E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE dULTURE 





A BEEKEEPER addressing Gleanings be- 

 gins :i complaint against Southern queen- 

 and bee-rearers by 

 Too Early saying that there 



Orders. seems to be a strife 



between Southern 

 breeders as to who can advertise earliest de- 

 livery of queens and bees; and adds that 

 since our seasons seem to be getting later 

 each year and breeders unable to fill orders 

 on time, a great deal of loss and disappoint- 

 ment is experienced by buyers of beos and 

 queens, and especially by inexperienced buy- 

 ers. 



As we see it, both parties are at fault in 

 this matter; the breeder, because he prom- 

 ises delivery at a time which is at best un- 

 certain; and the buyer, because (with in- 

 sufficient knowledge of the business) he 

 tries to do something that the experienced 

 beeman would not attempt, namely, to build 

 up colonies from pound packages in too 

 early spring. Where these packages are or- 

 dered for the purpose of strengthening weak 

 colonies it is well enough to get them early, 

 altho they would probably do just as much 

 good if they were not received until settled 

 warm weather; but where they are wanted 

 for starting colonies it is much safer to wait 

 until after the season of cold, rainy weather 

 which we are so likely to have during the 

 early fruit bloom. 



a IP ^ C H =3a 



"TOO MUCH LAND to navigate, and too 



much water to cultivate." This is a literal 



statement concern- 



An Eye-opener — 



Conditions 



in the Southeast. 



ing some of the 

 best bee country 

 the Editor has 

 visited in some 25,- 

 000 miles of travel during the last year. 

 It has been commonly believed that the 

 great bee operations would hereafter have 

 to be confined to that portion of the coun- 

 try west of the Mississippi, and particularly 

 to those States where irrigation is practic- 

 ed; but during the last few weeks the Edi- 

 tor has had his eyes opened. It is, perhaps, 

 not wise to indulge in prophecies; but he 

 ventures to predict that the greatest devel- 

 opment in bee culture in the next 10 years 

 will be thruout the Atlantic coastal plain 

 along the rivers and streams from Virginia 

 to Texas. While there are wonderful op- 

 portunities opening up in the Appalachian 

 Mountains, the great future, undoubtedly, 

 lies largely within 100 miles of the south- 

 east Atlantic coast. Government statistics 

 go to show that there are more bees and 

 beekeepers in North Carolina, South Caro- 

 lina, and Georgia, than in any other section 



of equal area in the United States. While 

 Government statistics are none too reliable 

 in that they do not take into account many 

 of the professional beekeepers and small 

 beekeepers located in the towns and cities; 

 yet for the purpose of comparison they show 

 that the area mentioned has more bees, 

 mainly in box hives and log gums, than else- 

 where, unless we except two or three of the 

 western States. 



The very fact that bees under that kind 

 of haphazard management (under which the 

 best colonies are brimstoned, only second- 

 rate colonies kept, and all second and third 

 swarms lost) can live on year after year, 

 shows there must be something extraordi- 

 nary in the territory. What could be done 

 under intelligent management with modern 

 equipment and saving all the bees can only 

 be guessed. 



At the present time box hives and log 

 gums in this territory are rapidly giving 

 way to modern equipment and management, 

 thanks to U. S. Government and State aid. 

 But there are thousands upon thousands of 

 colonies in gums that can be had from $1.50 

 to $4.00 a colony; and these, when trans- 

 ferred into modern hives, are serving as 

 wonderful object-lessons. 



It has been generally believed that the 

 honey of the Southeast is of inferior quali- 

 ty. Nothing could be further from the ac- 

 tual truth. Gallberry is found all the way 

 from North Carolina along the coast and up 

 the rivers to Texas; and pure gallberry hon- 

 ey, without admixture of tupelo, is so much 

 like that from white clover with a little 

 basswood mixed that it would take an ex- 

 pert to tell the difference. The tupelos and 

 the black gums are found along the rivers, 

 and yield a very superior light-colored hon- 

 ey. There is also the huckleberry, high and 

 low bush, that yields an inferior honey that 

 comes on to give a boost to the bees. Black- 

 berry bushes, a very reliable source of hon- 

 ey for stimulating, are everywhere, up in 

 the mountains and on the coastal plains. 

 Cotton is all over the South and yields a 

 good honey. Then there comes the titi — an 

 inferior honey compared with those men- 

 tioned, but very abundant further south- 

 ward. Running up thru the north-central 

 section of Florida is the partridge pea, a 

 wonderful yielder furnishing honey for three 

 months. 



In southeast Georgia, where the gallberry 

 is at its best, and where also grow the tu- 

 pelos and the black gums, are some of the 

 largest and most up-to-date beekeepers of 

 the country. For example, there is J. J. 

 Wilder with 10,000 colonies, and a half- 



