152 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 5, 1903. 



The wisdom of this will be proven by the local org-aniza- 

 tions now incorporated, and in the near future all combin- 

 ing into the one National. Not only the selling- of honey, 

 but the buying of supplies, getting better transportation 

 rates on bees by freight, and needed legislation in the vari- 

 ous States to protect the bee-keepers. There are over 700,- 

 000 bee-keepers in the United States, and quite a large num- 

 ber in Canada, and I am sorry to say only a few over 1000 

 now belong to the National Bee-Keepers' Association. It 

 is rapidly growing, and the prospects are that many large 

 gatherings of bee-keepers during the year will become a 

 part of the National, as by so joining the annual dues are 

 only SO cents each to the National. Let every member 

 bring at least one new member into the fold, and add to the 

 strength of the Association. In union there is strength. 



N. E. France, 

 General Manaf^er National Bee-Keepers'" Association. 



P. S. — I am now working to amend a Bill in the New 

 Mexico Legislature, compelling the spraying of fruit-trees, 

 so as to protect the interests of bee-keepers and fruit-grow- 

 ers. There is also an attempt being made to have the Iowa 

 Legislature enact spraying laws. N. E. F. 



\ Our Bee-HeeDin^ Sisters \ 



Conducted by EMMfl M. WILSON, Marengo, III. 



A Cool Morning'. 



Sixteen degrees below zero this morning, Feb. 17. That 

 is the coldest it has been this winter. Glad our bees are in 

 the cellar. 



Brilliantine for the Hair. 



A good brilliantine for dry, harsh hair is made by mix- 

 ing well together one ounce each of glycerin and bay rum, 

 adding two ounces of clarified honey and four ounces spirits 

 of wine. Rub a little Well into the scalp once a week. — 

 "Health and Beauty " Department, Chicago Daily News. 



Bee-Keepers Always Hopeful. 



Bee-keepers, as a general rule, are looking forward to 

 the next season, and usually expecting a good crop. It is 

 pleasant to keep up our courage by talking of the favorable 

 signs. The prospects here seem good. 'The clover covered 

 the ground abundantly last fall, and until late in the sea- 

 son the growth was vigorous. Since then it has been cov- 

 ered most of the time with a light fall of snow. So the 

 promise for 1903 is good. 



Honey in Putting- Up Fruit. 



Having seen a request in the " Sisters' Department " 

 for persons to give their experience in putting up fruit with 

 honey, I thought I would give mine. 



Some years ago I saw in the American Bee Journal an 

 article on preserving grapes in honey, by laying the grapes 

 (picked from the stems) in a jar and pouring extracted 

 honey over them until covered ; and that they would keep 

 any length of time. We gave it a trial, but in a short time 

 the acid in the grape caused it to ferment. 



Then we experimented still further, by cooking the 

 grapes and honey, and were surprised, on eating them, to 

 find them so delicious. This led me to use it again at dif- 

 ferent times, in sweetening cherries, raspberries, blackber- 

 ries, apples and grapes ; and we liked it in everything ex- 

 cept apples. Our friends, when visiting us, all spoke 

 highly of our fruit, and, with very few exceptions, said 

 they could tell no difference in flavor. 



I have never used honey in preserving fruits to any 

 extent, for long cooking destroys the honey-flavor, and 

 makes it strong. I have used it in making grape marma- 

 lade, using half sugar, and it was fine. 



As to the amount of honey used, I sweeten to suit my 



taste, and have used both liquid and granulated. I know it 

 can be used successfully in some kinds of fruit, and will 

 keep any length of time, and the only reason I do not use 

 it every year is the scarcity of honey so much of the time, 

 that sugar is cheaper for me. 



I have used honey in making cakes and cookies, and for 

 making popcorn balls nothing could be better; cooking the 

 honey until it will spin from a spoon, and then pour over 

 the corn and make into balls. Mrs. J. L. Strong. 



Page Co., Iowa. 



Thank you very much, Mrs. Strong, for giving us so 

 fully your experience with putting up so many different 

 kinds of fruit with honey. I am sure you have given it quite 

 a trial, and proved to your own satisfaction at least, that it 

 can be made a success. I have no doubt that you are right, 

 that it may be cheaper to use sugar, and the lack of honey 

 may prevent a good many from using it. Still, if honey is 

 so much more wholesome it may be cheaper to use it even if 

 it costs more in dollars and cents. 



The only kind of fruit that we have tried with honey 

 is strawberries, and they were good. I confess that I should 

 not have known whether they were put up with honey or 

 sugar if they had not been labeled. We used a very fine 

 grade of alfalfa honey which had no very pronounced 

 flavor. It comes the nearest to just a pure sweet of any 

 honey I ever tasted, and for that reason is fine for cooking 

 purposes. 



I have made honey popcorn balls, only I used part 

 sugar. They were fine. Next time I am going to try all 

 honey and see what success I have. 



The person who uses the most honey in our family is 

 my mother, and she uses a small quantity at almost every 

 meal, and has done so for some years. Last Sunday (Feb. 

 15) she celebrated her 8+th birthday. She is a remarkably 

 preserved woman for her age, both physically and mentally. 

 One thing that is a little out of the ordinary is, that she 

 never uses tea or cofl'ee. For breakfast she has a drink of 

 hot water, honey and cream, and seems to enjoy it as much 

 as most people advanced in years do their tea and coffee. 

 How much of her good health may be attributed to the use 

 of honey I don't know, but I believe it is good for her. 



The Afterthought. * 



Tbe "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlassea. 

 By E. E. HASTY, SU. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



THE "snipper" among BEK-KEEPKRS. 



" Many a true word is spoken in jest" — and many an 

 apt saying, without father or mother, is born of a typo- 

 graphical error. When Carlyle wrote the hackneyed old 

 expression, " Dead Sea apples," the types made it "Dead 

 Sea apes ;" and in that form it went round the world with a 

 rush. We rather need a name for the man who produces 

 honey — white, amber, and dark, fancy and culls — and mixes 

 all in the same case. According to page 67, he's a " snip- 

 per." Instead of cutting an honest garment " according to 

 his cloth," he snips it full of holes. Snips his consignees' 

 good-nature into shreds. Snips badly the consumer's right 

 to have what he orders. Snips his own pocket-book nicely, 

 too — we are almost glad of it. Possibly he thought he 

 could snip ofl' the time and expense required to case correctly. 

 Seems to be a case of snip and be snipped on his part, as 

 evidently his common -sense has been snipped badly. And 

 the moral is. Don't be a Snipper. 



Hope the types will soon furnish a name for another 

 fellow worse than the Snipper, who is abroad in the world. 

 A Toledo grocer recently showed me some of the fellow's 

 honey, and wanted my opinion of it. Not graded correctly, 

 eh? That time you missed it. Graded straight as a string ; 

 but such a grade — it was a long way below culls — unsealed 

 nectar with the combs not built out to proper thickness yet. 



simmins' shaken swarm. 



The Simmins modification of the shaken swarm de- 

 serves a trial. We want to see what " locality " it is going 

 to work in. To have no increase and no weak colony would 

 be just splendid. Practically, what's to hinder the bees of 

 No. 2 from going back home? And those that don't go will 

 be nurses — not needed in their new home, and decidedly 



