GLEANINGS IN BEE C U L TURK 



September, 1920 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



Cabbage palmetto, tho putting out the big- 

 gest bloom for years, has yielded nothing so 

 far, and the heaviest of the bloom has 

 blighted or is over. Partridge pea is more 

 abundant than usual, but is not producing 

 much, and will give only a small crop. Pros- 

 pects are good for a fall flow. 



Apopka, Fla. ITiiny Hewitt. 



In Southern Indiana. 



We are hav- 

 ing the driest 

 time ever experienced — even drier than ever 

 dreamed of by the promoters of the Bone- 

 Dry Amendment. Beekeepers are all hoping 

 for at least a little near-rain. This has not 

 been considered a good locality for the pro- 

 duction of honey; but, since the farmers are 

 learning the value of sweet clover, things 

 are looking up a bit in the bee line. This 

 year we had one of the heaviest flows from 

 sweet clover ever experienced in this sec- 

 tion; but, as the weather turned very hot 

 and dry, the sweet-clover flow lasted only 

 about two weeks; so many colonies did no 

 more than fill the brood-nest. However, 

 the colonies that were in first-class shape, 

 with a large hive well-filled with brood and 

 boiling over with bees just as this flow 

 opened, gave a surplus of a hundred pounds 

 or more per colony. In this connection, I 

 wish to state tha-t I believe very few bee- 

 keepers fully realize the importance of hav- 

 ing the "Storing Instinct Dominant,'' as 

 Mr. Demuth puts it. Nothing will make 

 bees speed up on food production like having 

 jilenty of fully drawn comb right next 

 to the brood-nest. I had a marked il- 

 lustration of this during this short 

 flow. A number of cell-building colo- 

 nies were getting their hives filled up. 

 They were not crowded, as they had 

 empty combs in the super. However, I be- 

 lieved they could work a little fas'ter if they 

 l;;i(l more room; so I gave them an extra 

 .luinljo hi\-e-l)ody each with fully drawn 

 combs. I also removed from the brood-nest 

 tlie fr;inies that were filled with honey, re- 

 placing them with empty combs. Next day 

 it was really laughable to see those bees 

 hustle. It looked like a hundred rapid-fire 

 guns shooting bees in and out of the en- 

 trance. It seemed almost incredible that 

 they could pass each other at such high 

 speed without having a head-on collision. 

 At any rate it made one feel that they ought 

 to take out a little accident insurance. In 

 live days' time they, had ,the Jumbo hive- 

 body well filled with honey. 



Smartweed is our best honey plant here, 

 but the drv weather has knocked it out com- 

 pletely. We have one plant, however, that 

 thrives best in hot dry weather. It is known 

 bv several names, dry weather vine, blue 

 vine, and climbing milkweed. As it does not 

 yield in wet seasons that are favornble to 

 smartweed, we are reasonablv certain of at 



least a little fall honey for the bees' winter 

 stores. It grows in the cornfields along the 

 White River, the Wabash, and the Ohio. 

 Last Sunday we "flivvered" up to historic 

 Ft. Knox on the Wabash, and I noticed that 

 the cornstalks were fairly loaded with this 

 dry weather vine, and between the rows on 

 the ground it formed in places a regular 

 carpet. This field had been well cultivated; 

 but, as the roots of the plant go dowii sev- 

 eral feet into the ground, the cultivator 

 merely cuts off the tops of the plant, and 

 it soon comes on again. I do not know how 

 this looked to the corn-grower, but to a bee- 

 keeper it was a most beautiful piece of scen- 

 ery. The quality of this honey is of the 

 very finest, in my judgment comparing fa- 

 vorably with the famous California sage or 

 star thistle honey. Some have reported that 

 this honey sours quickly. I believe this is 

 due to one of two causes, either it is extract- 

 ed too soon or it is mixed with the wild 

 cucumber. If the dry weather vine honey 

 is allowed to become thoroly ripened, it will 

 not sour and is of heavy body so that it will 

 pour out of a tin can very slowly, even in 

 hot weather. One x^arty reports to me that 

 he had some so thick that he could not ex- 

 tract it. 



This dry weather has given a body to the 

 sweet-clover honey and the quality is ex- 

 ceptionally good. Good demand at 40 cents 

 per section for comb honey. 



Vincennes, Ind. Ja^y Smith. 



* * * 



Tj. Texas ^^^^ general condition of tho 



honey plants has changed 

 for the better. This does not mean that the 

 honey flow is increasing, but it does mean 

 that all over the State there is a normal flow. 

 The horsemint has just finished a prolonged 

 iiiid productive season; and, in many sec- 

 tions, the mesquite is giving a summer flow. 

 All over the State, where cotton is nectar 

 pi'oducing, the bees are stoi'ing honey. In 

 the greater part of Te.xas, there arc a few 

 weeks in midsummer when there are but few 

 plants in bloom. This jieriod occurred early 

 this year, as already the broomweed, the 

 bitterweed, the frost plant, the asters, and 

 the goldenrods give promise of a heavy 

 .\iekl. Como, the shrub that gives a honey 

 flow in October and November in southwest 

 7exas, surprised the oldest beemen by bloom- 

 ing and giving i\ lioiun- flow in the middle 

 of .luly. 



This ycai' will lie long rem(Mnl)('i('(l by l)ee- 

 kecjiers as one in which liigh averages were 

 reached. One man reports 100 pounds per 

 colony from 900 stands. One yard of 56 

 stands produced 176 pounds per colony. 

 Alany higher averages have been reported, 

 but we know that the above were properly 

 weighed and counted. If the remainder of 

 the season is normal, there will be another 

 extraction from the above hives. 



The larger proportion of the honey in 



