474 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



as on his first inspection. This attracted his atten- 

 tion, and investigation showed two entire colonies 

 occupying one hive and one common entrance. One 

 was in the upper story on one side, and the other 

 was in the lower story on the other side. Very like- 

 ly this state of affairs would not have worked after 

 the basswood season had closed. 



A WORD TO THOSE WHO WRITE MATTER FOR GLEAN- 

 INGS. 



Dear friends, although 1 would not for any thing 

 have you cease giving us facts from experience be- 

 cause you have not the faculty for putting them in 

 nice shape ready for print, I would suggest that you 

 take a little more pains with matter intended for 

 publication. It is true we can sift out what we con- 

 sider to be valuable, and cross out the rest; but 

 those who have tried this know that it is a very la- 

 borious process ,and oftentimes unsatisfactory to 

 either parties when done. Can you not, when com- 

 municating facts, separate them from each other by 

 "small-cap" headings, such as you see we use 

 throughout our articles and Heads of Grain? Keep 

 business and personal matters on a different sheet 

 from that which you intend for print. Bear in mind 

 that space is valuable, and we want in nothing but 

 that gives real value to our readers. Of course, we 

 want pleasantry and good nature; for cheerfulness 

 is as helpful as dollars and cents. But please bear 

 in mind that we want to hear from as many as pos- 

 sible, and therefore we can not permit any single 

 individual to cover any great amount of space un- 

 less he has something important to communicate. 

 Let us have valuable hints, brief and to the point, 

 from a great number each mvjnth. Will not that be 

 the best way? 



FRIEND FliANAGAN'S VISIT TO THE 

 SOUTH. 



C. O. PERRINE'S FLOATING APIARY — REMNANTS OF 

 IT. 



ilrh'^ Feb. 1, 1883, 1 started on a trip south. When 

 toJj)) 1 left Belleville the thermometer was nearly at 

 zero. When I reached friend McKenzie's, 

 near New Orleans, 3 days later, it was 80° in the 

 shade; bees were flying, and gathering honey from 

 an early variety of willow. I saw and gathered 

 many varieties of roses, blooming in the open air, 

 and white clover and the dewberry (a species or 

 variety of blackberry) was in bloom also. I saw no 

 bees on any thing but the willow, which in all the 

 lower Mississippi is very abundant. There are three 

 or four varieties of willow following each other in 

 their order of blooming, making or prolonging the 

 honey-yield some 6 or 8 weeks. The white clover, 

 much to my surprise, was very abundant. I learn 

 that, though it blooms as early as the first of Febru- 

 ary, it seldom yields honey before May, and even 

 then not with certainty. After the willow, maple, 

 and white clover cease, there is but little honey 

 gathered till in the fall; then the wild vines, among 

 them the black-jack, the cow-itch, and others, al- 

 ways yield well ; and the goldenrod, where abundant, 

 can be depended on for an abundant yield. I found 

 that very little comb honey is raised, as there seems 

 to be no demand for it, even at as low a price as ex- 

 tracted honey brings; and besides, from some cause 

 It is found to be very difficult to keep it in a market- 

 able condition during the hot summer weather. 

 In company with friend McKenzie, near Carrollton, 



I visited several apiaries, among them that of E. 

 Stahl, of Kenner, who had as fine an apiary, consist- 

 ing of nearly 300 colonies in L. hives, as one would 

 care to see in point of strength of bees and arrange- 

 ment of hives, etc. I found him eager and willing 

 to adopt all modern improvements, and he intends 

 to Italianize his stock, and thus improve his bees. 



I also visited a remnant of C. O. Perrine's famous 

 floating apiary. It is situated some distance above 

 the city of New Orleans, in the midst of a willow 

 and cypress swamp; and from the report of the man 

 in charge (friend Perrine is generally either in Cali- 

 fornia or Chiciigo), I learn they get considerable 

 quantities of extracted honey, bolh in the spring, 

 from the willow, and in the fall, from the goldenrod 

 and other fall flowers. If proximity to pasturage 

 is an advantage, they certainly should do well therp, 

 as it extends from the very hives, for miles in all 

 direction. This apiary contains about ITS colonies 

 in L. hives, principally blacks and hybrids. 



FRIEND VIALLON'S APIARY AND BEE-HIVE FACTORY. 



From Perrine's apiary we went to Bayou Goula, 

 the home of friend Viallon, one of the most exten- 

 sive, progressive, and enterprising apiarists of the 

 South. We found the factory in full blast under the 

 management of friends Olin, father and son, who, I 

 understand, learned and graduated in bee-keeping 

 under friend Root, of Meduia, Ohio. We received 

 a most cordial welcome, and every attention one 

 could desire, and discused all points of progressive 

 bee culture; and though friend V. does not entirely 

 indorse the views of some of our leading apiarists in 

 regard to Api>^ Americana, or the coming bee, he 

 certainly raises and sends out bees and queens 

 second to none. He has some 400 or 500 colonies in 

 splendid condition, and a large number of nucleus 

 hives, with fine tested queens. We shall not soon 

 forget the pleasant and profitable hours we spent 

 with friend V., who, by the way, has had a view of 

 his apiary taken, which I ask you to give us an en- 

 graving of in Gleanings; but let the engraver or 

 artist do his utmost, he can not possibly make it so 

 beautiful as the original, with the grand old live- 

 oaks and magnolias, and beautiful evergreen shrubs, 

 many kinds in full bloom, while we of the North are 

 suffering from blizzards and zero weather. It was 

 with feelings of regret that I turned my face north- 

 ward. So busy were friend McK. and T, while I en- 

 joyed the hospitality that is proverbial of the South, 

 we did not look at a single colony of his bees, though 

 he has quite a large apiary. On th« morning of leav- 

 ing, he and his worthy wife gathered a large num- 

 ber of roses, and magnolias; and with shrubs, and 

 leaves of the sago palm, and Japan plums, and the 

 long gray moss of the Southern swamps, made me a 

 large package, which I carefully brought home; and 

 when unpacked were found to be as fresh and bright 

 as when gathered; and surely they formed a con- 

 ti-ast to the snow and sleet that prevailed out of 

 doors. 



In conclusion, I must say that it does one a great 

 deal of good to go occasionally from home (especial- 

 ly if he can combine pleasure and business), and see 

 how the friends live in other parts of our great 

 country; and I trust you, friend Root, will go to see 

 some of our Southern friends another season, when 

 the contrast in climatic conditions is the greatest 

 and most enjoyable; and I assure you beforehand, 

 on their behalf, that they will give you a cordial 

 welcome, and bid yon copie again. 



Belleville, 111, E. T. Fi^anagan, 



