1892 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



457 



li>nij rows luuliT carli diit'. faoiiin in (iilTcriMit 

 dirt'olitiiis, \\itl\ plenty of sp;u-i' lictwecn tliciii 

 for llii' apiaiisl toworU in tiu- sliado and iu)l 

 intcrft'it' Willi tiicir tlig;iu. Mr. Roberts pointed 

 ti> a nninber of liives that \\i're in tlie partial 

 sliade of small oaUs. and said that they (lid the 

 best: and when a ixrove of small oaks near by 

 were larijer. he wonld place iiives amoiifj; iIkmii. 

 These oaks are dei'idiioiis trees, and lose tiieir 

 leaves when bees are bent^ited by the sun's 

 rays. When looking at the hot-beds in Gi.kan- 

 ixos 1 thoniJcht of these beeslu'ds, and wonder- 

 ed if it would not be a good idea to cover them 

 with muslin during hot wcatiier. and renu)ve it 

 during the winter months. My observations in 

 the State of Florida were conlined from dan. Uth 

 to the middle of April: and during that time I 

 should have preferred colonies to stand in the 

 sunshine, for there appeared to be such a great 

 ditTereiice in the warmth betwt'en it and shade. 

 This is the time of tiie year when bees should 

 bo rearing brood in order to be populous when 

 flowers are most abundant. 



When this locality is favored with abundant 

 rain it might be an impossibility to overstock 

 it: but for several years it has been dry — last 

 year especially so: for. for four months there 

 was not rain enough to wet a pocket handker- 

 chief, and three more partially so. As the 

 result of this drouth, the water in the titles 

 dried uj). and (ires ran through them, destroy- 

 ing the titi bushes, whicli are valuable sources 

 for honey. Frosts the ITth and 18th of March, 

 this spring. destroy<>d much of the titi bloom, 

 and bees fared poorly, and hives were not popu- 

 lous at tlie time of my visit. 



.JUMBO. 



I went into the honey-house, and, lo and be- 

 hold I there he stood — not an elephant, but an 

 extractor that kept ten men busy to feed, and 

 had the capacity of twenty-five barrels per day. 

 It was the Stanley, and' had eight baskets. 

 The yield last season was '.I'tO barrels, averaging 

 340 poutids net. From 34(J to 3.50 barrels is con- 

 sidered a good crop. The trademark for the 

 honey of Alderman it Roberts is orange- bloom, 

 though the surplus is not gathered from orange- 

 blossoms, as this is all consumed in rearing 

 brood, as is also that gathered from titi. Mr. 

 Roberts, who is the practical apiarist of the 

 firm, said that he could get 7.5 lbs. of extracted 

 honey, when, if he should run for comb honey, 

 only 50 lbs. could be obtained. 



TUPELO — SOUR-GUM TKEES. 



This is the source from which the honey 

 whose trademark is orange-bloom is obtained. 

 The honey is of light straw color, of agreeable 

 flavor, weighing 12 lbs. to the gallon, and does 

 not granulate at th(^ .South. Xyssa (uputtied 

 (water tupelo) and Xiissd nnipora<\-dvgi', tupelo) 

 are very numerous in the dead-lakes region. 

 During their blooming, a colony kept upon the 

 scales registered 18 lbs. in one day; then eight, 

 four, and twelve, according as the winds pre- 

 vailed from the south. 



There is a vine called snowvine growing in 

 that locality, which yields much honey. I can 

 not find a description of it in Gray's Botany that 

 I have at hand. I plucked a branch of it from 

 a tree while I was standing on the guards of a 

 steamboat coming u|) the Apalachicola River. 



I regret that I was not able to visit more 

 apiaries in that interesting locality, and ascer- 

 tain more of its honey resources: but a boat 

 stopped at the landing "the following morning, 

 and liom*! was too strong a temptation for me 

 to resist, as there would not be another one to 

 land there for one week. 



Bro. Root, if you have to rest next winter, 

 visit Florida, and give us in Gi.EANiX(is .some 

 views of that land of flowers, as you have done 



of California. There is healing in her resinous, 

 piney woods, pure air, and soft water which you 

 like so well; and when you do, may I be there 

 to greet you. Mk.s. L. Harkison. 



Peoria, 111. 



[My good fri(uid, I have long been watching 

 and waiting for something from you from your 

 Soutlx'rn home. I!(^ it know n unto you, there 

 was very much talk lietween Mrs. Root and my- 

 self in ri'gard to our visit: and I once actually 

 laia the money on the counter for the purchase 

 of two tickets; but something turned up that 

 interrtipted the plan. I remember of writing 

 home that we were going to take the cars for 

 Chattahoochee, and ride on the steamer Apa- 

 lachicola to Wewahitchka. You see, I was go- 

 ing to astonish tliem by the great places we 

 were visiting — great in name if no other way. 

 Whyl your story is not half long enough. You 

 touch upon ever so many things that I am anx- 

 ious to know about, and I sniipose I shall have 

 to go there myself some time and see. 1 was 

 not before aware that any apiarist or company 

 in the whole of Florida produced 2.50 barrels of 

 honey in a season. Eighteen pounds a day is 

 certainly enough to make a stir in almost any 

 locality. No wonder home was a temptation. I 

 have never regri'tted that I did not i)ush on to 

 Florida just then; but I am strongly determin- 

 ed, Providence permitting, to visit Florida and 

 take the Kodak along. I wonder whoiher we 

 could not make it '"catch on" to that resinous 

 perfume you speak of. I should suppose of 

 course, my good friend, you would have been 

 keeping some bees yourself— at least a few — in 

 that land of flowers. By the way, you let out a 

 secret. I fear, when you speak of four months 

 without rain. I think one of the Florida friends 

 told me that it alivays rained down there, win- 

 ter and summer.] A. I. R. 



HOW TO LESSEN THE LABOR OF WOMEN 



WHO HAVE SWARMING BEES TO CARE FOR. 



If the dishes are washed and immediately 

 replaced upon the table it saves much time, for, 

 when dish-washing time comes, one generally 

 has more time than just before the meal. To 

 keep the table neat and clean, have a frame 

 made of lath, about one foot deep, to keep the 

 cloth that covers the table from getting into 

 the food left on the table. Make the frame so 

 that it will just tit the top of the table, and 

 cover it with some pretty, dark calico that does 

 not fade when washed. The frame should be 

 covered plainly, but there should be a scant 

 frill gathered and sewed around the sides, to 

 hang down a few inches, and all should be fas- 

 tened to the frame. When the frame is not in 

 use over the table it should be hung upon two 

 hooks on the wall, so that it may not be broken 

 or soiled. 



Leave the sugar, butU^r. salt, pepper, honey, 

 spoons, and such things as are needed each 

 meal, always upon the table. Do not go to the 

 cellar for potatoes each meal, but bring up a 

 large panful at some leisure time, and wash all 

 at onc(! by pouring warm water over them. 

 Let them "stand five minnti's or so, to soak the 

 dirt loose, then roll them round and round until 

 the dirt is removed. Now with both hands take 

 all out and put them into a hirge pan that has 

 been punched full of holes, kept for that pur- 

 pose. If the pan lias become rusty from con- 

 tinual use. coat the bottom over with rosin and 

 lard. Not enough lard should be used in the 

 rosin to make it sticky, but just enough to pre- 

 vent its cracking off. The potatoes will need 

 two washings, and should be left in the pan to 

 drain over an old pail until done dripping. 



