I>eci:mber, 1922 



G L ]-: A N I N G S IN B E E CULTURE 



789 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



have u certain advertising value for local 

 beekeepers. 



However, the real benefit derived from 

 these county conventions is the development 

 of that "get-together" spirit which leads 

 to the conception of true co-operation — the 

 thing which is so badly needed in the bee- 

 keeping profession today. 



East Lansing, Mich. Russel H. Kelty. 

 * * » 



In Georgia '^^^ annual meeting of the 



o * Georgia Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation at Hopkins, on the edge of the great 

 Okehnokee Swamp, on August 25 and 26 

 last, was a memorable one. It included a 

 trip on a log train to ''Billy's Island," 20 

 miles from Hopkins in the interior of the 

 swamp. The railroad is built on trestles 

 most of the way and is the only roadway 

 into the interior of the swamp. Along the 

 way we saw an abundance of good honey 

 plants of all kinds peculiar to that region. 

 The pepperbush (C'lethra uiiifolia) was just 

 going out of bloom and is about the last of 

 a list of plants which should keep up a 

 good honey flow from the first day of April 

 to the first of September or later. I am 

 afraid, though, that the swamp will not be 

 occupied by scientific beekeepers for some 

 time to come, as none will be likely to rel- 

 ish the prospct of having wild animals only 

 for neighbors and of having to sit up nights 

 disputing property rights with the numer- 

 ous bears that are said to live there. 



J. J. Wilder has a good many apiaries 

 around the sides of the swamp. We visited 

 one at Hopkins that was composed of black 

 bees which had been transferred from trees 

 and gums in that locality. One of our 

 party, being an adept at such tricks and 

 liaving a veil with him, opened a hive with- 

 out smoke and took out a frame filled with 

 delicious pepperbush honey. By the time we 

 were through sampling it, tliere was not 

 much left. The country around Hopkins is 

 said to be very healthful, there being no 

 malaria. When we returned from the swamp 

 we at once took our cars back to Waycross 

 wher.e we held our final meeting at Mr. Wil- 

 der 's plant. 



We are informed that,, through the vigor- 

 ous efforts of our State Bee Inspector and 

 the co-operation of those whose bees were 

 infected with foul brood, this dread disease 

 has been practically wiped out of our state. 

 Little fear need be entertained of its spread- 

 ing again, as the methods pursued for its 

 eradication were heroic and effectual (fire 

 treatment). 



We have had a continuous, though slow, 

 yield of honey in this section from June 

 until now, due largely to the spread of Mexi- 

 can clover, which seems to stand a drouth 

 well and springs up fresh and green after a 

 good rain. It will be in full bloom until 

 frost kills }t. There is much land here yet 



to be covered with it, but as it makes good 

 hay it will continue to spread rapidly. 



Bees here, and probably all over tlie Coas- 

 tal Plain, are in generally good condition 

 for winter, and little, if any, feeding wlil be 

 necessary except where artificial increase 

 has been made late. The honey market in 

 this region is i)ractically closed as soon as 

 new sugar cane syrup appears on the mar- 

 ket, but the people begin to call for honey 

 again in the sjjring some time before new 

 honey is ready for market, so that those 

 that have honey for sale can regulate them- 

 selves accordingly. 



This year, as usual, our supply of honey 

 gave out while the market was still good, 

 but there seemed to be an unusual amount 

 of honey on the market with prices about 

 10 to 12y^ cents for light extracted in tins 

 and 15 to 20 cents for comb honey. Chunk 

 honey does not sell well in our market. 



Norman Park, Ga. T. W. Livingston. 

 * « » 



In Florida "^^^ drouth from which 

 beekeeping in South Flor- 

 ida has suffered for the past two years has 

 been broken. Heavy rainfalls during Sep- 

 tember and October have brought this sec- 

 tion back to normal. If conditions remain 

 as favorable as they are now, next season 

 should show one of the record crops of 

 honey. 



The past two months have been a heavy 

 drain on stores, as the bees have had little 

 opportunity to work in the field. The fall 

 crop will be light unless the bloom holds 

 out later than usual. Beekeepers in this sec- 

 tion must watch the stores of honey in the 

 hives carefully and not allow their bees to 

 go into the period of no nectar with an in- 

 adequate supply of honey. 



Some beekeepers are complaining that the 

 bees are rearing brood too heavily just now. 

 All bees in this section are carrjdng on extra 

 heavy brood-rearing for this season, and 

 what honey is being brought in is going 

 into bees instead of into the supers. They 

 need not worry, however, as the honey that 

 goes into young bees now will be returned 

 wdth heavy interest by the bumper colonies 

 ne.xt season. Beekeepers must watch now 

 or many colonies that were too closely har- 

 vested in the summer will run short of 

 stores before the nectar flow opens in the 

 spring. All colonies in this section of Flor- 

 ida are now in better condition than they 

 have been at any time during the past three 

 years. 



The past season the black mangrove was 

 again a failure among the Keys, but coral 

 sumac or poisonw^ood, false dogwood, mastic, 

 white mangrove and buttonwood furnished 

 a fair crop of honey. These plants are al- 

 ways a dependable source of honey on the 

 Keys and seldom fail to produce their share 

 of the surplus. All these plants produce an 



