76 BEEKEEPING IN THE SOUTH 



ing to George H. Hummer of Prairie Point, Mississippi. If the 

 beekeeper in many parts of this belt can bring his colonies through 

 alive, even though weak, he can build them in time for the 

 crop. The excellent wintering, so necessary to a honey crop 

 further north, is not so necessary here. A temperature as low 

 as 10° F. below zero has been recorded near Atlanta, Georgia, 

 Birmingham, Alabama, and Greenville, Mississippi, according 

 to the U. S. Weather Bureau. However, this is the exception. 



Deeper Brood Chambers. 



One item of progress which is to be noticed here is the gradual 

 placing of the eight-frame hive and all hives of small brood cham- 

 ber size, into the discard. The standard ten-frame dovetailed 

 hive is found in use by most of the beekeepers in the western 

 section of this region. In Georgia and South Carolina, where 

 smaller hives have been used in the past, sentiment is also 

 changing toward a bigger body. In Georgia and northern Florida 

 many beekeepers have in the past used an eight-frame body and 

 a shallow extracting super in addition, for the brood chamber. 

 This is continued to some extent and is also serviceable where 

 it is not feasible to leave all the "winter" honey in the brood 

 chamber in the fall. Bees wintered with the brood chamber filled 

 with honey may then be given the shallow super of honey in the 

 spring when a dearth may threaten, or a few weeks before the 

 main honey flow. However in much of this alluvial territory, 

 the entire supply of honey is left on the hive. But the need of a 

 larger brood chamber than is afforded by the eight-frame hive 

 and in some cases by the ten-frame hive, is noticeable. Many 

 beekeepers of this section run the year through with two full ten- 

 frame bodies for the brood chamber. It is our opinion that this 

 custom increases as one goes west from the Atlantic coast, 

 across the South. In all parts of this territory, excessive swarm- 

 ing is a real problem. Some of the largest apiaries in the world 

 are located in the centre of this belt and with them are found some 

 of the best beekeepers in the country. 



Cotton as a Honey Plant. 



One of the distinct features of the honey plants of the alluvial 



