MARCH 15, 1916 



247 



Heads of Grain From Different Fields 



The Backlot Buzzer 



BY J. H. DONAHBT 



Mother got all excited last week over a story she 

 read where a man made his tax money by pickling 

 his combs and marketing them in glass jars. Come 

 to find out he was in the chicken business. 



Beekeeping in Florida; Schools, and Price 

 of Land 



Mr. E. E. Eoot: — I have known for some 

 time that you have traveled considerably in 

 Florida, and have been in position to learn 

 a great deal from other sources. If it would 

 not be asking too much of you I should like 

 to submit to you some questions, and you 

 may answer them by number. In order that 

 you may better understand matters, I will 

 give you an outline of the situation: 



We have a farm of 140 acres, fine im- 

 provements; have improved the place with 

 the intention of living and dying here. I 

 have five children — a boy 18 and a girl 20 

 who will graduate from high school in June; 

 the other three are younger. We are quite 

 sure we have a buyer for this farm at $225 

 per acre. If we sold everything but bees and 

 fixtures and household goods we should prob- 

 ably have $30,000 cash in hand. 



We started 25 years ago with about $400, 

 and have always been on the conservative 

 order, because we had nothing to lose. I 

 have lived here all my life. It is a good 

 bee country, good farming country, but I 

 have thought for some time that I should 



like to live in Florida; and when land is 

 selling for $225 per acre it becomes a prob- 

 lem as to whether a person can afford to 

 keep it. Now for the questions: 



1. Is Florida a good place to go if one 

 wants to make beekeeping his business? If 

 so, where would you go? 



2. What outlet is there for honey, and 

 what do producers usually realize per pound? 

 Is it of good quality? 



3. Would it pay to ship 120 hives and fix- 

 tures — a fine outfit — to Florida? or would you 

 sell them and buy there? 



4. What do you know about the trucking 

 business, the pecan crop, and fruit business, 

 as a proposition for a good bright boy just 

 out of school? Would a location for the 

 above lines be a good one for bees? 



5. How about the schools in Florida as 

 compared with those schools in the North? 



6. Could a person live there as cheap as 

 here? 



7. Is the majority of the poulation white 

 or black? What can you say of the society 

 in general? 



8. Is beekeeping in Florida so much differ- 

 ent that a beekeeper from the North would 

 have the business to learn over? 



9. What does land. sell for that would be 

 adapted to the above lines? 



10. Would you go to Florida if you were 

 I? 



11. What would the opportunities be for 

 a young man or young woman, as compared 

 to the North? 



Iowa. W. S. P. 



[1. This question cannot be answered by 

 a direct yes or no. Florida is a good place 

 to keep bees, but you must get a location 

 that is fairly good. The best parts of Flor- 

 ida for the production of honey are the 

 northern parts up around the Apalachicola 

 Eiver, southeast Florida among the Keys, 

 parts along the east coast, and spots along 

 the west coast. The region in and about 

 Bradentown is among the citrus groves and 

 is likewise good. To get a good location we 

 would advise your buying out some beekeep- 

 er who is already stationed, and who has 

 his bees and outfit for sale. 



2. The outlet for honey in Florida is usu- 

 ally the New York market. The price real- 

 ized is not large, and most of it is extracted, 

 usually sold by the gallon between 50 and 

 75 cents, or about five cents a pound. This 

 is, of course, for the usual grades of honey, 

 not orange. Orange honey will bring as good 

 a price as ordinary northern clover, anywhere 

 from eight and nine to ten cents, and usual- 

 ly sells very readily. Of course, this is for 

 a pure orange honey. The mixture of a 

 little palmetto or a little mangrove probably 

 would not do any harm. The fa<=t that a 

 considerable amount of orange honey is 

 produced around Bradentown would make 

 this district a rather good one, provided the 



