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THE YANCEY JOURNAL
VOL. 2, N 0.52
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Sun Valley Celebrates Christmas Season
Sun Valley Rest Home had a Christmas Party on Tuesday,
December 18, and the Santa Claus who has been at the Ben
Franklin Store helped to make the party a happy one. Santa
gave out gifts to the oldest and youngest person present,and
gave Whitman's Samplers to everyone from Ben Franklin
Store. Susannah Jones from Music in the Mountains, along
Yancey Railroad Stockholders Discuss Future Os
Railroad; Abandonment Considered As Last Resort
The serious financial prob
lems of the Yancey Railroad
were aired at the annual meet
ing of stockholders held on De
cember 15. Revenue has de
clined to the point where the
road is continually losing money,
and even the possibility o f
abandoning the road is under
consideration.
President Bill Banks review
ed die unhappy facts. The pre
sent revenue of less than S3O,
000 a year is simply insuffi -
cient to operate and maintain
a railroad twelve miles long.
The directors have diligently
explored various possible ways
of restoring the road to profita
bility, including possible ways
of increasing traffic, the re
duction of service to only two
days a week, and the possible
sale of the road to people who
might exploit scenic passenger
service to tourists. No very
hopeful developments are now
in sight.
Banks explained that the
directors are very reluctant to
abandon the road, which was
taken over by the locally own
ed company in 1955 principal
ly as a project to help the
economy of the county, rather
than as a iqoney making ven
ture. Abandonment would
constitute a serious blow to the
economy of the county, and
would also preclude the possi
bility of attracting new indus
try that requires rail service.
At tiie same time, the dir
ectors recognize an obligation
to the 58 stockholders,nearly
all of whom are Yancey Coun
ty people. Continued opera -
tfon of the road at a loss will
dissipate the road's assets,
leaving little or nothing for
tike stockholders, who in 1955
invested their money to save
the road from abandonment at
that time. If the road were
abandoned now, the sale of
real estate, locomotives and
rails would presumably pro
vide enough to repay stock
holders.
The present officers of the
Officers Complete Training Course
The recently formed "Tri County Law Enforcement Aca
demy hat graduated its flat course in "Introduction to Police
Science". The course of 160 hours consists of History and
Constitutional Law, N.C. Criminal Law, Laws of Arrest,
Search and Seizure, Laws and Rules of Evidence, Criminal
Investigation, Motor Vehicle Laws and Investigation Repor
ting, N.C. ABC Laws, Recognition and Identification of
Drugs, Riot Control and Civil Disorder, Court Structure and
Procedures, Report Writing and Note Taking, Juveniles,De- •
fensive Tactics, Firearms, Public Relations, Communlca -
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
with Amos Jones who played the violin and Billy Gouge who
played the piano, provided Christmas music. The Cane Ri
ver Beta Club arrived later with fruit askets for all. The
people at Sun Valley wish to thank the many churches and
other organizations Who have helped to make their Christ
mas a merry one.
railroad were re-elected for
the coming year. These are
lather Ayers, Chairman of the
Board; Bill Banks, President;
Pete Coletta, Vice President;
Phillip Ray, Second Vice Pre
sident; and Charles Laws, Se
cretary-Treasurer. Dr. E. R.
Ohle was elected a new direc
tor, replacing Stanley Bailey;
other directors were all re
elected.
It was agreed to keep the
principal shippers of the rail
road informed regarding the
road's problems. Their co
operation in solving the prob
lems is clearly needed.
tlons, First Aid and Patrol Operations. Officer re honor
ed and given certificates for completing the training. The
officers graduating included Horace Riggs, Kennethßradstock,
Keith Entress, Gary Gardner, Jimmy Keener, Robert Kester,
Fred Lowe, Carl Lyerly, John Mercer, Wade Renfro, Dan
Ray, Betty Rector, John Silver, John Slayton, and John Wag-'
oner. Also pictured are Dr. O.M.Blake, MAY Tech presi—
dent; Frank Puessy, Banner Elk Police Chief; Brown 100 Mof
fitt, Mitchell County Sheriff; Beverly Daniels, Aveiy Sher
iff and Paul English, MAY Tech Director of Adult Education.
Classes At
Correction
Unit Here
Yancey County Correctional
Unit and Mayland Technical In
stitute combined efforts and
successfully offered three thirty
hour courses in small engine
repair—the first occupational
extension classes to be conduc
ted at the correctional unit.
