The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-06-27

01 Lay CS@@ ~ W0S Wa
first time that I had been molested in
the least, and I began to fear that may.
be her business was to drive away I'm
welcome newspaper men. Mr.. Simp
son sent a puff or two of smoke at her
but she paid no attention to that. ]
was tempted to ask him to tell her tt
please 60 away but, instead. he con.
cluded OF his own accord, that the onIy
thing to be done for her was to knock
her down, which he did. After that ]
felt more comfortable but at the same
time it occurred to me that I could lust
as we'll get such further information az
wanted up nearer the house.
Mr.. Simpson explained that there
are three honey making seasons dur
ing the year. The first is from about
the middle Of April up to the ooh OF
May. During this season bees depend
upon fruit and flower blooms, soft ma
pie and poplar buds. They don't
usually begin to make any surplus
until May, and then the quality is not
of the best. From the goth of May
until about the middle of July, there
follows on idle season, during which
not much surplus honey is made
practically none. The fret good honey
of the year is made during the month
folio wing the middle Of July. It IS
made almost entirely from cotton
blooms, and is usually so transparent
that Objects may be disCerned through
a quart OF it. The flavor ia also de
lig1tful. But there are some peculiarl
ties about this cotton honey, according
to Mr.. Simpsons experience. The lie
tie brown bee cannot make honey
from cotton at all. She is not strong
enough to get into the blooms right.
Only the Italian bee ia Cqlal to the
task, and except under certain condi
tions, the cotton bloom honey is out Of
her reach. When seasons are good
and the cotton plants are vigorous,
there is no honey to be had. When,
no we YER, the cotton is backward and
droopy, the Italians have a picnic. The
next and most reliable honey making
season of the year is during the month
of October. Tha honey of that season
is made principally of the aster OF iron
weed. IL ia OF splendid quality.
/ asked Mr.. 8 mpson as to the aver
age yield of honey to the colony, and
he answered the question in a very
satisfactory manner. lone year I got
an average of only 4 pounds. Last
year the average was 81 pounds. An.
other year I got 60 pounds; some of
the colonies yielding yer 80 pounds
each. I would say, however, that the
general average, taking one year with
another, is sbouC 80 pounds to the col,
ony." He went on to say that last year
he sold only 800 worth o. h)Ley. z a.
before last he sod 2 900 lbs. for 1924,
and another year he took fron his Oh
ferent colonies a total of 3 800 pounds.
From the best information a. hand, l
inclined to the opinion that this
last yi-ld is seldom equalled by any
other single honey producer in this
State.
On this same line, Mr.. Simpson also
related another interesting incident.
During one very fine honey makiDg
season, he left a hive on the scales and
noted a production Of So pounds in 26
days. One day the bees made II
pounds, and during the night evapo
rated a pound and a half of water or
other undesirable material out of it.
But | shall not undertake to repeat
in this article all that Mr.. Simpson told
me- about bees. I was not with him
more than two hours bui to repeat it all
would require more than a page Of the
paper. Td give one more interesting
however, which but few people
have probably thought about. Though
Mr.. Simpson has 80 colonies in all, he
only has 80 at his home. The others
are at another point several miles dis /
When I asked him why this
was, he explained that the ordinary
range OF a bee is about from a mile to
b mule and a halt and UheJ 50 strong !
colon es are about as many as can 1--we
and prosper IN this country within the
indicated. IL Certain other sec !
tons OF the country, say parts Of t'alt !
for instance, as many as 200 nr :
3 0 colon;es could prosp r in this
radius. -YOrkvIile 8. O., Enquirer.
4