GLEANIJNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fer. 1. 



there is small need of a strainer; but at the last 

 there is a large one made of cheese-cloth 

 stitched to a hoop that will just go over the 

 store-can, through which it is poured, and which 

 is used to keep any stray bees from getting 

 into the honey. The holes are bored in the 

 heads of the kegs with a one-inch bit as they 

 are taken from the car. The plugs are turned, 

 and are a perfect fit every time. The honey 

 that might get past a poor hand-made plug 

 will soon pay for them at one cent each. 



The capping-dish is placed within easy reach 

 of the man who runs the extractor, and also of 

 the one who carries in, so that, whichever one 

 has the most time, can use it. 



There is a box for the smoker fuel in the 

 corner, and a shelf for dishes of different-sized 

 nails; wires for broken combs; plugs, etc.; also 

 plenty of nails to hang things up on, and a good 

 brass lock for the door. The parts of the lock 

 must be all brass or it will rust out through the 

 winter. One key will fit the lock to all the 

 honey-houses. There is always a pail of water 

 near the door to wash the fingers if they get 

 sticky; and to keep the whisk-broom, used to 

 brush off the bees, soft and pliable. 



We have found it cheaper to keep all the 

 things wanted, at each yard, than to pay for 

 the inevitable breakages and loss of moving ex- 

 tractors, etc., from place to place during the 

 season. It does not take any more room to 

 store the things at each yard than it does at 

 home. Such a house can be put up, in this 

 vicinity, for $30.0(). 



The places are rented for a term of years. In 

 some cases the houses are to become the prop- 

 erty of the land-owner when the bees go away; 

 in others they are built in sections and put on 

 blocks, so as to be moved. When they are to be 

 left they usually agree to pay a small price for 

 them, or the rent is small enough so that we 

 can afford to leave them. 



West Groton, N. Y. 



[Such articles as these are just what we want. 

 It is the account of real practical work of what 

 has been done— not what might be done in 

 beautiful theory, that makes interesting and 

 valuable subject-matter. Come again, friend 

 Howe. — Ed.] 



HONEY AS A DIET. 



WIM, IT EVER BECOME AN ARTICLE OF COM- 

 MON FOOD? ARE I5EE KEEl'KKS SET- 

 TING AN EXAMPLE IN THE USE 

 OF IIONEV T.V THEIR 

 OWN FAMILIES? 



It is no doubt very laudable in honey-pro- 

 ducers to try to extend the use of honey by get- 

 ting people accustomed to using it more fre- 

 quently upon their tables; but we must not be 

 blind to the fact that we have a great deal of 

 prejudice or distaste for honey, real or fancy, to 

 overcome before it becomes a staple article of 



diet such as butter, sugar, preserved fruits, and 

 even syrups. Many persons do not like honey; 

 others care but little for it; and I have met sev- 

 eral who could nut eat it without its making 

 them sick. Housekeepers will naturally cater 

 to the taste of their families and guest, and will 

 not provide an article of food for their table 

 that is not appreciated by the majority, espe- 

 cially if that article is more costly than others 

 that may be substituted for it. 



I have traveled some, and visited mucli in 

 private families. For the last six weeks I have 

 been somewhat of a rambler, and have been 

 the guestof many families in Central Kentucky, 

 known as the rich blue-grass country. I can 

 not now remember of ever seeing honey on the 

 table of a hotel; and in my late rambles I have 

 not met with it on the tables of private fami- 

 lies. Speaking to a most excellent matron 

 whose table is very bountifully supplied both 

 with the substantiais of life and most of the 

 luxuries that can be bought, she said her fami- 

 ly cared very little for honey; and as for her- 

 self she would not give one jar of peach mar- 

 malade for all the honey in the world, and 

 hence she did not provide it for her table. 



Molasses or syrups 1 have found at the hotels 

 generally, and quite often in private families. 

 The low price of tiiese, and of sugar, and the 

 more general production and use of fruit, all 

 combine to lessen the use of honey. 



I do not wish to discourage bee-keepers from 

 trying to make the use of honey more common; 

 in fact, that should be our object; but it is best 

 to look the facts squarely in the face, and I 

 must admit that they seem to be against the 

 use of honey as a common article of food. 



What can we do to increase the use of honey? 

 This is a question that I am not prepared to 

 answer satisfactorily, even to myself. We 

 might set an example by using more of it upon 

 our own table, i^ast winter we had honey reg- 

 ularly three times a day upon our table, and 

 continued to have it more or less all the year 

 round. We would vary it — extracted honey 

 candied; extracted dissolved, and comb houey. 

 But 1 must be candid, and say it was seldom 

 tasted except by myself and one other member 

 of my family. I am a lover of honey, and do 

 not often let an opportunity pass without eat- 

 ing it. I think that 1 individually eat not less 

 than ,50 lbs. a year. There are so few ways that 

 honey can be used, other than to eat it upon 

 your bread and pancakes, that its use must con- 

 tinue to be limited. In cooking, sugar is better 

 and cheaper. I have tried it upon my porridge, 

 upon my fruit, and in my coffee. My wife, to 

 please me, made cakes sweetened with it; but 

 as great a lover of honey as I am, I must con- 

 fess that I prefer sugar for these purposes. 



What are other bee-keepers doing to increase 

 the use in their own families? How often is 

 honey placed upon the table of our friends at 

 the Home of the Honey-bee, where honey is 



