NOVEMBER 15, 1916 



E.G. Baldwin 



FLORIDA SUNSHINE I "-'--. '-■- 



i 



Further iiiquii'ics have come re- 

 garding bee - martins referred to 

 on p. 716, Aug. 15. The bee-mar- 

 tins are king-birds which are fly- 

 catchers. The scientific name is 

 Tyrannus tyrannns, called also 

 Tyrannus Caroliniensis,, which is 

 the true bee-martin or bee-bird; but several 

 other species of the Tyrannns in the West 

 and South are also called bee-martins or 

 bee-birds, and many fly-eatehing and insect- 

 eating birds are often misnamed bee-birds, 

 tho not king-birds at all. 



MAN^GROVE AND PALMETTO ON THE EAST 

 COAST. 



The finest palmetto-mangrove honey we 

 ever saw has been gathered by our winged 

 friends this summer — not the largest in 

 amount, tho the total is a fair crop, but the 

 quality is about as fine a table honey as a 

 connoisseur could want on his pancakes for 

 breakfast. We use it (honey, not pan- 

 cakes) for every meal. As before reported, 

 palmetto lasted about twice as long as usual 

 this year. Our own crop will be about four 

 tons. The blending of the mangi'ove and 

 the palmetto honey by the bees is unavoid- 

 able, as one bloom overlaps the other. But 

 no matter. Both are light-colored, both 

 mild-flavored. The mixture is a little finer 

 than either one alone, for the pure man- 

 grove has just the faintest suggestion of a 

 salty taste that disappears in the blending 

 of the two. 



CONDITION OP BEES IN FLORIDA. 



Bees are in unusually fine condition all 

 over the state this fall. Not only did the 

 summer keep them stronger than usual, but 

 also in September and October, riglit up iii- 

 ^0 November, they have been gathering fi'ee- 

 ly and breeding well. At this writing, Oct. 

 23, the yard sounds like orange-blooming 

 time. Speaking of that, elicits the remark 

 that there will be a good oi-ange-honey crop 

 next spring, Aveathei- conditions favoring; 

 for the time to build up for an early orange 

 flow is in the fall, and bees are surely doing 

 that now. See that all hives have at least 

 five frames full of capped stores, or the 

 equivalent, and is full of bees. Then you 

 can slee]i nights, or even go away on an 

 automobile trip, and not wori-y; for you 

 may be sure all will be well when the fra- 

 grant white petals of oi'ange again scent the 

 air. * .;., * 



The editors of bee ])apers lia\e all along 

 sounded Avarning notes protesting against 

 rushing the crop oft to some large mart, 



and liave urged producers to sell at home. 

 In the present condition of the honey mar- 

 kets sucli. advice is apropos and timely. 



The following letter is from a man who 

 has made beekeeping profitable, and home- 

 mai'keting of honey one of the means 

 toward success. It has such a genuine ring 

 of comujon sense, and moreover it is so 

 timely just now. that its insertion here will 

 surely appeal. We quote in part : 



Dear Sir: — Your letter was received in 

 due time, and greatly appreciated. Honey 

 in the big markets is so low in price I 

 dreaded to ship there. I am, therefore, 

 supplying my old customers and some new 

 ones. I do not expect over 1000 gallons, 

 and I think I can sell it all to my local 

 trade. I am getting ivom $1.2.5 to $2.00 per 

 gallon, according to quality and methods of 

 packing. The first year I had bees I got 

 S3 gallons from 1-i colonies, and could not 

 sell more than half of it. I fed the rest of 

 it back to the bees in spring. So I decided 

 to try my hand in educating the people in 

 this vicinity to eat honey, and thus build 

 up a market at home for my goods. I made 

 quality and fair dealing my motto for seven 

 years, and now I find that there is a steady 

 increase in denmnd for my products. 1 

 think it is safe to say I shall be able to sell 

 1000 gallons in my local market, and I think 

 that is pretty good when I have a neighbor 

 five miles from me, with 200 colonies, one 

 ten miles away with 100 colonies, and two 

 more eight and ten miles away with from 

 30 to 40 colonies each. All are selling in 

 the local market. Happily we do not tres- 

 pass on each other's territory, and no con- 

 fusion arises. First, T do my own grading, 

 which is not nearly so rigidly done, and in 

 dealing with the consumer I get my share 

 of the sums that transjiortation companies 

 and commission men and dealers make. To 

 show you, I enclose a few orders I have re- 

 ceived. If I had to sell to the Eastern 

 markets, thru commission men, and stand for 

 all losses in shipping, and all other disad- 

 vantages, I would go out of the business 

 entirely. 



We wish to commend the practice of the 

 correspondent above quoted. It is a re- 

 markable fact, that, Avhile more colonies 

 of bees are kept per square mile of ten-i- 

 tory in the snuthern slates, more of the 

 product is consumed right in that same 

 tei-iitory than in any other portion of the 

 [^nited Stales. People are surely eating 

 more honey. A high standard of quality, 

 honesi and fair metliods of dealing, and 

 "hustling" in the advertising, will infallibly 

 In'ing results. It is not the big cities that 

 need " more lioney.'* It is the smaller 

 towns and the communities. 



