GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Of eoui'se I starch the rollers before using. 

 By using these glass dijipers, and following 

 the printed instructions sent to me with my 

 comb-foundation machines, I have been suc- 

 cessful in manufacturing the thinnest pos- 

 sible and finest comb foundation. 

 Xicosia, Island of Cyi^rus, Dec. 19. 



To be continued. 



[We are glad that our correspondent, aft- 

 er having served for many years as a gov- 

 ernment official, has now the leisure to re- 

 turn to bees and beekeeping. He is now 

 training his six sons in apiculture, and also 

 in sericulture (the growing of silkworms). 

 The 3'oung men are now contemplating 

 starting a series of out-apiaries, and they 

 are expecting to equip them with American 

 hives and fixtures. They already occupy an 

 important position in the beekeeping inter- 

 ests of the island of Cyprus, and are the 

 onljr rearers and exporters of Cyprian 

 queens there. — Ed.] 



THE QUESTION OF ALFALFA HONEY IN THE 

 EAST 



BY WESLEY FOSTER 



Mr. Crane has drawn the inference that 

 it would be better if all Western honey 

 were marketed in the extracted form, and 

 that alfalfa honey gi-anulates more quickly 

 than Eastern honey — April 15, p. 224. As 

 to the first proposition, I will say that the 

 time is a long way off when all Western 

 honey will be extracted. The past season, 

 extracted-honey production was overdone 

 in the West, and comb-honey production 

 fell short of the demand. There is one fact 

 regarding Western honey that all readers 

 should thoroughly understand. Pure alfal- 

 fa comb honey will scarcely gi'anulate at 

 all. The case of comb honey that was 

 awarded first place at the exhibit of the 

 National convention in Denver a few years 

 ago was two years old, and showed no 

 signs of granulation. 1 think that Dr. Mil- 

 ler was one of the judges. There are many 

 carloads of pure alfalfa honey jiroduced 

 in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colo- 

 rado, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico; 

 ai:d if in the comb this honey will show 

 hardly any signs of gi'anulation within a 

 year. But we also produce a large amount 

 of honey from sweet clover, alfalfa, cle- 

 ome. and wild flowers mixed. This honey 

 will granulate sooner, so should be on the 

 market early, and should be consumed be- 

 fore the holidays. I will make this j oint 

 of early marketing of this comb honey as 

 strong as ] ossible. 



Alfalfa extracted honey will granulate 

 readily into a hard white "cheese," and it 

 would doubtless pay to develop a market 

 for this article; but the educational cam- 

 paign necessai-y will cost money. 



Western honey has developed a market 

 for itself. I should like to have the opin- 

 ion of the largest buyers of Western honey 

 as to why it has stolen a place in Eastern 

 markets, commanding 25 cents a pound. If 

 Western honey can capture such a market 

 it must have pretty good quality back of 

 it. Perhaps the fact that Western honey 

 can be secured b}' the carload, and the 

 dealer is able to supply a more uniform 

 gi-ade and style of package throughout the 

 year may have some effect in giving it the 

 preference. 



There is one thing that I noticed in the 

 Chicago market, and that is that Western 

 honey is produced in the standard section 

 almost altogether, and marketed in single 

 and double tier cases, while I saw Eastern 

 and Middle Western honey in four or five 

 different sizes of sections, and as many dif- 

 ferent kinds of shipping-cases, with no 

 standard grading rules. I do not think 

 that the markets can be injured by having 

 honey supplied at all times of the year, and 

 that is what the West has partly helped to 

 do. We are not perfect here in the West. 

 We have the problem of poor grading, and 

 some of it dishonest in its methods, but 

 the West is not alone in this latter par- 

 ticular. 



As long as we are selling our honey un- 

 der the competitive system there will be 

 more or less clashing; but there is room 

 for all who can produce the article that 

 the market demands. And I do not believe 

 that it will be so difficult to secure national 

 grading rules. We shall then have honey- 

 grading schools conducted at all of the 

 conventions and bee meetings, and the unity 

 of the methods and interpretation of the 

 rules will correspond all over the country. 

 Boulder, Colo. 



Oregon Fruit-men Planning to Keep Bees for Pol- 

 lenation of Fruit-trees 



There is a good prospect for a good crop of fruit 

 here. If favorahle weather conditions continue the 

 colonies will he strong; for next spring. 



Most of our orchard men are going to install a 

 few colonies of hees in their orchards in order to 

 pollenize the fruit. They are just beginning to find out 

 that they can not raise fruit without the honeybee. 

 I wish all the rest of the farmers would do the same 

 throughout the whole country. Then we could call 

 this the land of honey and plenty of money. 



The Dalles, Oregon. JOHN Pashek. 



