894 



for your packing-cases. One inch split and 

 dressed on one side is better. It should be 

 painted a dark-red barn color. This thin 

 wood is more readily penetrated by the sun's 

 heat, and helps to drv out the packing. 

 Thicker packing on sides does not allow the 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



sun to penetrate; and too much on top is 

 positively injurious, because it retards the 

 upward passage of the moisture the bees 

 give off when expelling the water found in 

 the honey they consume. 

 Brantford, Canada. 



TEE CHINCAPIN AS A HONE Y= PLANT 



Stores, 



BY J. J. WILDER 



Through the great sand-ridge section of 

 central Florida this honey-plant grows in 

 all its glory, not as trees in size, as it grows 

 elsewhere in the United States, but as a 

 small shrub 12 or 16 inches high. Fig. 1 

 shows the young tender sprout as it shoots 

 up each spring from 

 the crown root just 

 under the surface of 

 the earth, and from 

 which perhaps 50 or 

 more similar shoots 

 will come. 



This section of Flor- 

 ida consists mostly of 

 wild land which has 

 been timbered. Small 

 oaks have come up 

 thinly, and the surface 

 is almost covered with 

 this plant. Fig.2 shows 

 a portion of the forest, 

 and the plant in bloom, 

 giving an idea of how 

 dense it is. 



Look again at Fig. 

 1, and note that the 

 blossoms are on stems 

 4 and 5 inches long, 

 six to ten to the sprout. 

 These stems are solid 

 rods of shucky bloom 

 with the nectar in full 

 view, and prominent. 

 The blossoms begin 

 opening about the 

 body of the sprout, 

 and gradually extend 

 to the end, the entire 

 period of the bloom 

 occupying four or five 

 weeks. 



This section of the 

 country is burned over 

 each winter by forest 

 fires, and all sprouts 

 are killed. This burn- 

 ing is usually done 



the latter part of winter, and soon after- 

 ward the new tender sprouts will be seen 

 peeping up. Where it is burned over first 

 it will come up first; and where it is last 

 burned it will come up last. This greatly 

 prolongs the flow, so that it usually lasts for 



Fig. 1. — A stalk nt chincapin, showing the leaves and blossoms. 



