46 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTUEE. 



Jan. 



a goodly company, both of men and women, 

 assist friend L. iii getting out weekly one of 

 our best agricultural journals. 



I am now writing on the cars, en route for 

 Albany. 



These fast trains do not stop for supper, 

 and the dining-room car is therefore the 

 only chance. A dollar for supper seems 

 even worse than a dollar for a dinner ; for 

 who wants to eat a " dollar's worth," or any 

 thing like it, just before going to bed? 

 However, as I am employed by the readers 

 of Gleanings to travel and take notes, I 

 thought I would see if I couldn't get some- 

 thing out of even a "• dollar supper '' for 

 their benefit, and I got it. What do you 

 think it was? Why, this : I found on the 

 bill of fare, " Beefsteak and Mushrooms;" 

 and as I had noticed in the eastern market 

 reports mushrooms at $1.50 per lb., I have 

 been getting the mushroom fever. They 

 are to be raised in winter in a warm cellar 

 or cave. Mammoth Cave is said to answer 

 nicely. But suppose I get some raised how 

 shall I know when they are just right, and 

 fit for market? Why, if they are just like 

 those T had on the dining-room car, to be 

 sure they are right. 



Well, it is after supper, and mushrooms 

 are tiptop. They taste a good deal like those 

 that grow in the fields in summer time. I 

 believe there is money in them, gi'own in 

 winter. " Gardening for Profit " tells all 

 about growing them. 



A farmhouse is on fire this bitter cold 

 night. The roof is just falling in as we rush 

 by. The family doubtless fired up the stoves 

 strong to keep out the frost, and this is the 

 resu*lt. Home, and all its contents gone. 

 Take warning, friends ; look to your flues 

 and chimneys. When the weather is severe, 

 and you are firing heavy, keep watch of 

 things. Fathers and mothers, look after your 

 homes and little ones. 



Continued, next issue. 



PIRST-CLASS COMB HONEY. 



THAT WHICH HAS REMAINED I.ONG ON THE HIVE, 

 THE BEST. 



T HAVE just been reading what friend Heddon 

 (^ says, on page 883, about extracted honey. I be- 

 ^l lieve he is cori-ect, and also that what he says 

 -*■ in reg-ard to extracted is equally true of comb 

 honey. 

 Friend Root, on page 77 of the ABC book you 

 say, " Very white new comb honey is seldom of the 

 fine, pure, sweet flavor of honey that has been a 

 long time capped over, such as is found in the dark- 

 looking comb." You also tell us about that honey 

 which you left on the hives until winter, and then 

 cut out of the frames, which wag the nicest, richest 

 honey you ever saw or tasted. You don't get much 

 of such honey now. No, the most of our comb' 

 honey now is taken from the hives as soon as finish- 

 ed, to prevent its being soiled; and the consequence 

 is, a large part of the honey found in our markets 

 is Very white and nice-looking; but when it is eat- 

 en it doesn't give satisfaction. The fact is, it is 

 nothing more nor less than green honey. If you 

 were buying for your own use, you would not buy 

 such honey. I think you would get that which is 

 much better, except in looks, for from 3 to 5 cents 



per pound less. I could not help thinking of this 

 when you spoke of that " snowy white " honey, in 

 Gleanings recently, which you were selling for 18 

 cents. Such honey will sell well, but it will not sell 

 next year's crop. With such honey it would be 

 difficult to develop a market in villages and country 

 places; people will buy it for awhile, but will soon 

 get sick of it, and " stop short off"," as friend Martin 

 says. I think there never will be an overproduc- 

 tion of first-class honey, either comb or extracted. 

 The trouble is, only a small part of the honey pro- 

 duced at the present day is first-class in ev^ery re- 

 spect. 



I believe this is an important matter, and I think 

 that, if the brethren would all take hold and " pull 

 together," instead of sitting down and crying over- 

 production, we should soon see an improvement 

 in the honey-market. O. G. Russell. 



Afton, N. Y., Nov. 29, 1886. 



Thanks, friend R. While I think you are 

 correct in the main, I can not think that 

 nice wliite honey that has been taken from 

 the hive as soon as capped is " green " or 

 unripe honey. We have been selling just 

 this class of honey, and it has always given 

 good satisfaction. I believe, however, as 

 stated in the ABC, that honey long capped 

 over has generally a little finer flavor; but 

 whether it were better to sacrifice the snowy 

 whiteness of our market honey for this 

 slight improvement in flavor, I have my 

 doubts. 



MANIPULATING FRAMES. 



pond's METHOD. 



Jf E. POND, Jr., has got hold of a correct 

 „ ip principle in handling frames for the pro- 

 •^1 duction of comb honey. What is the use 

 *^ ' of having movable combs if we do not 

 take every advantage of so great a prin- 

 ciple? I am pretty sure that another season 

 will demonstrate the fact to the satisfaction of 

 every one who will take the trouble to experiment. 

 To illustrate his plan: I will state my practical ap- 

 plication of it by describing my hive. I use the 

 ten-frame Gallup hiv^e, frames 11 'j in. square. 

 Hives inside, measure 13 x 13'/i and 15 inches long; 

 the frames hang crosswise; and the 10 frames, spac- 

 ed lYi inches, just fill the 15 inches. Now, in the 

 opening of the clover in the spring, I just shove the 

 ten frames up and put in a wide (3 in.) frame at 

 one end, filled with i sections and fdn. Then I 

 have ten brood-frames in the space of 13 inches. 

 This, 1 think, is about right. At the proper time T 

 set on top my case of pound sections, and so work 

 for pound section honey till the close of the season, 

 or about the last of July. I then take off and put 

 away all top cases of 1-lb. sections. I now open 

 the brood-nest, take out the wide frame at the end, 

 and I find four l'/2-lb. frames of nice clover honey 

 —six pounds or more. No. 1 clover honey. I now 

 proceed to pull back or spread the ten brood-frames 

 on the 15 inches, which puis them 1| inches from 

 center to center, and they will find enough during 

 the fall tlowers to build out and fill up for winter. 

 We never get any surplus here in Southern Missou- 

 ri in the fall, but they get enough in September to 

 winter well. I should like to hear others report 

 on this plan. W. H. Ritter, 



North Springfield, Mo. 



