530 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



bt'cn biiyiriff lar«<' (luaiititicis of honey. The 

 riiitiinil siipposiLioii was. that it was being used 

 by tli(^m in phicc of sugar, causing lis to sell our 

 product at the price of sugar: but on investi- 

 gating this state of affairs I am informed by 

 workers in those canneries that no honey is 

 used whatever for preserving purposes. They 

 simply buy it to adult' late it with glucose, 

 making two carloads of such stuff from one of 

 lioney. Now the public are getting afraid to 

 buy e.xtracted honey for fear it is not genuine. 

 Should this continue, it is going to destroy a 

 liiviiv. part ol our business— the principal busi- 

 ness in this section. Another point is, for two 

 years the honey crops have been failures. This 

 year the commission men are at their old tricks, 

 trying to squeeze us down to the sugar-stand- 

 ard prices. I always believed that the supply 

 of any given article controlled the price; that 

 is to say. the less quantity, the bigger the mar- 

 ket value would be. In the next place, you 

 can not fail to see that the adulterating evil is 

 really the worst; for every case of this rubbish 

 sold to the consumer is just so much less pure 

 honey sold by us. To sum it up in a few words, 

 it keeps down our profit and I'uins the trade in 

 extracted honey. Finally a cent or two on the 

 pound to us means a living; to the consumer 

 ihe price will be just the same if we can get a 

 responsible party to market our honey in the 

 Eastern States, for on them we depend to buy 

 our product. 



This year the honey is splendid — white, and 

 water-white. So far I have not seen any dark- 

 colored honey, and the flavor of our sage honey 

 is fine. Alex. Mokrison. 



Newhall, Cal., May 30. 



[What you say may be true; but we believe 

 now, that, as honey has been coming in more 

 freely in California, the price will soon be so 

 low that the mixing of glucose would hardly be 

 worth practicing. The rascals who would do 

 this sort of work would not risk it unless there 

 were considrrable margin; and when the mar- 

 gin is small they will probably handle the 

 pure goods. If the fruit-canneries in California 

 should continue to use glucose, it is a matter 

 that should be brought to the attention of the 

 Bee-keepers' Union.] 



REPORTS ENCOURAGING. 



Bees are just booming. I have more honey 

 already than I have had in three years before. 

 Beach City, O., June 12. A. Millek. 



We had a good How of honey from guajilla 

 (|)ronounced wawhee-aw, but proi)erly gwah- 

 /(cci-yah) and catclaw. It started about the 

 10th of April. Bees on an average were too 

 weak to take the best advantage of the flow. 

 I have about 10,000 lbs. from 160 colonies, spring 



count. J. A. SCHUDDEMAGEN. 



Sabinal. Texas, May Hi. 



Bees are doing well. I am working 40 stands 

 for comb honey; some hives have their second 

 super on at this date. Chas. Howell. 



Hackettstown, N. J.. June 1.5. 



We have been here since the second of April, 

 and have extracted, up to this time, over seven 

 tons of honey. By the time this reaches you 

 we shall probably have ten tons; taken from 

 175 colonies. Mks. H. F. Carpenter. 



San Fernando, Cal., May ;.".». 



prospects of a big honey yeah. 



Every spot of ground where white clover 

 grows is one mass of bloom, and bees are just 

 booming. I have never seen them work on 

 clover as they are doing now. Basswood will 

 bloom profusely. Chauncey' Reynolds. 



Fremont, ()., June 8. 



[It seems as if nearly every report reads like 

 this. Prospects are certainly good.] 



why thp: rambler smiles. 



Our honey-yield is a much better crop than 

 last year, but still the yield at large will not be 

 immense. I now have 7 tons, and will get 3 or 

 4 mor((. Mclntyre writes me that he expects 

 over 40.000 lbs. He runs his extractor with his 

 water-motor, and it works like a charm. 



Redlands, Cal., June 13. Rambler. 



The outlook for a good honey crop is good in 

 the San Jacinto Valley. The first carload of 

 honey of the season was shipped last week. 

 We sold for 6 cts. There are two more carloads 

 waiting buyers at the same price. The honey 

 is extra thick, water-white, and of as fine flavor 

 as I have ever seen. H. I. Morse. 



San Jacinto, Cal., June 8. 



greatest honey'-flow in years. 



We are having the greatest honey-flow here 

 for years, and of the finest quality possible. I 

 have extracted 75 lbs. from some hives, and 

 have colonies with their increase, one swarm, 

 which have filled nearly 100 boxes already. If 

 it keeps on we shall harvest the largest crop 

 ever taken in this portion of the country. 1 am 

 running 90 hives at present, part for comb and 

 part for extracted. I allow each hive I run for 

 comb to swarm once, and get big results this 

 year by so doing. Edgar Briggs. 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 17. 



A GOOD report FROM TENNESSEE. 



Friend Root:— I should like to tell you what 

 a continual round of pleasure we have had 

 since swarming commenced. When I say ive I 

 mean my little wife and myscdf. for we t\vd are 

 all there are of us, and we have been busier 

 than a man killing snakes. And such swarms I 

 never saw before, for I have let most of my 

 bees do their own swarming. I have tried both 

 ways, and have had the best success that way. 

 I said I never saw such swarms before. Well. I 

 never did. We have had several swarms that 

 it took two Dovetailed hives to hold. You 

 could not get them into one such hive, even if 

 you p'lcked them in like white beans. Some of 

 our swarms are great-grandchildren. That's 

 the way bees increase down here. I never saw 

 any thing like it before. The honey season has 

 been exceptionally good, with the exception of 

 about 13 days in May, when it rained every day. 

 The bees have been on white clover for three 

 weeks, or four, perhaps; and it is plentiful yet. 

 It blooms here three or four times a year. We 

 run for comb honey mostly; get Ki cts. for box 

 honey, and 10 for rough. They don't want ex- 

 tracted here, but want comb mixed with it — 

 what we term rough honey. But it's delightful 

 business standing over a hive with half a bush- 

 el of bees in it, with the thermometer up to 85. 

 If there is any sweat in you it is pretty apt to 

 start. 



We went into winter quarters with 38, and 

 came through without a single loss: sold 4, and 

 had 34 left; have 40 now, and let 8 run away 

 while I was sick; and really I am glad they 

 are gone. We have enough left to care for. 



F. H. Finch. 



Sumraertown, Tenn., June 31. 



