Aug. 15. 1911 



BEE-KEEPING IN FLORIDA. 

 Some Representative Bee-men of Florida. 



BY E. G. BALDWIN. 



Contintied froiii last ixxiie. 



On the Ijeaiitiful ("oroiuula lieach, below 

 Daytona, stands a structure of unique in- 

 terest, and the owner is eiiually interesting. 

 I refer to Mr. H. C. Longstreet and his bee- 

 house. He is not a speciahst. as are the 

 men aheady named before, but lie comes 

 from an old l)ee-line, for his father, Corne- 

 lius H. Longstreet, moved down from New 

 York to Florida in iss;;, bringing 30 colonies 

 of bees with him. Jiees were hard to get in 

 Florida in those days, and Mr. Lcmgstfeet 

 showed his aggressive and determined na- 

 ture by bringing that numljer of colonies 

 the entire distance. At first he located at 

 Mt. Dora, near Apopka. where he kept his 

 bees for seven years. Then, becoming in- 

 terested in the mangrove honey on the East 



493 



Coast, he tried moving fifty hives to the 

 coast by wagon, rail, anil boat. He left his 

 son, H. C, in charge of those remaining at 

 Mt. Dora. Lantling with his bees at Coro- 

 nada, a small island olT the coast, he found 

 the undergrowth so dense that he had first 

 to hew out a i)lace for even the hives to 

 stand. Then bears and ants letl him a mer- 

 ry chase for many years. The bears would 

 emerge from the swamps near by at night, 

 march up to a hive, and, with one blow of a 

 jiaw, send it swashing. Then they would 

 gralj up two or tliree frames of honey and 

 brood, and make off with them. 5lany 

 hives would sufTer thus in one night. Many 

 a night lias Mr. Longstreet sat up, rille in 

 hand, waiting for a shot at the intruders. 

 The worst feature of this nightly vigil was 

 the horde of mosquitoes. He had to wear 

 two iiairs of trowsers, tuck them into tops 

 of high boots, and don a bee-veil — a com- 

 fortable garb for a sultry summer night! 

 He used to recount many exciting experi- 

 ences. On one occasion he chased a bear 



Fig. 15.— Mr. II. C. Longstreefs bear and ant proof house-apiary at Coronada, Florida, 

 back in the '80"s it is still in service. 



Although built 



