THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



345 



sas City and St Louis, Mo." Is this pos- 

 sible ? If I have time I may say a word 

 about one of those sales made in St. 

 Louis. "One of the principal merits of 

 the production of this kind of honey is 

 the fact that at least from one-half more 

 to as tnuch again honey can be produced 

 than with sections." Isthis a/act/ If 

 so, it is important, zrry iinportanl. We 

 have heard something like this claimed 

 in regard to the production of extracted 

 above comb honey, but hardly in regard 

 to comb. A little light here would be 

 very acceptable. The only drawbacks 

 that friend Hyde knows of are that the 

 honey will candy in cool weather, and 

 that you will have to educate people up 

 to using it. The latter easel guess will 

 be like that of the old darkey who taught 

 his horse to live without eating, but just 

 when he had accomplished it, the horse 

 died. 



I cannot conceive how a wide awake, 

 progressive bee-keeper could advise or 

 adopt such a primitive method. Punch's 

 advice to those contemplating matrimony, 

 would apply here — "(/(;//'/'." 



Friend Hyde seems to think that there 

 should be fine section honey for the 

 wealthy, and "chunk" honey for the 

 masses. ^laybe so; but what is the mat- 

 ter with good, pure, well-ripened, ex- 

 tracted honey ? Can any one under the 

 canopy of heaven tell us what pieces of 

 broken comb add, either in appearance or 

 in flavor, to extracted honey? That is 

 all the advantage that "chunk" honey 

 has over extracted, if it be any advantage 

 at all. Perhaps friend Hyde may say 

 that you can take the comb honej- out of 

 the can without breaking it all to pieces. 

 Can ive f If any one thinks so, let him 

 try an experiment along this line. Take 

 a vessel as deep and as wide as an ordi- 

 nary b-gallon can used for shipping ex- 

 tracted honey, fill it -3 full of choice 

 comb honey, cover it with good, thick, ex- 

 tracted honey of the .same quality, and in 

 a few days try with knife, spoon, ladle or 

 paddle, to di.sh it out to a customer, (as 

 the retailer has to do 1 and note if that 



fine, fragile comb is not broken into hun- 

 dreds of small pieces, it being impossible 

 to remove it from the can (a deep nar- 

 row one) without so crushing it. In 

 what respect is it now better than good, 

 clear, pure, well-ripened extracted honey ? 

 Is it not, if anything, inferior; especially 

 so far as regards appearance ? Now con- 

 tinue the experiment a little further. 

 Wait a few weeks until this mess of 

 broken comb and extracted honey has 

 granulated. Has that improved it ? Try 

 it and see, and be convinced. The proof 

 of the pudding is in the eating. 



Possibly, after a long siege of "hard 

 tack," and "sowbelly," or "corn dodger 

 and black coffee," and the total absence 

 of fruit and vegetables, one could relish 

 such a mess, and could give it such 

 a recommendation as the following from 

 one of our leading lights in apiculture; 

 "One of the nicest sweets in the world, to 

 our palate, is candied, bulk, c/iiiiik, comb 

 honey. It is good, and will make a sweet 

 chew of wax and a slice of it with bread 

 is good enough for a king, or queen. ' 



Putting aside mere personal taste, and 

 neat and attractive appearance, the ques- 

 tion comes up, is it a profitable method of 

 harvesting and marketing an otherwise 

 No. I article of honey ? Friend Hyde 

 says it is, and that the demand exceeds 

 the supply; and at a good paying price I 

 presume. I contend that it is uof, and 

 that it is more profitable to keep our 

 product in two distinct classes, viz., comb 

 hone}' in sections, and extracted, by it- 

 self. Grant, however, that friend Hyde 

 is correct, and that there is a greater de- 

 mand than supply for such mixed stuff, 

 that of itself is a proof, to me, that if a 

 good honey, put up in first-class style, 

 both comb and extracted, were offered to 

 the same parties, nmch larger sales could 

 be made and at increased prices. 



S jme years ago, having sold all m}' own 

 crop of comb honey. I went to St. Louis 

 to get a supply. At one of the largest 

 coinmi.ssion houses in the city, where I 

 frequently dealt, I inquired if they had 

 any comb honey on hand. "Yes, a very 



