176 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



Mak. 15 



sent a sample of this honey to Mr. Ernest 

 R. Root, who replied as follows: "We are 

 inclined to think the flavor is a little finer 

 than any thing of the kind we have ever 

 tasted." Of course, this means pwre orange 

 honey. It is not easy to secure it in a pure 

 state. Mr. W. S. Hart, of Hawks Park, 

 Fla., says in the Irrigator, page 373, Vol. 

 II., No. 12, "Pure orange honey is unexcel- 

 led in color, body, or flavor; but it is and al- 

 ways will be scarce, as it can be got only 



where there are 

 extensive groves 

 and nothing else 

 to bloom at the 

 same time, or its 

 color is darkened 

 and its flavor 

 changed by the 

 admixture of 

 poorer grades 

 from other 

 sources." For 

 example, the wild 

 cherry blooms 

 profusely in al- 

 most all orange- 

 growing sections, 

 and about simul- 

 taneously with 

 the orange. 

 Again, the or- 

 ange-tree yields 

 nectar profusely 

 only about two years in three. Even when 

 it does yield, it is an extremely difficult 

 thing to get colonies up to proper super- 

 strength in time for the flow. No; pure 

 orange honey will never become a glut on 

 the market. There is this "additional diffi- 

 culty that bee-men in this particular sec- 

 tion have to contend with: Our summer 

 honey is dark and strong. Unless all this 

 honey is taken out of the combs by the time 

 orange begins to bloom, some of this dark 



Fig. 29,— OranKe-erove 1» fjajl baarine. De Land, Fla. 

 honey. 



The fragrance of the blossoms comes from the 



