198 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 



Dixie Beekeeping 



By Kenriith Hawkins 



IN my four years of work in the 

 extension office of the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, I have 

 probably been asked more than any 

 other, the question: "Where can 1 

 settle in a good bee location in 

 Dixie?" My advice to the northerner 

 going to Dixie is not to keep bees 

 until he has heen Si mth one seasi 

 and knows something of the location 

 he is going to take up. Otherwise he 

 may be disappointed. There are hun- 

 dreds of good locations in the South 

 for beekeeping, some of which I 

 should like to take up myself. I speak 

 particularly of Louisiana. Florida, 

 Virginia, West Virginia and Ken- 

 tucky. Those who wish to locate in 

 any one of these States should com- 

 municate with the extension division 

 of the several State colleges of agri- 

 culture. Information can be gotten 

 there, far more accurate than mine. 

 on definite locations. 1 spent too 

 much time on the Pullman to know 

 much about particular localities. 



I want to emphasize that in a great 

 portion of the South there is a real 

 wintering problem. In the regions 

 of the Virginias, Maryland, Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and 

 Oklahoma some winter protection is 

 needed. Just how much I do not ven- 

 ture to say. I believe rather heavy 

 packing would pay, in the northern 

 part of the States mentioned. In the 

 other States, certainly better win- 

 ter protection than is given, is 

 needed, in many cases. 



The critical temperature at which 

 bees begin to form a cluster and to 

 generate heat by muscular activity 

 and the consumption of honey, is 57 

 degrees. That was determined by 

 Mr. George Demuth, working with 

 Dr. Phillips, at the Washington bee 

 culture laboratory. That fact will lie 

 accepted without dispute, I think. 



Consider, then, that the weather 

 bureau reports for an average year 

 at Louisville, K\\, show that in a 



A Mississippi rm.T Knit. in 



twelve-month period, there were but 

 sixty-two days when at some time in 

 the day the temperature did not fall 

 to 57 degrees F., or below. 



In the South, and, for that 

 matter in the North, too, there 

 are hundreds of locations where the 

 beekeeper does not get the maximum 

 yield of honey because of poor win- 

 tering. The fact that a colony of 

 bees comes through the winter alive, 

 is not at all a sign that the colony- 

 wintered well. This is a problem to 

 be worked out. Experiment will give 

 the answer. 



Xow, as to sources of honey 

 in the Southern States. The South, 

 as a whole. including all those 

 States south of Maryland, West Vir- 

 ginia, Kentucky, Arkansas and Okla- 

 homa, may be roughly divided into 

 three great areas. The first and 

 northernmost is a mountainous re- 



Carload of bees enroute on the Chattahoochee ri 



gion extending from Maryland to 

 Colorado. The second is a great al- 

 luvial region extending across the 

 entire width of the same section, be- 

 ginning in Southern North Carolina 

 and extending across Central Geor- 

 gia. Alabama, Mississippi, Southeast 

 Arkansas and most of Texas. Below 

 this is the third region, which ex- 

 tends in a way difficult to describe, 

 mostly along the coast of all the 

 States in this region and in some 

 cases for many miles back. 



In the first region, probably 'the 

 three principal mountain sources of 

 honey are basswood, tulip, poplar 

 and sourwood for the region east of 

 the Mississippi river. Also there are, 

 in portions of West Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky and Tennessee, great areas 

 which must be included in the white 

 clover belt, and which are very im- 

 portant sources of that honey. \\ est 

 of the Mississippi the sources of 

 honey are rather indefinite so far as 

 my knowledge goes, as in but few 

 ca es the same honey plants prevail, 

 and in great portions of Arkansas 

 and Oklahoma there are no localities 

 where bees may be profitably kepi 



In the alluvial region, extending 

 across the territory east of the Mis- 

 sissippi river, probably one oi the 

 t prevalent honey plants is gall- 

 lurry, which yields an amber honey, 

 as do sourwood and tulip poplai 

 when mixed with the other flora. In 

 some portions of this section cotton 



a si mrce of honey, and n< Id 

 SOj beans and similar field plants 



form additional important s 



Spe< ial attention must lie called to 

 i lie great region in pari of G 

 and most all of Central Alabama and 

 Mississippi, whet - a gi e it white 

 i \ist s from a nat- 

 ural growth. This is an extremely 

 valuable and safe hoi 



, which, however, is being un- 

 ii d gradually by the introduc- 

 tion of cattle, and the sweet clovei 

 sutlers as a forage crop. 



In the region further south, which 



