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Apiary Tradition
Source: Pages 12 and 36 in "The Shumards of Florida: Their Roots and Branches
Sources: Page 303 "Edge of Wilderness: A Settlement History of Manatee River and Sarasota Bay" by Janet Snyder Matthews and page 37 "The Shumards of Florida: Their Roots and Branches
Local bee and honey transport was often done aboard the Phantom. Pictured at the left atop the Phantom are my father George on the left and my uncle Bert on the right.
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Beginning
in the late 1800s, my great grandfather on my father's side, Isaac T. Shumard,
raised bees on the family homestead on Casey's Cay outside of Sarasota Florida. His primary
product was queen bees that he marketed through his neighbor A. I. Root; the A.
I. Root company is still in
the bee business today. he also produced honey which he marketed through a
store in Osprey and shipped elsewhere in Florida on Will Hamlin's sloop, The
Phantom. Isaac is pictured here bent over one of his hives wearing a black
vest. 
Isaac,
pictured here with his daughter Florence, bred the queens and shipped them
throughout the country (pictured here to the right among their bee hives).
Florence (my grandmother Flossie's sister) married John (Mack) Hamlin whose
brother Will Hamlin owned and operated the Phantom.
Pappy's Pure Honey is named after my Grandfather Guy Ragan who was known as
"Pappy". Guy married into the beekeeping tradition when he
married
Flossie Shumard in in 1913.