64 BEEKEEPING IN THE SOUTH 



bees and for the early shipment of pound packages of bees. 

 Many bees in such locations are run for packages alone, as the 

 surplus season frequently closes early. In locations like Texas, 

 where mesquite, a principal source of surplus honey, may bloom 

 two or three times in a season, it is possible to get honey in addi- 

 tion to bees. The shipment of queens and packages ceases earlier 

 in the tropical locations, than a little further north, because of 

 the higher temperatures of summer and because of the later 

 demand for bees from more northern points. 



One of the hardest problems of the man who ships packages 

 of bees, from any of the locations north of the tropics, is to fur- 

 nish the necessary queen bees at the time the packages are 

 shipped. In many cases the package shipper is not a queen breed- 

 er. The demand for packages without queens is comparatively 

 light. Breeders of the far South ha^■e solved this problem. 

 With their bees at swarming pitch by the time the package man 

 makes ready to ship, the queens to accompany the packages 

 are often reared a few hundred miles further south, as by B. M. 

 Caraway for T. W. Burleson, both of Texas. 



Bee Pests. 



There is no locality in the tropics where insect pests and 

 even animal pests do not ha^-c to be figured on. This is more 

 especially true of Florida than Texas. "Bee hawks," a common 

 name for large dragon flies, ha^•e often proved to be preventa- 

 tives of successful rearing queen bees in the swampy tropics, 

 at certain seaf"ons ot the year. Queen bees prove easy prey to 

 the dragon ifies, and many missing queens is frequently the lot 

 of the breeder in such localities. 



Mud wasps ha^e proved to bo another source of frequent 

 annoyance in portions of couth Florida where they often take 

 possession of empty combs and sheets of foundation, while bees 

 may be in possession of other parts of the hi^-e. In Florida the 

 writer visited a number of beekeepers who showed him combs 

 with patches of brood chewed out nearly as large as the hand, 

 which was blamed to tree-toads. The beekeepers reported having 



