Nov. 19, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



745 



have never yet seen a wire handle on a honey-can that was 

 strong- enough to be trusted inlholding 60 pounds of hot 

 honey without danger of breaking, for many of them break 

 for me in lifting them out of the crate or box. 



And last, but not least, a hole large enough for a cream- 

 ladle would enable the buyer to inspect that honey more fully 

 at first, so as to avoid taking from an unprincipled producer 

 worthless stuff, as I have known to be the case from buying 

 it 'myself in the present narrow-mouthed cans, which are 

 not favorable for the dealer's inspection. But we fixed it 

 up, for he was a manly man, and took it right back. 



So I vote for a 60-pound honey-can with a hole in the 

 corner of the top — as the most convenient place for pouring 

 out hot honey — not less than 2'2 or 3 inches large, and a 

 strong wire handle on either side of the top ; even if they 

 cost more ; for we consumers are the ones, in the end, who 

 will have to pay for them. 



Respectfully submitted by, 



Common-Sbnse Bek-Kebping. 



Sweet Clover— Is it Good or Bad? 

 Some Other Things. 



-And 



BY WALTER S. POUDEK. 



BACK in the seventies, when I first became interested in 

 bee-literature, I was alarmed to learn that sweet clover 

 was not looked on with favor by those who were plant- 

 ing for honey. I had established a small apiary at my 

 father's home, on one of those beautiful hills just north of 

 Cincinnati, and I felt rather badly when I discovered that I 

 was in the midst of great fields of sweet clover. I gleaned 

 from the bee-papers and text-books that bees would become 

 intoxicated on sweet clover, and many a bee would never be 

 able to return with its hard-earned morsel. On going to the 

 clover-fields at twilight I soon learned that there was some 

 truth in the statements that a few bees could be found 

 numbed and dying on the bloom. 



As time went on sentiment changed, and we have 

 learned to look forward to having as much sweet clover 

 produced in waste-places as possible. I have been guilty of 

 carrying the seed in my pocket and scattering it in waste- 

 places, and others have done likewise, till it has increased 

 wonderfully. We have all wished for more sweet clover, 

 and now we have it, but I am undecided whether it will ever 

 prove the boon that we have looked for. I do not fear that 

 it destroys bees to amount to anything, but, blooming as it 

 does at the same time with our white clover, and being in- 

 ferior in quality, it has greatly lessened the value of our 

 white clover crop in central Indiana and southern Ohio this 

 year. It is inferior in taste, in color, and in thickness ; in 

 color it has a greenish tinge. I have known the bees to re- 

 fuse to work on its bloom, and again I have known but two 

 seasons in 30 years when it yielded a surplus in this section 

 of the country. 



It yielded a surplus this year, the first since 25 or 30 

 years ; I do not remember the exact year, but it was the 

 same year the National Bee-Keepers' Association met at 

 Indianapolis. [This was in 1886. — Ed.] I remember this 

 distinctly, because this was the first big convention of bee- 

 keepers that I had ever attended. At this convention the 

 late Chas. F. Muth exhibited a sample of sweet clover ex- 

 tracted honey, and I remember that Dr. Miller, in his good- 

 natured way, suggested that its greenish color might be at- 

 tributed to the coal-smoke around Cincinnati. I wanted to 

 get up and say that I had some just like it that was pro- 

 duced where there was no coal-smoke, but I hesitated be- 

 cause I was too bashful. 



COXVENTIOK REMINISCENCES. 



I shall always remember this convention in just the 

 same way that a boy remembers his first circus. It was one 

 of the events of my life to meet and shake hands with the 

 men whose names were so familiar in the bee-papers. The 

 late Thomas G. Newman was the principal orator. Dr. 

 Miller was the funny man who kept the house in good cheer. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, a tall, handsome fellow, was taking 

 items in shorthand for his " Notes from the Banner 

 Apiary." I suppose I whispered to my nearest companion 

 that he is the one I'd like to be. Mr. York was Mr. New- 

 man's handy man. with a budgetof books and copies of the 

 American Bee Journal. Mr. York was about the only one 

 who did not care to discuss bees during intermissions. He 

 told some of us boys that those Indianapolis street-cars 



would be too slow for Chicago, and I guess that I thought, 

 " Well, he's the ore I'd rather be." 



