1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



309 



plan of leaving theui on, in extra bodies or 

 supers, all winter; but under the hive-bod- 

 ies containing the queen, and brood (if 

 any). In the spring the position will be re- 

 versed. 



FOUL BROOD. 



With the long array of pests to assail the 

 dauntless bee-man here, there is one thing 

 for which he can be devoutly thankful. I 

 refer to the absence of foul brood. There is 

 no foul brood in Florida now, nor has there 

 ever been to any extent. I base this asser- 

 tion on State-wide inquiry, travel, and ex- 

 amination. Several years ago a little touch 

 of it crept over the Alabama line, in West 

 Florida, that has since disappeared entire- 



ly. 



About twelve years ago there was a scare 

 of it in the Hillsborough and Indian River 

 districts, on the East Coast, that soon dis- 

 appeared in and of itself. It may not have 

 been genuine foul brood. The disease was 

 not so well defined and known then as now, 

 thanks to our excellent bee journals and 

 manuals — yes, and our Federal and State 

 aid. Not many years ago also, it was feared 

 that it had made its appearance on the 

 southwest coast. But none of the speci- 

 mens sent to Washington showed unmis- 

 takable proofs of the disease — no clear case 

 of it. Dr. Phillips, of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, in speaking of it in a conversation 

 had with him at the recent State meeting 

 of Pennsylvania bee-keepers, in Philadel- 

 phia, said he could not say there was any 

 case of the disease in Florida. I do not 

 know how to account for its absence unless 

 it be that fewer queens and bees, relatively, 

 are shipped into the State than north, and 

 more, relatively, are shipped out of the 

 State. However, this is only a conjecture. 

 The fact is, all the same, one to be thank- 

 ful for. 



One can not close an account of the diffi- 

 culties of bee-men here without some allu- 

 sion to the high tariffs levied on all trans- 

 portation within the State. Formerly rates 

 were atrocious. Ten years ago railroad rates 

 were five cents a mile for a first-class ticket. 

 Freight was almost prohibitive in price. 

 The service a decade ago was also very poor. 

 I read in a copy of The Irrigator for Jan., 

 1895, this telling notice from the pen of Mr. 

 W. S. Hart: 



"Transportation charges from Jackson- 

 ville to the North are quite reasonable; but 

 further south in the State they are mostly 

 excessive. It is hoped that this drawback 

 will soon be remedied.'''' (Italics mine.) 

 And in a penciled note, under the above, 

 dated Jan. 14, 1898, he adds: "It has been 

 to some extent." 



To-day, thirteen years after the above was 

 printed, conditions are greatly improved, 

 though there is still room for vast better- 

 ment. Only three trunk lines reach down 

 into the heart of the peninsula; but all the 

 coasts, and large portions of the near-coast 

 lands, are accessible by water through the 

 many streams, rivers, and bays that lie a 

 short distance inland. The St. Johns Riv- 



er brings all towns along its course in easy 

 reach of New York, Philadelphia, and Bos- 

 ton, with reasonable freight rates. By it 

 one can ship to either i^lace named, from 

 the central part of Florida, for the following 

 schedule of prices (all-water route) : 



1st class, $1.38 per cwt.; 2d class, 89 cts. 

 per cwt.; 3d class, 76 cts. per cwt.; 4th class, 

 59 cts. per cwt. ; 5th class, 47 cts. per cwt. ; 

 6th class, 38 cts. per cwt. 



By rail, all the way, rates are somewhat 

 higher. Express is still high. The rate for 

 not over 50 lbs. from DeLand to Philadel- 

 phia is $2.50; not over 20 lbs. is $1.40, etc. 

 A freight-car from DeLand to Punta Gorda 

 (both in Florida) about 275 miles, costs to- 

 day $114, though a car from Kansas to this 

 place costs only $145.00 The further south 

 the more costly, seems to be the general 

 rule. But already the two-cent fare for flrst- 

 class tickets is in vogue over Florida by pur- 

 chase of non-interchangeable 1000-mile tick- 

 ets. Freight rates are feeling the tug of 

 popular sentiment and railroad commis- 

 sion's efforts. It can safely be said that, in 

 Central Florida, exorbitant rates need be 

 the dread of no one henceforth. 



After a careful weighing of all the difficul- 

 ties that hedge in the path of apicultural 

 achievement in Florida, I wonder if the 

 readers of Gleanings will think that "any 

 Tom, Dick, or Harry" could make a suc- 

 cess of bee-keeping here just because it is a 

 warm climate. 



De Land, Fla. 



To be continued. 



SORGHUM VS. REFINED SUGAR FOR BEES. 



Molasses Safe if Soda is Added. 



BY JOHN W, LOWRY. 



In Gleanings for March 15, page 185, Mr. 

 J. R. Bryant, of North Carolina, wants in- 

 formation on feeding molasses to bees. I 

 want to sav for the benefit of others, as well 

 as for Mr. Bryant, that I have been feeding 

 home-made molasses — that is, sorghum, and 

 also the " Louisiana " cane syrup, for twenty 

 years, without any bad results, and that 

 without the addition of sugar. I do not feed 

 molasses in preference to sugar syrup. I use 

 it as a matter of economy when I happen to 

 have a surplus of it on hand. I consider 

 syrup made of granulated sugar the best 

 manufactured bee-food extant. 



In feeding this molasses I always reboil, 

 take off the scum, or strain; and while still 

 hot I add one teaspoonful of baking soda 

 for every quart of molasses. The reboiling 

 and soda destroy all acidity or sourness, and 

 make the molasses perfectly safe; and it can 

 be fed to the bees at any time of the year. 

 I have fed molasses treated in this way to 

 bees in the fall for winter stores, and they 

 wintered well. But I have seen large num- 

 bers of bees die as a result of the use of sour 

 molasses. 



Buenavista, Texas. 



