20 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Six seasons have demonstrated this fact 

 beyond a doubt. 



No Michigan bee keeper can afford to 

 stay out of the Association, even from a 

 financial viewpoint. 



You are especially invited. 

 L. A. AspiNWALL, President. 



E. B. Tyrrell, Secretary. 

 230 Woodland Ave., Detroit. Mich, 



Changes in Bee-Keeping. 



There is scarcely any business that 

 remains unchanged year after year. 

 Conditions change, and the business 

 changes accordingly. Bee keeping is no 

 exception. We all know that, years ago, 

 bee keeping consisted in the farmer keep- 

 ing a few colonies in log "gums" or box 

 hives, brimstoning the heaviest and 

 lightest each fall. 



Then came the movable comb hive, 

 and a new era was opened, but the 

 making of a business, or even a specialy, 

 of bee keeping had not been thought of. 

 The keeping of bees proved so profitable, 

 that, gradually, men began turning their 

 whole time to the business. 



Comb honey was, of course, the only 

 product of the apiary; then came the 

 honey extractor, introducing a new ele- 

 ment, and bringing about another change. 

 The extracting of unripe honey greatly 

 injured the market for this product, and 

 as manufacturers had not yet learned to 

 use it, extracted honey became a drug 

 in the market. Bee keepers learned their 

 lesson however, learned that the honey 

 must be ripened before it was extracted, 

 and, of equal importance, manufacturers, 

 bakers, etc, began to use extracted 

 honey in large quantities. The result was 

 that comb honey production was largely 

 abandoned for extracted honey. Many 

 men began "keeping more bees," spread- 

 ing out and establishing out-apiaries, 

 and extracted honey production was 

 peculiarly fitted for this kind of bee 

 keeping. The increased demand for 

 extracted honey, and the ease with 

 which it can be produced in large 

 quantities in out-apiaries, has greatly 



stimulated this branch of the industry, 

 until it might now be said that this is 

 the extracted honey age of bee keeping. 

 Let me give an illustration of about the 

 way things are going: I have just re- 

 turned from a visit to Mr. E, D. Town- 

 send. He has always produced some 

 comb honey, says its production has for 

 him a peculiar fascination. He usually 

 has one apiary devoted to comb honey, 

 but he has about decided to give it up. 

 Thinks he will run it for comb honey 

 about one more year, in order to use up 

 the supplies on hand, then change 

 over 'to extracted. He says that he has 

 to put in enough more work on this 

 apiary to run two or three more yards 

 for extracted honey. 0. H. Townsend, 

 of Otsego, Michigan, was once a comb 

 producer, but has abandoned it, and is 

 now running out-apiaries for extracted 

 honey. More and more are men be- 

 ginning to "keep more bees," and this 

 change is almost invariably followed by a 

 change to extracted honey production. 



Some bee keepers seem to lament this 

 condition of affairs; they seem to resent 

 it because so much attention is given to 

 extracted honey; the Review has been 

 blamed for "booming" this branch of the 

 industry; but it must be remembered that 

 this change has not been brought about 

 from bsing "boomed" by the Review, or 

 any other bee journal; it is the result of 

 natural causes, and can neither be 

 hastened nor hindered. 



The Pettit, Improved, Honey Strainer. 



The gravity honey strainer has not yet 

 been adopted in the East; whether it will 

 come into general use, remains to be 

 seen. At present bee keepers strain their 

 honey through cheese cloth. The great 

 objection to the ordinary form of strainer, 

 as generally used, is that the cloth is in a 

 horizontal position, and as the honey 

 runs out, the scum and cappings are left 

 on the cloth. The straining surface 

 ought to be vertical, or else kept below 

 the surface of the honey. 



