38 BEEKEEPING IN THE SOUTH 



Many beekeepers have been forced to cope with such a situa- 

 tion as a honey dearth for a week or more between two honey 

 flows. This situation may face a beekeeper in certain parts of 

 the South, half a dozen times in a season. Then there are some 

 few locations in the -South where there is seldom ever a honey 

 flow in spring, sufficient to more than sustain the bees. Naturally 

 the bees are slow to build up in spring and may often face star- 

 vation unexpectedly, with the speedy use of their honey for brood. 

 There is one offset to these situations. Honey flows in the South 

 are usually longer than in the clover, buckwheat or alfalfa regions 

 of this country. Otherwise bees might seldom get in shape in 

 time for a honey flow in some of these southern localities. To 

 anyone who has tried to build up weak colonies, with sugar 

 stores alone when all colonies in the yard were weak, and when 

 but little natural pollen was available, — that person knows what 

 the beekeeper faces in such "late" locations of the South. How- 

 ever, in many sections the reverse is true. The problems become, 

 in most cases, to find plans to prevont too rapid building up and 

 to prevent excessive swarming. That remains largely a problem, 

 except for the shippers of combless packages or the man who 

 wants increase. 



The "High" Spots. 



Such a type of honey flows, which might be dubbed "languid" 

 is not without exception. There are a few locations in the 

 South where the entire surplus honey crop of the locality is 

 harvested in a few days. The Appalachicola River region 

 in Florida is one of these. Here titi furnishes some stimulation. 

 Black and white tupelo follow immediately in February and 

 March and furnish the total surplus crop, blooming only a few 

 weeks altogether. To see bees working tupelo in this region is an 

 inspiration. They go "honey crazy." So great is the secretion 

 of nectar that but little attention has been paid to overstocking 

 any tupelo location while the flow is on. Rather the beekeepers 

 there have tried to estimate how much of the nectar goes to 

 waste. 



