SPACING FRAMES 
767 
eastward it extends in places as far as tide¬ 
water arid westward to central Tennessee. 
It is planted for ornament as far north as 
Massachusetts, but as a source of nectar it 
is chiefly valuable in the mountainous re¬ 
gions of North Carolina, South Carolina, 
and Tennessee. It flourishes on high dry 
soil, and is common on poor woodland 
ridges, but in the forest along the rivers, 
where the soil is rich and deep, it makes a 
much larger growth, and the forests are of¬ 
ten beautifully checkered in July by the 
white blossoms. On the Piedmont Plateau in 
North Carolina it is frequently a scraggy 
tree not exceeding 30 feet in height. In 
the dense forests the trunk is tall and un¬ 
branched, and furnishes fine straight- 
grained lumber used by cabinet makers. 
The name of the genus, Oxydendrum, is 
Greek, signifying sour wood. 
Sourwood begins blooming about June 
20, and the harvest from this source usu¬ 
ally lasts until the latter part of July. The 
urn-shaped corolla is pendulous and con¬ 
tracted at the mouth, so that the bountiful 
supply of nectar is protected both from 
rain and useless insects. Sourwood is con¬ 
sidered one of the most important honey- 
producing trees of the South. The nectar is 
secreted in such abundance that it may be 
shaken in small drops from the bloom. The 
honey flow is usually dependable; and in lo¬ 
calities, where it is abundant, the beekeeper 
seldom misses a harvest. Altho compared 
with some other honey plants the season is 
short, there is no difficulty in securing a 
profitable crop. In northwest North Caro¬ 
lina the surplus comes largely from this 
source, and the flow is reliable three years 
in five. At Brookneal, Virginia, there is a 
total failure about one year in four. As 
the honey flow comes so late the beekeeper 
has ample opportunity to build up strong 
colonies which can gather nectar very rap¬ 
idly during the short honey flow. 
Under favorable conditions, sourwood 
honey is produced in enormous quantities, 
but it is seldom found in the markets out¬ 
side of the region in which it is gathered. 
It is nearly all consumed in the localities 
where it is produced, as it is regarded ns 
one of the finest-flavored honeys in the 
United States, and often commands in local 
markets a premium of a few cents per 
pound. The honey is white or light colored, 
with a delicious, slightly aromatic flavor, 
and is very slow to granulate. It is, how¬ 
ever, often mixed with basswood honey, or 
with persimmon honey gathered earlier in 
the season. 
Few are acquainted with the merits of 
sourwood outside of the region where it is 
an important source of honey, and it is 
sometimes confused with black gum and 
sour gum, much to its disparagement. A 
beekeeper, familiar with the' honeys of 
basswood, tulip tree, clover, buckwheat, 
goldenrod, and aster, declares that it has 
no superior among the honey-producing 
trees of the United States either in its 
beautiful appearance or in the amount of 
nectar secreted. 
SPACING FRAMES.— In nature combs 
will be found spaced from 1%, 1V 2 , 1%, 
and sometimes up to two inches from cen¬ 
ter to center. Dzierzon, one of the very 
first to conceive the idea of a movable 
comb, gave l 1 /^ as the right distance until 
Wyprecht made accurate measurements in 
straw hives having straight combs built in 
them. Out,of 49 measurements, the aver¬ 
age distance was scant 1% inches. Baron 
von Berlepsch, by 40 other' measurements, 
verified this result. In the United States, 
prominent apiarists have found the dis¬ 
tance of natural-built combs averaged 1 
inches from center to center. It has been 
observed that, in the center of the brood- 
nest, the combs are spaced more closely 
than those on the outside, the latter rang- 
