Gleanings in Bee Culture 



part of 1910 season's crop of honey of 100 

 barrels from a single apiary. Notice how 

 the filled barrels are crowded together on 

 the wharf, from the apiary clear up to the 

 Water's edge. It was not possible for the 

 camera to take them all in for you can count 

 only 42 barrels, for the yard is next to the 

 river. During the same year, Mr. Marchant 

 actually harvested froni the two yards, of 

 nearly 800 colonies of bees, 245 barrels. In 

 1904 he took 300 barrels from three apiaries, 

 but from no more bees. 



While our friend may not be known to a 

 ;great extent to the bee-keeping world, he is 

 well known to the New York honey mer- 

 'chants. Indeed, he has probably sold them 

 more honey than any other one man in 

 Florida, and that is saying a good deal. 



But what about this honey? What is it? 

 It comes mainly from the tupelo, both white 

 and black. If you go into Southern Florida 

 the local bee-keepers will tell you that "the 

 palmetto is the finest honey produced in the 

 State." In the other regions they will say 

 tliat " mangrove carries ofT the palm;" but 

 when you get into the northwestern country 

 they will confidently assert that "a pure 

 luhite tupelo without other honey excels 

 them all." It is of heavy body, very light 

 in color, and very mild in flavor. The claim 

 is made for it that it rarely or never candies, 

 indeed, Mr. Marchant's son Ernest told me 

 that they kept a barrel of it for ten years 

 without its candying. Its mildness of fla- 

 vor, and its non-candying quality, should 

 make it an excellent honey for blending with 

 a honey of more pronounced flavor, like 

 basswood, alfalfa, or clover. The bottlers 

 of the country have been using mountain 

 sage because of the very qualities claimed 

 for the tupelo. But if tupelo can be used 

 for bottling purposes, sage will have a strong 

 rival. 



The next question that will be asked is, 

 whether the regions round about the Appa- 

 lachicola River, where so much honey is 

 produced, are overstocked. I understand 

 they are not. One reason for this is that 

 much of the land along the Appalachicola 

 is marshy, infested with mosquitoes and 

 malaria; but INIr. Marchant lives on one of 

 the very few points of land near the river 

 that are above the high-water mark, or at 

 least he is not compelled to put his bee-yard 

 on high stakes to avoid water. Later on I 

 will show views of bee-yards on the river, up 

 on stilts. 



Another difficulty encountered on the Ap- 

 palachicola River is a lack of sufficient pol- 

 len some seasons to enable the bees to rear 

 brood, so that there may be a strong force of 

 bees when the tupelo honey comes on. But 

 Mr. Marchant and his neighbors solved this 

 problem by loading the bees on steamers, 

 carrying them up the river about a hundred 

 miles, and setting them off again. Freight 

 rates on the river are comparatively low, 

 and that makes it possible for the bee-keep- 

 ers in that locality to practice migratory 

 bee-keeping. Indeed, some of them use 

 gasoline-launches with rafts. Mr. Marchant 



finds it is more practicable, however, to hire 

 the regular transportation company to car- 

 ry the bees from point to point. 



The whole country in Northwestern Flor- 

 ida was a revelation to me. It was so great- 

 ly different from any thing I had seen else- 

 where in Florida that I imagine the bee- 

 keepers of the East Coast or Southern Flor- 

 ida would have to reconstruct their methods 

 of management to fit this particular terri- 

 tory, fcr I am satisfied that no one can suc- 

 ceed there unless he has a thorough knowl- 

 edge of the country or unless he works with 

 a partner who does have that knowledge. 



Mr. Marchant knows his locality thor- 

 oughly. He has an accurate knowledge of 

 all the various honey-plants and trees that 

 grow along the river. He knows almost to 

 a day when they will begin to yield honey. 

 Indeed, he can tell almost to a certainty 

 whether he is going to have a crop or not. 

 Said he last spring when I visited him, 

 ' ' The indications this season are unfavorable 

 for a honey-flow. Another thing, my bees 

 are weak— too weak to get a crop even if 

 there should be a flow. 



The sequel showed that he was right. He 

 got a small crop, but nothing like those 

 shown in the picture. 



In our next issue I will show you some- 

 thing of his method of management of his 

 apiaries, and the scheme he has for weigh- 

 ing his honey. It is one of the simplest and 

 most practicable I have ever seen. 



In the mean time, if any one thinks I am 

 booming that territory, I wish to tell him 

 fairly and squarely that the average man, 

 unless he spends years in learning the busi- 

 ness, or connects up with some one who does 

 have the necessary experience, can not make 

 a success in keeping bees in the tupelo re- 

 gions, especially if he has to locate his hives 

 on stilts on marshy land. But Mr. Marchant 

 is located on comparatively high ground 

 where the conditions are much more favor- 

 able. More anon. 



Removing Propolis from Section-holders. 



Dr. C. C. Miller: — I take the liberty to ask about 

 your method of removing propolis from section- 

 holders and fences by means of hot water and lye. 

 What are the proportions and general method of 

 procedure ? 



Bridger. Montana, Nov. 16. C. C. Pierce. 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



Fences that are glued could not be cleaned in 

 this way at all. They would fall to pieces. For 

 cleaning T tins, nothing can be better. I also 

 cleaned a lot of brood-frames out of which the 

 combs had been cut. It was very satisfactory. 

 Vi'^ood separators are cleaned nicely; but unless 

 they are weighted down while drying they will 

 curl badly. Any thing of wood, nailed, can be 

 cleaned with lye if one has a vessel large enough. 



A large iron kettle has a fire built under it out- 

 doors, the kettle fairly filled with water. When 

 the water is boiling, empt.v into it two or three 

 cans of concentrated lye. Put into the kettle the 

 articles to be cleaned, and stir them about until 

 clean of propolis. Then take them out and rinse in 

 a tub of water. Keep rejilenishing the kettle with 

 water as it becomes less, and from time to time add 

 more lye whenever the solution does not take hold 

 properly upon the propolis. For good work the 

 water must be kept very hot. Of course, a number 

 of pieces will be put into the kettle at a time. A 

 pitchfork or a four-tined fork is used to stir the 

 pieces and to lift them out. C. C. M. 



