THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



9 



is taking many of the vacant groves 

 and fields. Georgia clover, also called 

 Mexican clover, has started, and is 

 fast on the increase. The partridge 

 pea, a big yielder in the northern 

 part of Florida, and southern Georgia, 

 has started here several years ago, 

 and now there are many acres of it. 

 The water hyacynth is rapidly taking 

 the ponds and water courses. Years 

 ago, orange flow was not thought of; 

 now the yields average fifty pounds 

 orange honey per hive, every year. 

 Some hives will exceed 100 lbs. of 

 this honey yearly. One mile here 

 makes a big difference in honey 

 sources. We have palmetto bloom 

 everywhere that gives a rich, fine- 

 flavored honey, and some years back 

 yielded as much as 200 lbs. per col- 

 ony. Now the average is about 50 

 lbs. from this source. Mangrove is 

 a heavy yielder, and there are thou- 

 sands of acres unoccupied. 



I will name some of our honey 

 plants in rotation, then one great and 

 new source, and a great surprise to 

 all: February, pennyroyal; February 

 and March, maple, myrtle, pennyroy- 

 al, willow, grange Spanish needle, 

 etc.; March and April, orange per- 

 simmon, live oak, gallberry; May and 

 June, saw palmetto; June and July, 

 mangrove, also woodvines and the 

 prickly ash, and also cabbage pal- 

 metto. August has heretofore count- 

 ed as naught. Here are a few words 

 from one of our former apiarists of 

 the state relative to the month of 

 August. It is from Mr. O. O. Pop- 

 pleton, of Stewart, Fla. 



"Mr. C. H. Clute, Bradentown, Fla. 



Dear Sir: — Yours of the 1st inst. re- 

 ceived. No, I know of no place in 

 Florida at all sure of a flow of honey 

 in August. There is a weed, a Thor- 

 oughwort, commencing to come in 

 spots along the east coast that some- 

 times, but rarely yields in August, 

 but it is not yet abundant. It may 

 yield in a few years enough to be- 

 come valuable." 



Mr. Poppleton had his eyes on this 

 plant. I had no hope for the month 

 of August as a honey month. In the 

 past two years there have been thou- 

 sands of acres drained by a big canal, 

 and now here comes the Thorough- 

 wort, as Mr. Poppleton mentioned, 

 and in abundance. Also besides the 

 Thoroughwort are thousands of acres 

 of Smart weed, a new source of fine, 

 white honey that yields heavily. It 

 grows from two to three feet in 



height, and will last far into the win- 

 ter. There are also large areas of 

 wild Sunflower, standing ten to fif- 

 teen feet high, that will soon, begin to 

 bloom, yielding heavily but of an in- 

 ferior grade of honey. It will easily 

 color the light colored Smart weed 

 honey. There is at present only one 

 apiary moved to this region, as it is 

 hard to reach, though it is only one 

 and one-half miles from a depot. This 

 large section is going to be a great 

 boon to beemen, and will soon, no 

 doubt, be all occupied, when its great 

 merits become known. 



The average apiary, even three 

 miles away, is now getting dark 

 honey. The September flow is large- 

 ly from sea myrtle, Spanish needles; 

 October from Spanish needles, golden 

 rod, and later also from Land Myr- 

 tle and Sunflower. With salt water 

 goldenrod and a host of other bloom. 

 Spanish needle blooms twice a year, 

 the Myrtle, also Orange blooms some 

 years a second time in June; penny- 

 royal blooms the fore part of the 

 winter. There are several other kinds 

 of plants that I have not named 

 which are fine as helpers in the total 

 yield. Many Eucalyptus trees are be- 

 ing set out hereabouts, also some 

 buckwheat, sumac, lots of cucumbers 

 in winter, and also squash. Bees here 

 today (October 10th) are getting red 

 pollen, and one mile from here the 

 pollen is all white. Bees at Terra- 

 cea, Fla., are getting Spanish needle 

 and golden rod honey; bees by the 

 canal are gathering from golden rod 

 and Thoroughwort, but not from 

 Spanish needle. 



Yours respectfully, 



C. H. CLUTE. 



(The above article from Mr. Clute 

 shows his enthusiasm, and his un- 

 bounded faith in his section, as the 

 banner section of Florida, for honey 

 production. It also proves our cor- 

 respondent's unselfish willingness to 

 share with brother beemen whatever 

 advantages may be in the location 

 named. Many an apiarist would wish 

 to hide his good news under a bushel, 

 and keep all to himself. We com- 

 mend this attitude as illustrated in 

 the article above. While we admit 

 much of what Mr. Clute says, we 

 wish to call attention to one or two 

 items in the paper that may need 

 some explanation. First of all. Pal- 

 metto is on the north side of Manatee 

 River, not far from Bradentown, 

 about 20 miles from Port Tampa, 



