DECEMBER 1, 191fi 



supers today, Nov. 8. The weather is mild, 

 and the temperature is around 70° F. The 

 bees are flying well, and are still working 

 on a little aster that was protected in shel- 

 tered locations. 



A sharp freeze or two does not seem to 

 hurt the flow of aster. . I found consider- 

 able nectar in the unfinished sections we re- 

 moved today. As this aster honey granu- 

 lates quickly it is a puzzle to know just 

 what to do sometimes with these nice un- 

 finished sections partly drawn out with 

 some nectar in the combs. It is pure waste 

 to try to carry this honey over in the un- 

 capped sections, as it soon granulates; and 

 if put back on the hives next si3ring the 

 bees carry it out and dump it in front of 

 the hive. If the foundation is pretty well 

 drawn out and filled, but not capped, we 

 cut it out immediately and sell it to the 

 home trade to be used up as quickly as 

 possible. If the foundation is only about 

 one-third drawn, and contains some nectar, 

 I figure that the comb in its present shape 

 is worth more than the nectar contained 

 therein, and we usually carry these over to 

 be put back on the hives next spring as 

 bait sections. Aster yielded very slowly 

 this fall, and was extremely late in bloom- 

 ing. 



Bluevine in the river-bottom cornfields 

 made an excellent yield of pearl-colored 

 honey, and our beekeepers here are look- 

 ing more and more to this plant as a main 

 crop yield. It stays in bloom fully as 

 long as white clover, and I believe it is a 

 better yielder, not being subject to the 

 whims of the weather as much as white 

 clover. There is no killing this plant out 

 in our river-bottom cornfields, and it is 

 held in check only by the cultivator. The 

 minute the corn is laid by, which is usually 

 about July 15, this plant commences to 



climb the cornstalks; and by Aug. 1 it is 

 winding around the young ears of corn, 

 and reaching across the rows sliaking hands 

 with its neighbors. By Aug. 15 the plant is 

 in full bloom, and continues to bloom till 

 frost. It is very tender, and the first light 

 frost puts it out of br.siness for another 

 year. I moved the gi^eafer part of my 

 yards to the bottoms this summer in order 

 to catch this yield. Thousands of acres of 

 river-bottom cornfields give unliiuited pas- 

 turage, and I consider this plant more 

 valuable than sweet clover as a honey-plant. 



This season I tried the experiment of 

 sending south and buying one-pound pack- 

 ages of bees and queen; and I wish to say 

 that I am well pleased with the results. 

 Fifteen one-pound packages were purchas- 

 ed, and, barring an accident to one pack- 

 age, they all built up to good strong col- 

 onies and yielded considerable surplus. 

 However, one swallow does not make a 

 season, and I would not advise amateur 

 beekeepers to go at this proposition too 

 strong. Several factors must be consid- 

 ered in the results which I obtained. In 

 the first place I believe I received an extra- 

 ordinarily good lot of bees. They were 

 very gentle and great hustlers, and they had 

 vigorous young queens. They were put in 

 hives containing drawn combs on which 

 bees starved to death last year. Last, but 

 not least, we had an extraordinarily good 

 season. The bees arrived April 15, just 

 as apple was blooming, and by July 1 these 

 one-pound packages began to store white- 

 clover honey in the supers. They were then 

 moved to the river bottoms, where from 

 one to three supers were secured from each 

 colony. Next year this same stunt might 

 prove an absolute failure, the biggest fac- 

 tors being the queen and the season. 



Washington, Ind. 



KEEPING COMB HONEY IN FLORIDA 



BY E. G. BALDWIN 



To be sure! Everybody knows that there 

 is not a whole lot of comb honey produced 

 in Florida — that is to say, by large pro- 

 ducers in any great numbers. While no 

 exact figures are at hand, probably not one 

 producer in ten is in the comb-honey busi- 

 ness. With the exception of one or two ex- 

 tensive apiarists hardly any beeman at- 

 tempts anything but extracted. 



There are three very cogent reasons for 

 the excess of the extracted-honey production 

 over that of the comb honey. First, the 

 long distance from large markets, or comb- 



honey centers. Rates are high and weather 

 often very warm, and distances great. 



Secondly, the summers are long, warm, 

 and damp. So, also, dui'ing much of the 

 winter season the dampness is in excess, and 

 the weather warm — warm and cool bj' 

 changes. In such weather, as any beeman 

 knows, combs, full capped, will tend to ab- 

 sorb moisture, and this excess of moisture 

 will cause the honey to become thin, and to 

 bulge the cappings; the result is leaking 

 or " weeping," as it is termed, or " sweat- 

 ing." 