The content of the courses
consisted of inspection and ana
lyzation of ignition and fuel
systems, complete motor dis -
assembly, inspection and re
assembly. ,
Participants in the classes
included William Wilson . Ogle
Worley, Samuel Grier, Ben
Clark, Edward Beck, Russell
Jones; Randall Sinmate,Adam
Cooper; Billy Armstrong, Hes
ton Banner, Norris Davis,Carl
Hill, Ray Jackson, Will /John
son, Pedro Navarro, Glen Mc-
Millan, Joseph Mains', Gary
Laws, Richard Leyda,F r anklin
Thompson, Franklin Byrd, Ro
. .land Smith, Donald Morgan,
Gary Mecimore, Larry Johnson,
w Claude Braswell, William Mon
roe, Roy Helton, Sammy Car
ter, J.D. Blankenship, Thomas
Degree, David Estes, George
Farris, James Knighten, Jerry
G. McClung, Harold Miller,
James Hayden, Ernest Hicks,
K. B. Frye, J.C. Littlejohn,
Adam Cooper, Carroll Elrod,
Frank Strad nr, Robert Smathers,
Danny Shatley, Curtis Riggles.
Lo - 7°
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27,1973
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Ayers Places Starter Comb Along Bottom Edge
Beekeeping Business Requires Skill,
Knowledge; Yancey Man Supplies Both
'There's more to the bee
keeping business than meets the
eye," said John Ayers as he
sat down on the porch of his
homeon Upper Pigpen Road,
Green Mountain, and began
filling the "super" with frames
to replace the one filled with
honey that would be removed
when he "robbed" his bees.
The super is placed on top
of the bee hive or "bee gum"
as it is usually called by moun
tain beekeepers. It is in the
frames, placed side by side in
a vertical position in the super,
that the bees make the wax
combs they fill with honey
made from the nectar of the
blooming trees and plants.
"The super is what you rob
out, " explained Ayers, "you
don't mess with the hive body.
That's their home, where the
baby bees are raised. If you
rob them the first of July you
can extract honey from both
the super and the hive body,
but you will have to feed them
so they will have the equiva -
lent of 50 pounds of sugar to
each colony. And since you
have destroyed their natural
bee bread that the young feed
on, you will have to replace
it with soybean oil cakes. Old
bees don't need it, but the
young ones have to have that
pollen. The old bees can live
just as well on sugar syrup as
he can on honey. "
Ayers took out a thin sheet
of wax and cut: it into one inch
strips which he placed in a slit
along the bottom edge of each
frame. This strip helps the bees
to work faster and encourages
them to make their comb 'jplurrf'
or in the straight pattern of the
starter comb.
"Now Pm a cheatin' the
bees and Pm helping my cus -
tomen and Pm saving myself
a little money by putting in this
strip of super foundation comb."
By prutting in a sheet as largp
as the frame, Ayers estimated
that the bees could fill the
frame in 10 days if there was a
good nectar flow. ’'But we have
a slow nectar flow, so I just
use it to direr, my bees to keep
them from crossing up when
they make the comb, and be
sides, I don't like that old
tough comb in the middle of
my honey. The customers doift (
know the difference, but I know,
he sqid.
Ayers said that he hopes to
get over 1,000 pxjunds of honey
from his 40 hives next year.
"The bees will do it if I do my
part. " "This was a good year
for honey. There was a good
nectar flow. The only thing
was there was too much rain in
the beginning "of the season for
the bees to work, but it was
just about the best sourwood
year we have had in five years,"
Some honey, gathered at the
end of the blooming season of
a particular flower, is more
sought after than others because
of its special flavor and color -
ing. Honey made from the
bloom of the sourwood tree,
ranging in color from "a light
amber to a clear white, " is
highly prized in this area, es
pecially by tourists.
"A lot of people sell any kind
of honey for sourwood. I've seen
sourwood honey being sold be
fore the sourwood tree even
bloomed. If you've never had
it how do you know that what
you're eating is sourwood? I
don't mis-represent my honey.
Mpi . jjtf' ■ jKV f ' v
Ayers Removes Frames Filled With Honey As Helper
Smokes The Bees Down
to*
E ■
What I tell you Pve got is what
I've got. "
'The honey season begins
here the first of Apiril and lasts
through the last frewt bloom, "
Ayers explained as he ccwtjnuec
his work.
Besides sourwood, the hives
are robbed to get the honey mad
predominantly from the bloom?
of the poplar tree which produ -
ces a thick bodied, dark honey;
and the locust tree and white
clover wh ; ch produce a clear,
white honey. 'The bees will
mix honey, " Ayers said. "Now
if you have a cucumber patch,
you'll want to rob your bees be
fore the crop blooms. The cu
cumber nectar is bitter and it'll
ruin the other honey. "
It takes knowledge and skill
to raise bees, and being around
bees since he was a young boy,
John Ayers has acquired both.
For instance, placing the
hive in the right position pro
tects it from too much wind or
sun. Obstructions can interfere
(Cont'd on page 2)