February, ? 20] 
PELLETT: SYSTEM AND LOCALITY 
97 
brood in spring, the upper story is removed and given a ripe queen cell. 
With the late flow it is possible to have two colonies instead of one for 
the gathering of the crop. In a situation of this kind, poor wintering 
is not nearly as disastrous,—providing, of course, that the bees come 
through alive,—as it is where there is only one flow and that very early. 
In the vicinity of Washington, D. C., tulip-tree, often spoken of as 
“ poplar, ” is the principal source. Because it blooms so early that the 
bees are seldom ready for the flow, the vicinity is generally regarded 
as a poor location for beekeeping. Yet an average of something like 
100 pounds of surplus honey per colony is gathered at the government 
apiary where careful wintering is practiced. 
In the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas there are frequent flows 
from many sources. These flows are likely to come at almost any 
time after a rain. Heavy flows are infrequent and, light flows coming 
so often, it is difficult for the beekeeper to harvest much surplus, since 
the honey is largely consumed in the almost continuous brood-rearing. 
The writer found the bees to be very strong in well-kept apiaries in 
early March. There were reports, also, that bees sometimes swarmed 
as late as December and found sufficient support to carry them through. 
In a location like this, commercial honey production is less profitable 
than the production of bees and queens to supply the demand of north¬ 
ern beekeepers. In north Texas, at Waxahachie, local beekeepers 
report that the bees are ready for business by April, yet the main flow 
does not come till June. They find it very difficult to keep down swarm¬ 
ing during the intervening period. One man, T. W. Burleson, has 
solved this problem by selling his early bees in packages and still giving 
his colonies time to build up for the honey-flow from cotton. Until 
the demand for bees developed he found great difficulty in overcoming 
the swarming problem. 
In such locations beekeepers often are very indifferent about giving 
attention to wintering. They say that no matter how weak the bees 
are in spring, there is still time to build up in time for the flow and that 
strong colonies in early spring are of no particular advantage. 
There are other factors beside the time of the honey-flow that enter 
into the consideration of locality. The source and nature of the 
flows also determine to a great extent the system which is best suited 
to the conditions. Comb-honey cannot be produced to advantage 
except under specially favorable conditions. A slow or intermittent 
flow will result in poorly finished sections and a short crop, where a 
good crop of extracted honey might be secured. In some sections of 
Colorado there is much gum-weed (Grindelia squarrosa ), which granu¬ 
lates very quickly, sometimes even before the honey is sealed. Where 
this honey is mixed with the alfalfa, granulation is sure to follow within 
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