May, 1917 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



381 



ing a little later than usual this season. 

 But, be on the alert to lake advantage of 

 the first steady warm weather and honey- 

 flow. .J. ,^ ^ 



By the way, when you are rearing and 

 introducing your queens don't fail to try out 

 that honey method of introducing queens; 

 then report. But don't fail to close the 

 hive, almost, and see that robbing does not 

 start. Never mind taking honey from the 

 same hive. Any honey will do. That i.s 

 not the secret. The secret, if there is any, 

 is in using plenty of honey, and almost 

 closing the entrance. 



* * » 



At tliis date, April 1, we note with pleas- 

 ure that, while the mangrove in the vicinity 

 of New Smyrna, and near the shore at that, 

 is frozen practically down to the roots, eight 

 miles further south, near Oak Hill, and 

 further out in the water, it is hardly hurt 

 ]ierceptibly. There may be a crop from it 

 this year as big as ever. Let us hope. 



* * * 



We might almost call the month of May 

 the month of scrub palmetto. April, May, 

 and June are all, it is true, graced and 

 beautified by those queenly racemes of 

 creamy white that droop, plume-like, amid 

 the saw-blade leaves and palmy fronds of 

 the saw palmetto {Sahal serrulata). But 

 the major part of all the honey secured 

 from this source is secured in the charm- 

 ing month of May ; hence the assertion that 

 heads tliis paragraph. It begins to bloom 

 about the end of March in the extreme 

 southern portion of the peninsula, the 

 blooming period creeping up the calendar 

 as the bloom creeps up the state, till in the 

 vicinity of the 29th parallel (the northern 

 limit of profitable secretion ) , the yield falls 

 mostly into late May and early June; and 

 so nearly two months elapse between the 

 two extremes of blooming time. 



* * * 



Cold winds and chilling weather are 

 over; all colonies are strong, if normal, and 

 drones are plentiful. Oddly enough, in 

 districts near orange-groves, all swarming 

 is over by palmetto time. The bees seem 

 to swarm themselves out, and by this time 

 are settled down to business in dead earne;st. 

 These columns have often directed attention 

 to the fact that the blossoms of this palmet- 

 to are extremely susceptible to changes in 

 temperature, etc. Too dry weather during 

 bloom will wither the blossoms, and too 

 much moisture will mildew them. In those 

 " oS " seasons, thousands of flies, moths, 

 wasps, butterflies, and sweat bees will visit 

 the blossoms, throng over and about them, 

 but nary a honeybee. Why this is, I could 



never determine. But such are the facts. 

 In the vicinity of New Smyrna we count 

 on a good yield from this source about 

 once in three years, and perhaps a fair 

 yield every other year. At present writing 

 (April 3) the racemes of blossoms are full 

 length, fully a month earlier than usual 

 here. It looks like a good palmetto year, 

 but you never can tell. 



* * * 



There is no finer honey in the country 

 than pure scrub-palmetto honey (the term 

 " scrub " is locally applied to the saw pal- 

 metto). And, thank goodness! it is not 

 affected by frosts. This year, after the 

 disastrous freeze of February, the beekeep- 

 er welcomes anything that will keep its vi- 

 tality and grow and yield honey thru cold 

 and heat alike. Almost all portions of the 

 state feel the beneficial effects of saw-pal- 

 metto bloom; but only near the lagoons, 

 marshes, hummocks, and river courses, or 

 sea coasts, does it really produce surplus 

 in paying quantities. In favorable locali- 

 ties the yield per colony may reach an aver- 

 age of 100 lbs. ; and what a honey it is ! — 

 pale lemon in hue, thick as molasses in Jan- 

 uary; in body, clear, aromatic — food for 

 the gods. Mr. 0. 0. Poppleton pronounced 

 it the finest honey in Florida. 



There is no better time for requeening 

 than the blooming period of saw i^almetto. 



* * sj 



The following quotation from a large 

 manufacturing concern in our state will 

 speak for itself : 



Dear Sir: — W^e shall be glad to receive a sample 

 of your honey. We are using honey actively and 

 prefer to buy it from, Florida producers rather than 

 send to Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, or 

 Boston. Yours very truly, 



Such signs as this point to an increasing- 

 consumption of our own honeys within our 

 own borders; and the more Florida uses in 

 her own boundaries, the less will need to be 

 shipped north to glut the markets there. 

 It is to be hoped that our state may come 

 into the position of Texas, that consumes 

 so large a per cent of her own products, 

 and very much to her credit. We urge 

 Florida beemen to ship all honey to Florida 

 jobbers so far as jjossible. 



* * * 



The sources of honey in Florida seem to 

 be increasing; at least, beemen are dis- 

 covering that more and more plants and 

 trees and slirubs are nectariferous. Not 

 long ago a plant was sent in for analysis 

 from the southern part of the state — a 

 plant that proved to be the redroot {Gyro- 

 theca tinctoria,) which is reported to yield 

 honey in considerable quantities. It begins 

 to bloom in the middle of June, or a little 