Frank L. Dougherty was then the Indianapolis honey 

 and bee-supply man. Dr. G. L. Tinker had sent samples of 

 flections made of white-poplar, in four pieces, and I do not 

 believe that I have ever seen their equal in fine workman- 

 ship. In fact, I was so favorably impressed with them that 

 I ordered a lot of them as soon as I returned home, and I 

 took them to a printer and had my card printed on them. I 

 used them in a Betsinger case, with wire-cloth separators, 

 and produced honey so fine that when I exhibited it half the 

 observers would say it was "machine-made," because it was 

 too fine to have been made by the bees ! 



CANS VS. BARRELS FOR HONEY. 



I also wish to say a word about barrels for extracted 

 honey. They are not popular in the Indianapolis honey 

 market. There are several reasons for this. Usually the 

 quantity is more than a customer wishes to purchase at 

 once ; but the worst objection is that they do not hold out in 

 weight. I have tested the matter a number of times, and a 

 500-pound barrel will invariably show a loss of 60 to 80 

 pounds. How this loss occurs I am unable to explain. 



The S-gallon can is the proper article for shipping ex- 

 tracted honey, but there is room for one improvement. The 

 boxes should be bound with hoop-iron to prevent the bot- 

 toms from coming off. It is not unusual to find loose bot- 

 toms ; and an occasional nail plunged in the bottom of 

 a can will do a lot of damage. 



A thin layer of excelsior laid in the bottom of these 

 boxes helps a whole lot to make matters safe. 



Marion Co., Ind. 



The Texas Honey-Producers' Association. 



THE bee-men of Southwest Texas, who held a series of 

 meetings recently, are now well organized and incor- 

 porated under the laws of that State with S5000 capital, 

 divided into 500 shares and made assessable. The capital 

 stock is all subscribed for, but when a bee-keeper wishes to 

 become a member, certificates are transferred to him. 



They began the conduct of business Sept. 1, and up to 

 Oct. 1, when the charter was granted, they had disposed of 

 nearly 15 tons of honey, and had control of nearly 5000 colo- 

 nies of bees. 



This association will give a new impetus to the bee-in- 

 dustry, because members get their supplies, including cans, 

 at wholesale prices, and receive retail prices for their honey. 

 Extensive plans are being inaugurated for a betterment of 

 the condition of the bee-keeper, and the placing of the 

 honey market on a firmer basis by guaranteed full-weight 

 and purity, together with a price that will bring it in direct 

 competition with other sweets. At present the producers 

 are experiencing not only a greater production than de- 

 mand, but a demoralized market, on the account of much 

 honey being packed in the past with utter disregard to 

 rules of grading, or neatness or care in packing. 



The board of directors, consisting of Dr. J. B. Treon, 

 president; L,. Stachelhausen, vice-president; M. M. Faust, 

 G. F. Davidson, W. E. Crandall and E. E. Eongenecker, are 

 formulating rules for grading, packing and marketing, 

 which will at once place the product of the association in 

 demand, because the dealers will at once know upon what 

 to depend. Samples are required at least three times a year 

 from all members, and as often as the honey seems to take 

 a decided change in flavor and quality. 



Promptness in the delivery of honey by railroad is an- 

 other thing the association is watching with much interest, 

 and are now collecting data. At present, it takes from 6 to 

 12 weeks to get a local shipment into North Texas and the 

 Territories. 



Commission men and others, who, at the outset, looked 

 upon the association with contempt, are now upon a totter- 

 ing fence, or have fallen entirely on the favorable side, 

 owing to the quiet but determined policy now pursued. 

 Agents of trusts are now placing bids with them, and mak- 

 ing desperate efforts to make prices that will defy 

 competition for the present, when, according to the golden 

 rule of the trusts, the producer, or,, rather consumer in this 

 instance, must suffer. With the efficient anti-trust laws of 

 Texas, and the indignant determination of the bee-keepers, 

 it is safe to say they will live together, or die in the at- 

 tempt. 



Next year considerable comb honey will be produced, 



