THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



87 



vicinity, and knowing no better 

 way to reach the mass of interested 

 readers, I send them to the popu- 

 lar "Dispatch." 



I make no claim that the vicinity 

 of Orange City is an^'where near as 

 good a location for bees as tlie 

 coast-side of this county (Volusia). 

 I do maintain that beekeeping can 

 be made profitable here, and ma- 

 terially aid in making both ends 

 meet while waiting the bearing of 

 an orange grove. Any one coming 

 to the State with one or two hun- 

 dred colonies, intending to make 

 a specialty of bee-culture, I would 

 advise to locate either on the Hali- 

 fax or Indian rivers. But to those 

 coming to the State to engage in 

 orange or vegetable-culture, wlio 

 have been used to bees, in the 

 iS'orth, and who have made honey 

 a chief article of diet, and who 

 think that they cannot come to the 

 healthy, high, pine land of Florida 

 without giving up their honey, I 

 would sa}^ bring your bees along ; 

 or, if too much trouble, buy after 

 you get here, but don't fail to come, 

 or to keep some, through the mis- 

 taken idea that they wdll not do 

 well here. 



I cannot speak for any other 

 part of the State or count}^ as my 

 observations have been confined 

 to this locality. 



Orange City, being situated, as 

 it is, near the southern end of the 

 "Orange Ridge," is but two and 

 one-half miles from the St. John's, 

 on the west, and about two miles 

 from the Scrub on the south. 

 These furnish good pasturage for 

 bees every month in the year. Be- 

 sides this, within a radius of three 

 miles from the post-otflce, there 

 are 3000 acres of orange grove, 

 one-third of which is in bearing. 

 During the weeks they are in bloom 

 the flow of honey is immense. 



While speaking of Orange City, 

 it may be well to state a few of 

 the advantages it offers to settlers, 



even those who have no idea of 

 keeping bees. As I have said, it 

 is two and a half miles east of the 

 St. John's, and four miles south of 

 the 29th parallel. It is located 

 upon the high, rolling, pine land of 

 first quality. It is incorporated 

 and has a population of over 1000, 

 and the surrounding countr}^ is 

 thickly settled. It is very healthy, 

 as the ridge of hills between it and 

 the river shuts off the miasma 

 from that source. There is but 

 little sickness throughout the year. 

 July 7th, the hottest day of the 

 season, the mercury stood at 100°, 

 at noon, but owing to the ocean 

 breeze, ii:hite men worked out in 

 the open air all day without any 

 discomfort. Society is first-class, 

 as it is made up of intelligent peo- 

 ple from nearly every Sta'te in the 

 Union. The city council has lev- 

 ied a tax of three thousand dollars, 

 to build one of the finest school- 

 houses in the state. There is no 

 saloon in the place, and although 

 a lock-up has been built, for some 

 time it has had but one lodger. 

 Its laws prohil)it cattle and hogs 

 from running at large. It has good 

 water and plenty of it, at a depth 

 of from twelve to thirty feet. All 

 fruits will grow here that will grow 

 north of Indian River. Any one 

 coming up the St. John's to 'settle 

 will do well to stop at Blue Spring, 

 our landing, and give us a call, for 

 seeing is believing. 



But to return to bees. When I 

 first began to inquire about them 

 of the natives, I was told that they 

 would not do well, as the moths 

 destroyed them. And no wonder, 

 as they were kept in cypress "gums" 

 and old boxes, and were "robbed" 

 by having the comb, honey, brood 

 and all cut out, thus weakening 

 them and giving the moths a chance 

 to get in their woi-k, which they 

 did by destroying the rest of the 

 comb and brood, the bees dying oflf 

 in a very short time. 



