1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



209 



hind the stove, to sour. In the morning, when 

 pancaices are wanted, pour out most of the batter 

 into a shallow pan, but always leave enough in 

 the jar for a starter for next time. Thin the bat- 

 ter before using, if necessary, with warm water. 

 Milk is better to mix with over night, because 

 the pancakes brown nicer if milk is used. Use 

 half ateaspoonfulof sodaeach morning, orenough 

 to sweeten the batter sufficiently, stirring rapidly. 

 Mix batter in the jar over night, always using 

 milk if possible; and it may be well to set the jar 

 in a pan or something to catch the overflow, for 

 if the batter rises as it ought to it may climb 

 over the sides before morning. When it does 

 that you may be sure it is all right. 



The pancakes may not be just to the taste the 

 first time, as it takes a day or two to get the 

 growth of the proper bacteria. When the batter 

 in the store jar gets just right it ought to remain 

 so all winter, with perhaps a little yeast added 

 occasionally, if the batter doesn't rise nicely. 

 It isn't necessary to keep it behind the stove all 

 the time after the culture is started and is satis- 

 factory. 



One may use all buckwheat, or part wheat 

 flour if he wants to make the buckwheat flour go 

 further. You know what the song says: 



Make the batter runny; 



Cook 'em quick, and bring along 

 Lots of cream and honey. 



Did you ever try cream and honey on pancakes 

 instead of butter and honey.'' If not, suppose you 

 try it. Of course, this is assuming that you live 

 in the country where real cream grows, and not 

 in town where it always seemed to me that milk 

 is so homesick it has the blues. 



We eat honey at our house. Whether it is be- 

 cause we have something good to eat it on, or 

 because it doesn't cost any thing, we somehow 

 get away with about a pound of comb honey a 

 day the year round in a family of four. And 

 then with two families of grandchildren, and 

 some other friends who have appetites for Nature's 

 most delicious sweet, we do our part toward re- 

 lieving a glutted market by eating a lot of our 

 own product and by creating a taste for honey in 

 others. 



Buckwheat cakes and honey! How they make 

 me forget the discomforts of winter, the biting 

 cold, black diamonds, steaming furnaces, fur 

 coats, and mufflers! They feast my imagination 

 with the sight of opening orchards of pink and 

 white — resurrected in beauty out of the once dead 

 cold earth. They carry me back to the fields 

 fragrant with clover-blossoms and musical with 

 the hum of bees. I hear the songs of nesting 

 birdsand the patient croppingof contented cows. 

 They suggest the pendent creamy cups of flower- 

 ing lindens, inviting nectar-loving Miss Mel- 

 lifera to share the proffered hydromel while the 

 sun of opportunity shines. They open the door 

 of memory, and show me whitened landscapes of 

 blooming buckwheat that fill the air with sweet- 

 ness and the heart with hope of a coming harvest. 



Ah, buckwheat cakes and honey! Not only 

 does the sissing griddle sing of the poetry of 

 country life, but they twain (buckwheat cakes 

 and honey) give pleasure to the palate, health 

 and strength to the body, and sweetness to the 

 spirit. 



Forest City, Iowa, Jan. 12. 



[Hon. Eugene Secor was once the efficient Gen- 

 eral Manager of the National Bee-keepers' Union, 

 and later called the National Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, as it is to-day. He has also written va- 

 rious poems on bees and other matters, some of 

 which have been set to music and sung at our 

 National conventions. We are especially glad 

 to hear from him again. 



Here is another recipe that our women folks 

 say is a good one, and we reproduce it here. — 

 Ed.] 



raised buckwheat cakes. 



Take a small crock or large earthen pitcher; 

 put into it a quart of warm water or half water 

 and milk; one heaping teaspoonful of salt. Then 

 stir in as much buckwheat flour as will thicken 

 it to a rather stiff batter. Lastly, add half a cup 

 of yeast. Make it smooth; cover it up warm to 

 rise over night. In the morning add a small lev- 

 el teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm 

 water. This will remove the sour taste, if any, 

 and increase the lightness. If allowed to stand 

 until it bubbles there will be no use of putting 

 the yeast in the batter. 



Jesse W. Thornton. 



North Yakima, Wash. 



HONEY PRICES. 



The Lack of Intelligent Co-operation is 

 to Blame for Low Prices. 



BY SEBASTIAN ISELIN. 



I have read with great interest the remarks of 

 Mr. Roy Stevens in regard to the San Francisco 

 quotations on page 67, Jan. 15, for I am the man 

 who put that honey on the market, which was re- 

 tailed at 3 sections for 25 cents. Oakland and 

 San Francisco commission firms refused to offer 

 as much as 6 cts. per comb for this honey, and 

 so I sold some 1100 lbs. to a local retailer at 6 

 cts. The term " choice comb honey " is, how- 

 ever, somewhat misleading, since these 1100 lbs. 

 comprised all the light weight and candied sec- 

 tions of a lot left over from 1907, the shipping- 

 cases being returned to me. Although I know 

 that it does not pay to raise comb honey at such 

 low prices I was well satisfied with the deal. 



As to the San Francisco quotations, I must say 

 that of late they have taken a tumble, and now 

 seem to be nearer the actual market prices than 

 ever before 



Since New Year the market is flooded with 

 white and light amber Nevada comb, which is 

 quoted at 8 to 14 cents. I am of the opinion 

 that, if the bee-keepers of Nevada were organiz- 

 ed, and knew the conditions of the market, they 

 could have obtained from 12 to 15 cents for this 

 honey. 



But it is not only in Nevada that organization 

 and co-operation of the bee-keepers are needed. 

 Those in the vicinity in which I live failed to 

 put in an appearance at a meeting called for the 

 purpose of organization some time last month, 

 notwithstanding the fact that, as a rule, they are 

 badly misinformed as to the prices prevailing. 

 For instance, last summer at one time honey was 

 so scarce here that I could easily obtain 13 cents 



