o. 



OBSERVATORY HIVE. S( ( IIlVKS. 



ORANGE-BLOSSOM HONEY lias come 

 to be known ;is a (u)ninH'rci;il arti<!le; but, 

 unfoitunately, a gieat deal of tlie honey that 

 masquerades under that high-sounding name 

 never came from the orange-tree at all. 



Pure orange-blossom honey is exquisite in 

 flavor, light in color, and of heavy body. 

 While its quality is superb, its quantity is 

 somewhat limited. The pure article is ob- 

 tained in only very limited regions, while a 

 mixture of orange-blossom and other South- 

 ern honevs is often obtained. 



OJIANQE-BLOSSOMS. 



IJees seem to work Imsily on the blossoms 

 of orange-trees, without gathering any very 

 great (luantityof nectar. It would seem that 

 nature had intended that the delicious sweet- 

 ness which the tree is capable of yielding 

 sliould be left for the golden fruit that fol- 

 lows later. For that reason, pure orange- 

 blossom honey scarcely ever finds its way to 

 remote markets, for what there is of it will 

 be consumed where it is produced. 



ORGANIZATIONS OF BEE-KEEPERS. 



The reader of this work ought to ally him- 

 self with some local organization of bee- 

 keepers if there is one, and with the Nation- 

 al Bee-keepers' Association. This society 

 has already a membershij) of over 2000, and 

 is composed of the most successful bee-keep- 

 ers in the United States and Canada. At 

 the present rate of growth its membershij) 



will run up into the thousands. Its object is 

 to protect bee-keejiers in their rights, to se- 

 cure pure-food laws, to disseminate iiseful 

 information, to fight adulteration— in short, 

 to look after the interests of bee-keepers as 

 a whole. It has secured many valuable 

 precedents in law, and has shown that bees 

 are not a nuisance per se ; that they can be 

 kept in incorporated villages and towns, and 

 that they are like any other property. 



The annual membership fee in the Associ- 

 ation is $1.00. This secures to the member 

 all the rights and privileges of the society, 



the right to 

 vote at its an- 

 nual meetings 

 and at the an- 

 nual election 

 of officers; the 

 annual report 

 of the work 

 done, and a 

 stenographic 

 report of the 

 three -day con- 

 ventions that 

 are held in all 

 the principal 

 cities of the 

 country. This 

 report contains 

 verbatim dis- 

 cussions by the 

 most successful bee-keepers in the tTnited 

 States. A report alone is well worth the 

 membership fee. 



The Association consists of a President, 

 Vice-president, Secretary, General Manager, 

 and a Board of twelve Directors. Tliese 

 latter, as nearly as possible, represent the 

 various sections of the United States where 

 the honey business is most prominent. 



One who has very many bees can not af- 

 ford to do without one or more bee-journals, 

 neither can he afford not to be a member of 

 the National Association. He may never 

 know when he may be sued for damage on 

 an alleged trespass by his bees, or notified 

 to move them out of the town or city. 

 The small membershij) fee of $1.00 entitles 

 liim, under certain conditions, to the ])role{- 

 tion ot the General Manager, wlio, when 



