April, 1916. 



American V^e Journal 



carrying with it an appropriation for 

 inspection work was passed by the 1913 

 legislature. 



In 1915, they secured the installation 

 of an apiary at the Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural College. The importance of 

 the beekeeping industry is increasing 

 as fruit growers are recognizing the 

 poUenation value of the honeybee. All 

 those who have attended the Connecti- 

 cut Fair at Charter Oak, Hartford, dur- 

 ing the last seven years, and have seen 

 the beautiful exhibit of bees and honey 

 displayed by members of the Connecti- 

 cut Beekeepers' Association have been 

 filled with admiration and — if fellow 

 beekeepers — with pride. Very liberal 

 premiums ($500) have helped to make 

 this the finest exhibit in the country. 

 Since its beginning the Association has 

 been steadily fulfilling the purpose for 

 which it was created, namely, "The 

 promotion of scientific bee-culture by 

 forming a strong bond of union among 

 beekeepers. 



I wish to repeat those words, " a 

 strong bond of union among beekeep- 

 ers," so they will stay in the reader's 

 mind. For I could not help recalling 

 them when I received a letter from a 

 successful New Hampshire beekeeper 

 to whom I was referred for informa- 

 tion. He spoke first of their being no 

 bee societies, then of the decrease of 

 50 percent in the number of colonies 

 kept on account of "old methods of 

 caring for them, giving foulbrood a 

 chance to deplete and destroy, also 

 lack of State inspection and instruc- 

 tion." The State, as he says, should 

 show more interest and give more aid, 

 but where will you ever find a State 

 which will give interest and aid without 

 being forcefully urged, and a strong 

 desire shown and demand made by 

 organized bodies? Here, certainly, "a 

 strong bond of union among beekeep- 

 ers " will help to impress the solons of 

 Ihe State with the economic impor- 

 tance of beekeeping interests. The bee- 

 keepers cannot lie back and do noth- 

 ing and expect plums to fall in their 

 laps. 



As yet the beekeepers have not co- 



operated to any extent in Maine, New 

 Hampshire or Rhode Island. Those 

 sufficiently interested in bees to wish 

 to hear more, are obliged to go out of 

 the State to do so. This seems a pity, 

 for there must be plenty of 'home tal- 

 ent," if only some one was energetic 

 enough to discover it and start things 

 going. It often takes us New Eng- 

 landers a long while to get started, 

 but we can anticipate a time when the 

 beekeeping societies of Maine, New 

 Hampshire, and Rhode Island will vie 

 with those of the other New England 

 States. 

 South Lancaster, Mass. 



New England Honeys and Honey 

 Narkeis 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



MEW ENGLAND has possibly a 

 larger variety of honeys than any 

 equal area anywhere else in the 

 United States. This fact is due to the 

 varied soil and climatic conditions in 

 these New England States. 



Any white honey is clover honey to 

 the average grocer and buyer in New 

 England (note that I do not say con- 

 sumer), but New England has several 

 kinds that I should class as white 

 honeys. Clover needs no description 

 here nor does basswood. Both of these 

 honeys we have, also raspberry which 

 is so commonly blended with clover, 

 with us, that few people know one 

 from the other. Then we have clethra, 

 a very white honey, but of rather 

 marked flavor; only a few localities 

 abounding in swamp ground have this 

 latter source of honey. 



Our asters produce a very light-col- 

 ored honey, but like the clethra it has 

 so marked a flavor that only a com- 

 paratively few cPeople like it. Some 

 goldenrods produce an almost white 

 honey scarcely to be distinguished from 

 aster honey. The writer believes that 

 sumac honey should be classed as 

 white, for it surely is not amber. This 



THE GERMAN BEEKEEPKRS CLUB 



honey probably i» in its perfection in 

 southern New England, and it has no 

 superior. It is straw colored, heavy, 

 never candies, is of mild flavor, 

 and meets with keen demand in the 

 market. In a few localities surplus is 

 gathered occasionally from apple 

 bloom. This is also to be classed white, 

 being about the color of pure raspberry 

 honey. Its quality is unsurpassed, but 

 so little gets into the markets that it is 

 negligible. 



There are other sources which yield 

 white or very light honeys, but of too 

 slight importance to mention here. 



Of our amber honeys, that from blue- 

 berry and huckleberry is the most 

 important. This comes late in May 

 and early June. The flow, from one to 

 two weeks, usually about ten days, is 

 rather profuse, and if colonies are full 

 strength from 60 to 100 pounds may be 

 put in. These plants abound in many 

 parts of New England, and but for 

 them beekeeping could not be carried 

 on at all in some localities. Among 

 the swampy regions along the coast, in 

 the drumlin region 30 and 40 miles in- 

 land, and over pretty much all the hilly 

 and mountainous parts of New Eng- 

 land, this honey plays an important 

 part in our industry. 



Blackberry bloom also yields, I be- 

 lieve, an amber honey which is so simi- 

 lar to that just described that the two 

 are scarcely to be distinguished. In 

 some localities the honey from golden- 

 rod is amber, and is so poor in quality 

 that it is worthless for table use. Other 

 sources of amber honey are negligible 

 so far as my knowledge goes. 



Buckwheat is grown somewhat in 

 New England, and once in several 

 years yields a bumper crop. I have 

 kept bees over 30 years and can count 

 one big crop from buckwheat. This 

 honey, of course, is beyond the amber 

 shade. 



We not infrequently, altogether too 

 frequently, have a flow of honeydew. 

 This is usually a very dark rank honey 

 (?) which can be used by the bakers, 

 but had better be used for spring feed- 

 ing. 



There are, to be sure, many other 

 honeys, but most of them are not well 

 enough known to the writer to speak 

 with assurance of their quality and 

 value. They come blended with the 

 more abundant honeys, occasionally 

 adding value to the eating qualities of 

 the product, but not infrequently injur- 

 ing it by giving it an oflf flavor or poor 

 color. One alone I will mention be- 

 cause it does, on occasion, greatly in- 

 jure a honey crop. In many sections 

 of New England, during the second 

 week of July the bees, for a few days, 

 enjoy a profuse flow of honey. It is 

 yellow, of fine body, but so bitter that 

 it is inedible for months. If kept until 

 well into the winter the bitterness 

 mostly works out and the honey is then 

 rich and paltable. 



The New England market calls for 

 more honey than is produced locally. 

 Hence, much honey is imported, espe- 

 cially from the West. Several carloads 

 of California honey go into Boston 

 every year, besides much honey from 

 elsewhere. Almost all of this honey is 

 used by bakers and confectioners, but 

 a great deal is bottled. 



The honey taste in New England is 

 very varied. In the country towns and 



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