126 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



My wife remembers enough about her child- 

 hood home in " Merry England " to give us 

 very graphic accounts of the people, cli- 

 mate, etc., even including the dampness of 

 the winters, which you mention. 



NOT QUANTITY BUT QUALITY. 



MRS. HARRISON OFFERS SOME GOOD SUGGESTIONS 

 TO PRODUCERS AND SELLERS OF HONEY. 



R. ROOT:— Mrs. Chaddock, in telling- what I 

 sold extracted honey for, has caused let- 

 ters to pour in upon me at a fearful rate, 

 offering- honey in barrels by the score. I 

 wish to say to one and all, that I'm not in 

 the commission business. If I wanted honey, I 

 would either advertise for it, or write to those who 

 I knew had it to sell. The reason why 1 get 2U cents 

 per pound for extracted honey is this: I'm an old 

 resident of this city, having lived here nearly all 

 my life, and am well known. Although there may 

 be plenty of honey at the stores, persons will come 

 long distances to get ours, fearing adulteration, 

 saying, " It's bees' honey 1 want." 



Those who report such large yields of extracted 

 honey, and claim to produce it so cheaply, are an 

 injury to the craft. I always feel as though my 

 extracted honey cost me the most. This cheap 

 way is certainly not the best way. The honey that 

 I'm selling is pure basswood. The combs were en- 

 tirely empty at the advent of the flow, and extract- 

 ed before sealing. It was a ground-hog case. We 

 were out of honey. The boy who was digging out 

 a woodchuck on Sunday morning, who was repri- 

 manded by a minister driving by said, " I must 

 have him; we are out of meat, and the minister is 

 coming to our house for dinner to-day." 



The honey, as it came from the extractor, ran 

 into jars or tin vessels, which had cheese-cloth tied 

 over the top. When they were full, fresh cheese- 

 cloth was tied on them and placed in the sun. The 

 weather was very hot and dry. It is a mistake to 

 let the honey run from the extractor into barrels, 

 without straining. If this honey were to pass 

 through the hands of that careful and painstaking 

 woman Mrs. Muth. it would come upon the market 

 all right, but it may not be so fortunate. She told 

 me, when I was there, that when she "cooked" 

 honey, as she expressed it, she skimmed it as long 

 as any scum would rise; and on looking at the 

 skimmings with a magnifying-glass, broken legs 

 and wings of bees could be seen. 



In lieu of trying to see how much extracted hon- 

 ey can be produced, it would be better to aim at 

 excellence. I do not see how any one can tier up 

 until the close of the season, and then extract and 

 keep each kind separate. I lately received a letter 

 from a person, complaining that he purchased two 

 barrels of extracted honey from Illinois for clover, 

 which was not the kind represented, and that he 

 lost money on his purchase. Judging from the 

 tone of his letter, it is evident that he thinks no 

 pure clover honey is produced in this State. 



Mr. Muth appears to have taught his patrons so 

 that they keep the different honeys distinct and 

 separate, so that the flavor of apple, clover, bass- 

 wood, etc., is easily detected. Will Mr. Muth now 

 take the floor, and give us directions upon this sub- 

 ject, and in what way the trade demands it put up? 



By the way, Peoria has no need for the honey call- 

 ed "amber." I would not offer it to my customers 

 as an article of food. I saw some of this honey in a 

 store; and on questioning the proprietor he said, 

 "I didn't buy that honey; a man left it here, and I 

 wish he would take it away, for I would as soon 

 have soap-grease in my store." This honey may 

 suit manufacturers, especially cigar-makers, but it 

 is not fit for table use. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria,^ll., Jan. 21, 1889. 



My friend, you make a good point where 

 you suggest that, if we tier up the whole 

 product of the season, on the Dadant plan, 

 we have our spring, summer, and autumn 

 honey all mixed up. May be some of the 

 combs contain clover honey, others bass- 

 wood, and still others goldenrod ; and I am 

 afraid that the operation of extracting 

 would not be so managed as to keep the dif- 

 ferent grades separate. We should like to 

 have our friends Dadant tell us their experi- 

 ence in the matter. Your strictures on am- 

 ber honey, it seems to me, are a little too 

 broad. Well-ripened goldenrod or Spanish- 

 needle honey is very nice, and, to a good 

 many, just as delicious as clover and bass- 

 wood, although the amber color is rather 

 against the sale of it. I am well aware, 

 however, that there is a good deal of honey 

 on the market that is not fit for any thing, 

 unless it is for some kind of " manufactur- 

 ing " purposes. 



THE EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT, AND 

 ITS USE AND ABUSE. 



TRADING "SIGHT UNSEEN." 



E have reason to fear, from com- 

 plaints which have come in recently, 

 that some of the advertisers in our 

 Exchange Department have taken 

 advantage of the persons with 

 whom they have made a trade, somewhat 

 in the manner indicated in the heading. It 

 used to be common among boys, but we 

 hope it is not so now, to trade knives " sight 

 uuseen." That such a practice is a species 

 of gambling, no one will deny. To those of 

 our readers who may not be acquainted 

 with the plan, we would say that two boys, 

 having each a knife which they desire to 

 trade, make the following agreement : One 

 of the boys, A, says to his companion, B, 

 " Let's trade knives sight unseen.' 1 Each 

 clasps firmly his own knife in such a way as 

 to conceal it entirely, and then says, " Whole 

 sides, whole blades, or no trade. 11 The 

 knives are passed to each other simultane- 

 ously. It matters not whether the knife is 

 new or old, or whether the blades are steel 

 or iron, the trade is effected, and one of the 

 boys is almost sure to get the better of the 

 bargain, while his companion fares the 

 worse, of course. 



Now, we have reason to fear that some of 

 our advertisers in the Exchange Depart- 

 ment are making their trades somewhat in 

 the same way. Very recently a transaction 

 took place as follows : 



Mr. A advertised in the Wants and Ex- 

 change Department something to this ef- 

 fect : " Wanted to exchange, a Mason & 



