Howdy 10framer. I'm down south of Lowndes in Crenshaw. I'm now famliar with the Harrells but I will check with my mentor and see if he knows them. Seems back in the early to mid 1900's that Lowndes, Crenshaw, and Butler had several queen and package producers in the area. Norman is still up around Ramer, though for a while I understand the operation was thought to have stopped operating. I know that two years ago they were at the Alabama Beekeepers Association meeting in Montgomery and were off loading a pickup truck load of wax to Rossman.
Intersting that you mentioned Lowndes...I'm heading up to Ft Deposit (south end of county close to the county line with Butler) this Saturday to look at two colonies in the wall of a house...wonder if they could be survivors from some of those old breeders or maybe from the Harrells...who knows. :)
I was at the Honey Bee Symposium in Auburn last weekend and I saw what looked like white dutch blooming along with some of that low growing yellow clover (got scads of that around the house, too). So far wild mustard, henbit, camilias are all done, dandelion,... I'll have to look around the house tomorrow and check on other clovers.
Ed