806 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



and a close watch kept to ascertain when 

 the queen found tliese empty cells and laid 

 in them. 



The queen laid in these cells between 

 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., Aug. 3. Two of the 

 eggs were hatched at 7 A. M., Aug. 6 ; the 

 rest within an hour. 



These larvae were grafted into queen -cells 

 at 10 A. M., Aug. 7, and the last cell was 

 sealed at 10 a. m., Aug. 11. I failed to find 

 when the first cell was sealed ; but cells 

 grafted at the same time, but with smaller 

 larvae, were not sealed at this time. From 

 this I concluded that they had been sealed 

 only two or three hours. These larvae, which 

 were about 26 hours old, were larger than 

 Ave use ordinarily. 



The first virgin emerged from her cell at 

 6 A.M., Aug. 18, and the last one 41/2 hours 

 later. 



Medina, 0. 



[Sometimes a little dog unconcernedly 



bites a temporarily peaceful big dog 



To make a short story shorter, after some 

 other big dog joins in the fight, the little 

 dog wiggles out and sits by the side of the 

 road watching the fun. 



Without intending any disrespect to the 

 other parties concerned, I claim the honor 

 of being the little dog that started this 

 scrap between Dr. Miller and Mr. Pritchard 

 (the two big dogs), and I am now sitting 

 by, watching the fun. 



From my point of view it appears that 

 Mr. Pritchard has a little the best of his 

 opponent. I have admitted that my origi- 

 nal statement, page 403, May 15, is probably 

 extreme in thilt six to eight days between 

 the hatching of the egg and the sealing of 

 the cell is surely beyond the average length 

 of time. But T still believe that Dv. Miller's 

 estimate, " never more than five days," is 

 also extreme in the other direction. 



Take Mr. Pritchard's figures : In spite of 

 the hot weather,the time between fhe batch- 

 ing of the eggs and the sealing of the cells 

 was about an even five days, or possibly a 

 little more ; and the total elapsed time from 

 the laying of the eggs to the emerging of 

 the queens was just about fifteen days. 

 What would these figures have been under 

 less favorable circumstances, cool weather, 

 weaker colony, etc. 1 Sic 'em. Dr. Millei' ! — 

 H. H. Root.] 



THE SEASON IN SOUTH FLORIDA 



BY A. E. AULT 



The usual time for orange and grapefruit 

 to bloom in south Florida is from Feb. 25 

 to April 1. Last season, probably owing 

 to cold and dr}' weather, there was scarcely 

 any surplus orange honey, tho the bloom 

 contin-ued a month later than usual. Saw 

 palmetto, which blooms in April and May, 

 gave good returns in a few favored loca- 

 tions, but as a rule the crop was short. 



The conditions that seemed unfavorable 

 for the secretion of nectar from orange and 

 palmetto proved favorable for seagTape, 

 black mangrove, and cabbage palmetto. 

 Black mangTove began in June, and con- 

 tinued till about Aug. 1. The seagx'ape 

 and black mangrove grow only along the 

 coast. Toward the last of May seagrape 

 began to yield, and continued thru June. 

 The honey from this plant is of fine quality. 

 A peculiar feature of it is that, as the light 

 reflects from the honey, it shows a decided- 

 ly gi'een color. 



My best average this season was produc- 

 ed at a small apiary of 26 colonies located 

 at Cortez, a fishing town near the point of 

 a narrow peninsula. There is not much 

 fruit bloom in reach of the bees, nor is it 

 a first-clnss location for saw palmetto. But 

 to offset this the bees have access to a vast 



range of seagra])e and black mangrove; 

 and, altho they cross the water to outlying 

 islands to secure the greater part of this 

 lioney they never fail to " deliver the 

 goods ; "and I have secured from this apiary 

 as much as 200 lbs. average. My record of 

 honey taken from this apiary for the season 

 is as follows: May 31, saw palmetto, 400 

 lbs. ; June 12, seagrape, 680 lbs. ; June 28, 

 black mangrove, 1060 lbs.; July 14, black 

 mangrove, 1300 lbs. 



At the out-apiaries I use a 10xl4-foot 

 tent with 4-ft. sides. I use no ridge-pole, 

 but, instead, have a long overi'ope. At the 

 end of each gable two knots are tied in the 

 rope 1^'^ inches apart. The tent is sup- 

 ported on two poles 8 ft. long, having a 

 slot at one end which fits between the knots 

 at the gable of the tent. In practice we use 

 the tent-poles outside the tent, as they are 

 more convenient to set up and take down. 

 The tent-pins are left in the ground from 

 one visit to another so that the tent can be 

 set up in a very few minutes. With a large 

 screened window on opposite sides, the room 

 is light and airy. A small hole at the point 

 of each gable serves as a bee-escape. 



TPIE EQUIPMENT. 



I use an automatic two-frame extractor. 



