperfect view, for 

 doubtless thei-e is a vast number of plants that yield 

 honey that are not yet Compassed by my knowledge. 



] may add in conclusion, that there are very bright 

 prospects in every way before this valley. The 

 levees are in good repair, a fine railroad runs 

 through it on the west from Memj)histo Vicksburg; 

 the Illinois Central R. R. is building a branch from 

 Yazoo City up the Yazoo and Tallahatchie Rivers to 

 Memphis, and another road will connect these two. 

 Thus the whole valley will be intersected by rail- 

 roads; the Father of Waters will be kept within 

 bounds, and we who are interested say the valley 

 will become very thickly inhabited, and will be 

 made the garden spot of Mississippi. 



Grennda, Miss. Oscah Bledsoe. 



FLOBIDA, AGAIN. 



THE PUOSPECTS AFTER THE liATE FKEEZE. 



X HAVE often used the columns of Gleanings 

 l^f as a medium through which to encourage good 

 ^[ men to come to this State to look up the bee- 

 ■^ keeping interest hepe, and, in consequence, 

 many have come and made happy homes; oth- 

 ers, coming with great expectations and little 

 "sticktoativeness," have been disappointed at 

 first glimpse, and returned north, to regret their 

 hasty decision. Still others, after coming here and 

 taking a fair look at the State, have decided that, 

 all things considered, they had best remain where 

 they are, rather than make pioneers of themselves 

 and have to put up with all the inconveniences to be 

 jnet^itli m^ eqam'e4 \n "pqvyjq^ijp witl} a;;ew 



country." I have always endeavored to convey as 

 correct ideas of this country as possible in all my 

 wi'itings; andfor fear that many might, through the 

 writings and advertisements of unscrupulous land 

 agents and speculators, have formed ideas respect- 

 ing the State that would cause them to see more 

 encouragement in my letters than I intended to 

 convey, I have always advised a visit of Inspection 

 before disposing of valuable property elsewhere. 

 Notwithstanding this advice it is not uncommon for 

 me to receive letters from parties north, stating 

 that they have sold their real estate, packed their 

 household goods and bees into cars, and are to start 

 for this State within a day or two. Such people sel- 

 dom have their expectations fulfilled, and yet I am 

 blamed for their blunders and lack of j udgment. 



The object of this article is to say to all. Do not 

 do this. At any time it is a dangerous experiment, 

 and at this particular time it is almost sure to bring 

 disaster. We have just passed through the coldest 

 spell of weather that the writer or any of his ac- 

 quaintances have yet seen in Florida. Fifty-one 

 years ago there was a similar freeze, a little later in 

 the season, and perhaps the mercury took a little 

 lower dip, that killed all of the mangrove and 

 orange trees throughout the northern half of the 

 State. This has doubtless killed a large part of the 

 mangrove, but just how much can not be told as 

 yet. Messrs. O. O. Poppleton and Jesse Oren, of 

 Iowa, both well known to the readers of your jour- 

 nal, and myself, went out to some of the islands in 

 the river during the last day of the cold snap, to see 

 what the effect had been, and, to the best of our 

 combined judgment, about four-fifths of the man- 

 grove was destroyed. This being the case, the bee- 

 keepers of this section can not expect a large crop 

 of honey this season; and whether or not the next 

 two or three years will give much better crops, will 

 depend on whether or not the roots ai-e killed as 

 well as the stock. How far south of here the dev 

 astation extends, I am not able as yet to say; but 

 as Mr. R. S. Sheldon, of New Smyrna, intends to 

 start south this week to find a location for his bees 

 after the early bloom is over here, we shall proba- 

 bly know after a while. 



Our oranges are all frozen that were left on the 

 trees; l)ut although the mercury went down to 30° 

 above zero, the trees appear to have come through 

 all right in this section. The cold spell has destroy- 

 ed a good deal of property, and proved to be a very 

 serious matter with many; but it neither caused 

 loss of life or destroyed buildings, as blizzards and 

 earthquakes do, and is much less likely to recur 

 than either of them would be in countries subject 

 to them. I accept it as a part of the programme of 

 life, and shall go on with more confidence in this 

 country for orange-growing and bee-keeping than 

 ever before. W. S. Hart. 



Hawk's Park, P'la., Jan. 18, 1886. 



Fneiid Hart, 1 thank you for your caution 

 to the i)eop]e who get the Florida fever, or 

 any otlier fever, and pull up stakes, take 

 family, bees, and all, and start, before the 

 head of the family has even gone aliead to 

 reconnoiter the ground. Some of you may 

 remember our friend Uamkohler, who wrote 

 with such enthusiasm— see Gleanings for 

 1883. p. 877. Well, a letter is just at hand 

 mentioning his wife's death, and that he is 

 alone with an infant and a family of small 

 children, himself worn out with fatigue, and 

 almost ready to giyg i}p, aw^Y VU iu tUe 

 wil4s qf Fi9?J4ai 



