1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



261 



tals, forming- a smooth, even grain, perfectly dry, 

 but not quite as hard as a good article of clover. 

 Let me remark, in passing, that I do not consider 

 any honey first-class unless it will candy so as to be 

 hard and perfectly dry. 



The comb made from heart's-ease is as white and 

 delicate as any made. In most of our markets I be- 

 lieve it is usually graded and sold as white clover. 

 With many dealers, all comb honey that is nice and 

 white is white clover, while all that appears dark is 

 buckwheat. This, to some extent, is true of ex- 

 tracted honey. Nearly all honey produced is from 

 sources more or less mixed, according to the season 

 and locality in which it was gathered. If you ask 

 any large dealer in honey for samples of white 

 clover you may get several different flavors, none 

 of which you will recognize as the white clover of 

 your locality. This beipg the case, there is a ten- 

 dency among dealers to class all honey, that is rea- 

 sonably light in color and mild in flavor, as white 

 clover. A friend of whom I bought some honey 

 almost entirely of heart's-ease, writes that a well- 

 known Chicago dealer said of some more of the 

 same lot, "It seems to be almost entirely white 

 clover." 



Tastes differ as to quality. Some do not like the 

 flavor, others prefer it to any other variety, while 

 some never learn to distinguish any difference be- 

 tween it and other kinds. A bee-keeper of some 

 years' experience admitted to me not long ago that 

 the only kind of honey she could positively distin- 

 guish by the flavor was that from sweet clover. 



Heart's-ease honey has one serious fault. It is 

 injured more easily, and to a greater extent, by 

 overheating than any other kind 1 am acquainted 

 with. The heat of boiling water, if the whole mass 

 is heated up to that point, will utterly ruin it, giv- 

 ing it a flavor and odor that reminds me of an in- 

 fusion of hay. Unless consumers are made aware 

 of this fact, unpleasant results may follow. It will 

 be seen that it is not fit for cooking purposes, as 

 the " hay tea" flavor is not generally liked. The 

 nectar from heart's-ease seems thicker than that 

 from most plants. This was particularly the case 

 last season, when it seemed ready to cap over al- 

 most as soon as it was brought in. On this account 

 I do not think it as profitable in the extracted form 

 as in comb. 



As to the relative profit of producing comb or ex- 

 tracted honey, I would refer my correspondent to 

 my article on the subject on page 691 of Glean- 

 ings for 1887. No one can be certain, until he tries 

 it, which will pay him best; but in the majority of 

 cases, comb honey will be found more profitable. 

 With regard to the rest of the letter, commission 

 men generally charge 5 per cent on sales, though in 

 Borne places 10 per cent is charged. If my corres- 

 pondent makes a success of moving his bees, es- 

 pecially for the basswood flow, I hope he will re- 

 port on it. We do not know nearly as much on the 

 subject as we ought to. I believe it is destined to 

 play an important part in the bee-keeping of the 

 future. 



HONEY IN PAPER PACKAGES. 



You will remember the article I wrote on small 

 paper packages for extracted honey. I send you 

 some of these by this mail. The honey is not very 

 good in quality, being a mixture of various sorts, 

 and the paper in which it is wrapped is simply 

 Gleanings paper. I hope it will reach you with- 

 out damage. It seems to me that something might 



be done in this way to furnish a market for a great 

 deal of honey. J. A. Green. 



Dayton, 111., Mar. 9, 1889. 



The candied honey in little packages looks 

 very pretty, only it is somewhat sticky. 

 This may be remedied, however, by wrap- 

 ping it up in paraffine paper, exactly as we 

 get caramels from the confectioner's. I pre- 

 sume a very choice grade of honey would 

 sell well as confectionery, but it would be 

 considerable tiouble and expense to put it 

 up in these packages ; and if a trade is once 

 started it will be greatly crippled or perhaps 

 killed by using an inferior article. If I am 

 correct, some honey candies in a good deal 

 better shape than others. Small packages, 

 say one inch square or less, would probably 

 keep their shape, and be neat to handle. If 

 not sold immediately, however. I am a little 

 afraid that it would look old and uninviting. 



MANIPULATING CHAFF HIVES, AND 

 PREVENTING SECOND SWAEMS. 



GEO. E. HILTON GIVES A FEW FACTS IN FAVOR OF 

 CHAFF AROUND THE BROOD-NEST. 



fHE great bugbear held up against chaff hives 

 is their weight in manipulation. Having al- 

 ways used chaff hives I have learned it is un- 

 necessary to move them after they are once 

 placed upon their stands, which (i. e., the 

 stands) should be substantial. For this purpose I 

 like a rim made of 2 x -1 oak, or some timber that 

 does not rot easily. When the chaff hives are once on 

 their stands they certainly possess advantages that 

 the single-walled hives do not. Bees will certainly 

 build up faster upon less stores in the spring, and 

 are less liable to spring dwindling. When the heat 

 of summer comes on, your surplus receptacles are 

 better protected from the scorching sun without 

 the use of shade-boards; the brood-nest is more 

 comfortable, and when bees in single-walled hives 

 are lying out and doing nothing for fear of melt- 

 ing their combs, bees in chaff hives are busily at 

 work; and I have yet to have the first comb break 

 down in them. 



In manipulating the surplus there is less stoop- 

 ing, and, as a consequence, less backache; and 

 with both kinds in the yard for the past ten years, I 

 have received enough more honey from the chaff 

 hive to pay for their extra cost. They are always 

 ready for winter by simply putting on a chaff cush- 

 ion when you remove your surplus crates in the 

 fall. There is less swarming than in the single- 

 walled hives, for the same reason that they work 

 when those in the single-walled hives do not. They 

 are more successfully handled against second 

 swarming. When a swarm issues I lift off the sur- 

 plus cases and set them on top of the next hive, 

 lift out 7 of the 8 frames, and place them with the 

 adhering bees in an empty hive. I then put in 

 seven frames of foundation (in the parent hive), re- 

 place my surplus eases, and by this time the swarm 

 has clustered. I next shake what I can of the 

 swarm into my hiving-basket, invariably getting 

 the queen the first time, and then dump them upon 

 th a alighting-board, and the work is done. As the 

 remaining bees will soon return to the parent hive, 

 and all the field bees giving you the same working 

 force as before, with energies redoubled, look out 

 for your surplus room, for the queen will occupy 



