MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 39the larger hive I got fine crops of beautiful sections, and you cando the same.Carniolan bees swarm very readily.Catdavr. —Q. From what section is catclaw honey obtained?Is its honey of good flavor?A. The catclaw, though found in most southern states, is ahoney producer especially in Texas. The blossoms come out inlate spring, the tree being low, bushy and spiny. The honey isonly fair in flavor as compared to the whiter honeys like alfalfa.Catnip. —Q. Is catnip honey fit for table use? It seems totaste very strong. (Iowa.)A. Catnip honey has the reputation of being fine for table use.Unless you have catnip in great abundance, and little or nothingelse yielding at the same time, you can hardly be sure thatyou have pure catnip honey; and it is possible that the verystrong taste comes from some other honey being mixed with thecatnip.Q. Will catnip sown now, or in the "spring, afford bee-pasturenext season?A. Catnip is a perennial, continuing permanently when oncestarted. I think you cannot count on bloom the first season, butit will increase in size and strength after the second year. Itseems to have a partiality for hedge-rows, but that may be becauseof the protection, for it grows well in the full blaze of thesun.Caucasians.—Q. What color is the Caucasian bee, if the stockis pure?A. About the same color as the common black bee.Q. What are the physical features that distinguish the Caucasianbees from the Carniolans?A. The main difference in appearance is that the whitish ringis not so distinct in Caucasians as in Carniolans. Carniolans lookenough like blacks to make it hard to distinguish them, and Caucasianslook still more like blacks. The rings on the abdomen ofCarniolans are whitish; on Caucasians grayish.Q. Are the Caucasian bees as gentle and as good honeygatherersas the Italians?A. The Caucasians were heralded as the most gentle of bees.No doubt some of them are, but others are reported -as being nogentler than Italians. Not as much has been said about theirgathering ability as their gentleness, and it is hard to say just