158 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



end of which poplar ..unes. Here 

 brood-rearing should be encouraged 

 early. 



In the sandy soil the winter huck- 

 leberry gives a yield which corres- 

 ponds in amount and time with that 

 of poplar. There is also some gall- 

 berry in the extreme eastern part oi 

 the State, but the flow is light and 

 comes at the latter part of the flow 

 from poplar. 



In the Red Hills a strange thing 

 occurs with reference to the flow 

 from cotton. In a small part of this 

 territory it yields well, elsewhere not 

 at all, being only a pollen plant. Cot- 

 ton is extensively grown nearly all 

 over this section, yet it only yields 

 here and there even, apparently, in 

 the same soil and subsoil, and under 

 similar conditions. 



Goldenrod and asters grow more 

 or less here and give a light flow just 



before frost. They are a stimulant, 

 but as a rule no surplus is expected 

 from them. 



Blue Ridge Section 



Bordering on the Red Hills comes 

 the Blue Ridge section, in which con- 

 ditions are entirely different. With 

 an elevation thousands of feet above 

 sea level it is almost an unbroken 

 forest and mountains; not so wide, 

 but extending hundreds of miles 

 forming the great water shed of 

 Dixie land. More people keep bees 

 here than anywhere else, according 

 to population, and the bees are 

 mostly in box-hives and log gums. 

 Modern beekeeping is very slowly 

 penetrating. In Tennessee it seems 

 to have developed somewhat. As a 

 rule, bees are naturally in better 

 shape here than elsewhere, and I 

 hope to live to see what b< ekeeping 

 will be here in the near future. 



In this forest bees follow nature 

 more closely. If they are kept re- 

 queened, with plenty of stores, the 

 only thing in the way of success is 

 weather conditions. 



Locust starts the flow in the latter 

 part of April and gives a good yield 

 for 30 days, though there is no in- 

 clination ti> swarm, so it is not time 

 to make increase. After this, for 

 25 or 30 days, there is no honey- 

 flow; then the chincapin and chest- 

 nut give a very light yield, bees con- 

 suming as fast as they gather. About 

 June 20 a heavy flow comes all at 

 once from basswood. Bees swarm 

 and increase can be made and should 

 all be done on this flow. Closely fol- 

 lowing this, sourwood comes on and 

 a little swarming may be expected at 

 the beginning of this flow, but it 

 should be suppressed, for swarms at 

 this time will not build up sufficiently 

 strong for the winter. This flow lasts 

 for ah. .ut 40 days and is the best one 

 in all that section and can be counted 

 on for most of the surplus. 



At its close a light flow may fol- 

 low from asters, but it is not to be 

 counted on, so plenty of stores must 

 be left from sourwood. 



Cordele, Ga. 



Winter Transferring 



B. J. F. Diemer 



THE final result of the experiment 

 of transferring bees commenced 

 in August and given in the 

 January number of American Bee 

 Journal has turned out very satisfac- 

 tory. Out of the 38 colonies two 

 failed to winter, one being queenless 

 and the other short of stores in the 

 upper hive. The 36 that were left 

 came through the winter in good 

 condition, plenty of bees, brood and 

 honey. The box hives are still nearly 

 full of honey, as there was plenty 

 in the upper hive for them to winter 

 on. In one of your letters you cau- 

 tioned me against trying to transfer 

 in winter the 18 that refused to 

 transfer themselves in the fall. I 

 decided that you were right and 

 thought best to drum them up the 

 first warm day in early winter. This I 

 did by placing a hive body over half 

 full of sealed honey and some pollen 

 on the top of the box hive turned 

 upside down. I was surprised at 

 their readiness to go up in the frame 

 hive; there being no brood in the box 

 hive, it only took a few minutes to 

 chase the whole bunch upstairs. I 

 put the bottom-board under the hive 

 body, leaving the inch hole open, so 

 the bees could move the honey from 

 the box-hive if they would. As it was 

 quite warm today, I looked in all of 

 them and found plenty of bees, brood 

 and honey, all in the upper hive; but 

 they haven't moved much honey out 

 of the box yet. Perhaps they will as 

 the weather gets warm. Perhaps 

 some one would like to know how to 

 get this honey out without melting 

 il and having a muss. This pail of 

 it is past the experimental stage, as 

 I have proved. Just bore a hole in 

 the back end of the frame hivi 

 a hole in the side of the box-hi\ - and 

 connect the two together with a 

 short piece of rubber hose. The bees 

 will do the rest if they have room to 

 store the honey. 



For several years I have bought all 

 the box-hive colonies I could get, 



transferred them, g.i e ;hem an Ital- 

 ian queen and in a few weeks they 

 would look as good as new. A lot of 

 box-hives in a neighborhood is as 

 bad as a case of smallpox in a thea- 

 ter. You may be enjoying the play 

 and at the same time catching the 

 disease. But I am glad to say I have 

 never seen a trace of foulbrood in 

 any of them. Believe me, I am done 

 cutting out old crooked combs and 

 trying to fit them in a good new 

 frame. Of course this has been 

 avoided, but there is still room for 

 improvement. Anyway I had lots of 

 fun out of this job and will be keen 

 to buy more box colonies. 

 Liberty, Mo. 



Co- Operative Selling Pays 

 Texas Honey Producers 



By Chilton Gano 



THAT co-operative marketing can 

 be made to pay right from the 

 start was never better exempli- 

 fied than in the case of the Texas 

 Honey Producers' Association, which 

 has been in operation only a year 

 and a half and has already learned 

 the secret of securing better prices 

 and saving money in purchasing sup- 

 plies. 



The experience of this organization 

 has been so extraordinarily success- 

 ful that the writer believes every 

 beekeeper should read about it. To 

 convince readers of American Bee 

 Journal that the story deserves to be 

 carefully read from beginning to end, 

 some specific figures on the success 

 of the association will be given first, 

 and the career of the association 

 sketched afterwards. The instances 

 were cited to the writer in February 

 by Manager LeStourgeon, of the 

 Texas Honey Producers. 



A member of the association had 

 SSS7 pounds of honey for sale, packed 

 in eight oak barrels. He was offered 

 8 1-3 cents per pound and was ready 

 and willing to sell it. The associa- 

 tion learned of the matter and asked 

 to be permitted to handle the busi- 

 ness. The request was granted and 

 the honey sold to a New York firm 

 at 12H cents per pound. 



Another member had several tons 

 of rather strong and unpleasantly 

 flavored honey which he had been 

 willing at one time to sell for 4 or 5 

 cents per pound, for baking or feed- 

 ing purposes. He decided to put it in 

 the hands of the association, and it 

 was sold at 10 to 12 cents a pound. 

 Saved $76 on Cans 



In saving money on purchases of 

 supplies results have been equally 

 good. One member of the associa- 

 tion who needed a car of honey cans 

 • cured price quotations from his 

 dealers, thus learning t He lowest fig- 

 ures at which he could buy through 

 that channel. He then placed the or- 

 der with the association, and saved 

 $76 on the transaction. 



A non-member of the association 

 not long ago sold 135 pounds of wax 

 to a San Antonio dealer at 28 cents a 

 pound. The association, at the time, 

 was paying 30 cents a pound, at San 



