The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-08-25
GRAY BEE GROWING
i'm POPULARITY; BEST HONEY IS
FOIJND IN MOUNTAIN HIVES
Bees Vary in Point of Good
Temper But Idle Ones
Are More Prone
to Sting

people generally rca'lT" m" NaN'
, Importance Of the honey bee.
Much of our vegetable life. includ-
ING fruits, melons, cucumbers and
berries. is dependent upon insect
poIlcnization for the development
Of the fruit. Most Of this work is
done by the honey bee. The maxi
mum range of flight Of the honey
bee is eight miles. Within an area
of two miles little difference Is
noticed whether the source Of the
honey is near or distant but after
two miles the amount OF honey
collected rapidly diminishes. Like
wise the benefit Of the bees to
fruits and vegetables does not eX-
tend much beyond two miles from
the hive.
There are many varieties Of
bees but no honey bee is a native
of the United States. The so-called
native or black bee was introduced
at an early period in this country 5
history. probably from the Black
Forests of Germany. TO which To-
cality it appears native. The Ital-
ian or yellow bee has for some
time been a favorite with most
commercial bce-keeperS. b IN z
comparatively easy to handle and
productive of honey. In recent
wears many honey producers are
introducing the Caucasian, OF gray
bee. This latter bee Is a native
of the Caucasian mountains and
seems to be especially suited to
mountain territory. 1t appears to
be as good a producer of honey
as the Italian and somewhat more
gentle. The Carniolan bee. intro
duced from southern Austria, Is
being tried by several commercial
bee-keepers and it Is claimed that
enormous amounts of honey can
be collected by these bees but 1t
IS also asserted that they have a
pronounced tendency to swarm a
thing which bee-keeperS dread be-
cause swarming bees put little
honey in the superS. A variety OF
bee known as the Cyprian was at
one time kept by some producers
and is the only variety of bee hav-
ing a tongue long enough to col
lect honey from red clover, but
the Cvprian was found TO be so
cross that so far as known no bee
producer is now offering them for
sale. Occasionally a person in OBJ
serving bees on flowers will notice
a small shiny black bee. The bee
he sees is probably of the variety
known as solitary bees. They do
not live in colonies, do not collect
honey. and probably occur in too
small numbers TO be of value In
polarization.
While there is a difference in
races of bees and even among in
dividual colonies as to the ten
dency to sting yet their gentleness
is largely dependent upon how
busy they are. Bees are not like
" to sting when there is plenty
of honey for them to collect. They
will bump into a person, can even
be caught in the hands, without
singing. when busy collecting
honey. But when the honey flow
is reduced the same colony may
become cross, singing almost
without provocation. Swarmlng
bees seldom sting and can usually
be gathered up in the bare hands
or swept about with brush with
out apparently resenting it.
Honey is produced in most
parts of the world and reference
is made to it in early sacred and
profane history, but 1t varies
greatly in wholesomeness ano
palatibility. Henderson county
happens to be located in that por'
ton of the world producing the
conceded most palatable honey
which comes from the flowers OF
the sourwood tree. The sourwooc
/ area is very small and practically
all the sourwood honey produced
is locally consumed. This honey I!
light in color with a slight yellow
tinge. The cappings of the comb:
! in which it is produced are almost
white. The honey flow from sour
wood comedies almost exactly witt
, the month of July, the first bee:
! being seen on the flowers abou
! the first of July and the last leave
about the first of August. While
the sourwood trees grow to quite
considerable size, the trunks SIX tt
eight inches in diameter, the tim
her is of no value except for the
one purpose of making sled run
ners for mountain work sleds. Fo1
that use it is much sought. The
leaves of sourwood trees turn
brilliant red in autumn, adding
greatly to the brilhancy of the
mountain country. Unfortunately
most of our tourists leave before
the beauty of the mountain foil
age is displayed. thus being alb
sent at the most delightful time
of the year.