1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



21'; 



with my plan they commence work right under 

 and close to the bees at work above them. 



And just that difference between commenc- 

 ing promptly in the second super, or waiting 

 to be crowded to it, may make the difference 

 between filling up the second super and swarm- 

 ing. The thing desired is to get them at work 

 promptly on as large a surface as they will 

 |)rofitably occupy, and yet not have them com- 

 mence work on more than they will finish up 

 in good shape. If they commence work on five 

 supers, and have material enough to fill only 

 three, we may expect a large proportion of un- 

 finished sections, if, indeed, any of them are 

 finished. But equally we'll have unfinished 

 sections with only one super on, provided there 

 is not honey enough to fill it. The bee keeper 

 must use judgment, in an ordinary season get- 

 ting the bees to occupy a goodly number of 

 sections early in the harvest, and crowding as 

 much as possible toward the last. 



That bee-space between supers, to which you 

 object, is in some respects objectionable, but 

 nearly every one submits to it rather than sub- 

 mit to something worse. At different times it 

 has been discarded, only to be taken up again 

 after trying some other way. A quarter-inch 

 space between two supers is a bad thing; but 

 no space at all is still worse, I think, in the 

 judgment of those who have thoroughly tried 

 both ways. But if you like to have one super 

 jammed down on another, to be glued together 

 by the bees, with the chance of mashing bees 

 between the two, there's no law in Illinois to 

 prevent it. 



Marengo, 111. 



HONEY AS A DIET. 



WHY IT IS NOT EATEN MOKE; HOW TO DEVEL- 

 OP THE HOME MAKKET; IS GRANU- 

 LATED SUGAR ADULTERATED? 



By C. Davinp<»-t. 



I was interested in reading your article, 

 " Honey as a Diet," page 93; but I disagree 

 with you on some things. First, you say we 

 have a good deal of prejudice or distaste for 

 honey, real or fancied, to overcome. I have 

 sold a good deal of honey, and it has been sel- 

 dom that I found any prejudice or distaste 

 against it; and when I have, generally it was 

 caused on account of their having had some 

 poor or inferior honey before. A good many 

 bee-keepers, instead of doing any thing to in- 

 crease the sale of honey, are doing more to 

 injure it. These are mostly the ones who do 

 not take a bee- paper, and you can not get them 

 to subscribe for one, because they know all 

 about the business. With them, any thing 

 gathered by the bees is honey, and is sold for 

 what they can get; and if they can't sell it all 

 in the fall, most of them will put it in the cel- 

 lar, where it often becomes sour, and even 



moldy. It is then put on the market in the 

 spring; and the consumer who buys a few 

 pounds of this is not very anxious for any more. 

 But with a very few more seasons such as we 

 have had for the last three or four years, this 

 class of bee-keepers will be pretty well done 

 away with around here, and I think in many 

 other localities as well. 



Again, you say that many persons do not 

 like honey. Of course, there are some who do 

 not; but in all of my experience I have found 

 but very few who did like good honey. I have 

 found quite a number of persons who liked it, 

 but could not eat it, as it did not agree with 

 them. In regard to the family you have men- 

 tioned, who are able to have most of the luxu- 

 ries on their table that can be bought, but sel- 

 dom use honey, I wish there were a good many 

 such families around here. There used to be a 

 good many such here, but most of them are 

 now my best customers. Let me describe one 

 case. 



A few years ago I went into the store of a 

 prominent merchant in a neighboring town, 

 and asked him if he used honey. He said he 

 did not. They used to sell it in the store, but 

 it was always dripping and daubing every 

 thing up, and he did not want any thing more 

 to do with it. He did not like it himself, and 

 none of his family cared much about it I told 

 him I should like to have him try some of my 

 honey. He asked me how I sold it. When I 

 told him 17 cents a section that would weigh 

 nearly a pound, he said he could buy all the 

 honey he wanted, for a shilling a pound. I 

 then asked him if he bought butter, and what 

 he paid a pound for it. He said butter was 

 worth from 10 to 20 cents per pound, according 

 to what it was. 



" Well, Mr. W.," said I, " there is as much or 

 more difference in honey than there is in but- 

 ter. Now, I am going to leave you a case of 

 honey; you try one of the sections, and if you 

 do no not like it, it will not cost you any thing. 

 I will be around again in two or three weeks, 

 and will take away what you have not used or 

 do not want." 



This was white-clover honey, and it was very 

 nice. It was packed in cases that held 24 sec- 

 tions. When I saw Mr. W. again he asked me 

 if I had any more honey like that I had left 

 before. On my replying in the affirmative he 

 said he would like two more cases just like the 

 first one. He has bought three cases of me 

 each year since. He has quite a large family, 

 and is well able to pay for what they like. 



Of course, some years we do not get much 

 clover honey, and some seasons we get none at 

 all; but there are other kinds that are good, 

 such as basswood, goldenrod, aster, etc.; and I 

 find many people who prefer sottie of these 

 kinds to clover honey; and if one works up a 

 large home trade, and secures 100 or more regu- 

 lar customers, he can dispose of a good deal of 



