c 



130 



X sumption of 

 honey is 

 growing rapidly. 

 From lall sides 

 comes this testi- 

 mony. Not only 

 has the higher 

 price of sugars 



and of all other commodities boosted the 

 price of honey, but larger amounts of hon- 

 ey are now being shipped to foreign coun- 

 tries than when the war began. Like the 

 cotton crop and cotton prices, at first hit 

 hard by the war, now the conditions on the 

 other side really boost prices for honey as 

 well as cotton. The editor of the American 

 Bee Journal, in an editorial in both the 

 December and January issues, calls atten- 

 tion very generously to the great good to 

 the fraternity in general by the widespread 

 advertising of Airline honey. Shortage of 

 fruit the past year, and partial failure of 

 crops in some of the western states, are also 

 mentioned as contributing causes in the 

 raising of prices for honey all over the 

 Union. 



The steady campaigns conducted by many 

 beemen everywhere are having their effect. 

 In this connection we feel like calling at- 

 tention to an excellent article by E. M. Cole 

 in the December number of the American 

 Bee Journal that emphasizes some cogent 

 pointers in widening still more the sales 

 and uses of honey. Mr. Cole says, in sub- 

 stance : " Spread the use of honey, and di- 

 I'ections for its use, in the domestic science 

 courses of all schools, public and private. 

 Also see that the many pancake flours used 

 contain rules for use of honey, instead of 

 the common syrups. Have honey included 

 in the recipes if possible. Educate the 

 companies that send out baking and demon- 

 strating crews to teach the value and pala- 

 tability of honey. Baking-powder concerns, 

 too, offer an attractive field for promulgat- 

 ing the merits of honey. Let every recipe 

 of theirs call for honey, and the demand will 

 grow amazingly. Teach grown people, 

 rather than cliildi-en, tlie usefulness of our 

 product for their particular needs — an arti- 

 cle specially fitted to supply tlie bone and 

 nuiscle tissue, rather than the cells of the 

 growing child. All living near communities 

 of foreign-born people should cultivate that 

 market; for such foreigners are used to eat- 

 ing honey, and often prefer dark grades." 

 * * * 



SPEf'IAL NEEDS OF SPECIAL FIELDS. 



If there is one fact more plain today than 

 any other it is that the directions given and 

 found good for certain locations or climates 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Our Neighbors' Fields 



By E. G. 



1 



Baldv 



W^^^^^^^ 



K 



February, 1917 



— the North, for 

 example, will not 

 necessarily hold 

 good for places 

 elsewhere, nota- 

 oly further 

 south. It looks 

 now, to judge 

 from an article 

 in the Beekeepers' Item for December, as 

 if Texas might soon have an experiment 

 station of its own for apicultural work. It 

 has been pointed out by Louis SchoU and 

 many others that almost all bee - books, 

 bee-magazines, and literature on bees, are 

 all permeated with view-}-- poiints suited 

 largely to beemen in the North. Only of 

 late have southern conditions become 

 the subject and theme of really serious 

 study and investigation. Dr. Phillips, of 

 Washington, is starting in the South, for 

 reasons made clear by him. The need of 

 experimental work, to be carried on from 

 the viewpoint of Texas conditions, is made 

 very evident in the article refen-ed to. Can- 

 ada, Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, and more 

 than a dozen states, have experiment sta- 

 tions. We feel sure that every state in the 

 Union needs its own s^Decial station for 

 studying in a practical and helpful way 

 the particular problems that confront bee- 

 men in those particular locations. May 

 the Texas station speedily materialize. 



A rare source of honey is the button- 

 wood {Conocarpus erecta). This is a tree 

 that grows along muddy or sandy shores 

 in the southern part of the state, on the 

 adjoining Keys, and even on into South 

 America. It is common in the West Indies, 

 and in Central America also. It belongs 

 to the white-mangrove family, tho not re- 

 lated to the black mangrove of the east 

 and west coasts (Avicennia nitida), nor to 

 the so-called red mangrove {Rhizophora 

 mangle), which grows a little further south 

 than the black mangrove. These three 

 mangroves are confusing to a newcomer. 

 Only the black so far has proved to be a 

 heavy yielder; but probably much honey 

 that has been secreted by the white man- 

 grove, in localities where it grows abundant- 

 ly, has been attributed to other sources. A 

 cori'espondent from the East Coast, below 

 Melbourne, Fla., reports that it came into 

 bloom this year about July 30 or early in 

 August. It usually comes soon after black 

 mangrove. T have been unable to secui'e 

 any authentic information regarding the 

 (|ualify of the honey, rather supposing that 

 it is difficult to separate it from other 

 sources. 



