OCTOBER 15, 19ir 



It is ill a \asj of globular form, the bowl 

 being' in outside measure about seven inches 

 wide and a good six deep, then the neck and 

 mouth is straight, and about S^/^ inches 

 opening, the inside of neck being gTound, 

 and a glass ground stopper to fit it just as 

 bottles are made Avitli glass stoppers. 



This sample was produced at Loveland, 

 Colo., in 1892. As is usual in case of all 

 extracted honey there, it promptly candied, 

 and with compact close grain resembling- 

 lard. How long it remained candied I do 

 not remember, but, as nearly as 1 can recall, 

 it largely liquefied within three or four 

 years, and gradually in part crystallized 

 until about half of it was of crystals about 

 twice the size of ordinary plasterer's sand. 

 Once the vase in moving got wrong side up, 

 and a little of the liquid oozed out. Now it 

 stands with the lower half liquid with crys- 

 tals in it ; the upper half just crystals. It 

 looks like a very coarse light-brown sugar. 

 There is just a possibility that I once ap- 

 plied heat, and liquefied this, but can not 

 now tell. This vase has been unstopped 

 often, and is not sealed only as the honey 

 clinging to the ground stopper seals it. 



NUMBER 4, 19 YEARS OLD. 



This is in a twin vase to number 3. It 

 is probably alfalfa and sweet clover. I 

 know that in those years we usually got 

 some alfalfa tiow in June and July; then 

 in July and August the clover and the 

 mixed crop harvested together. I had no 

 thought then of how long those samples 

 would be kept, nor of how interesting would 

 be a full history, so kept no records. Later 

 I began to realize my mistake, and to put 

 date records on them. I now wish that I 

 had complete records. 



This sample I think has never been liq- 

 uefied by artificial means. I know that, 

 like all extracted honey there, it candied 

 as solid as fine-grained lard. I can not 

 remember all of its changes, but to-day it 

 stands with a little better than half, the 

 lower half, looking like so much scorched 

 lard, and is compact as would be so much 

 dirt settled in a pail of water; the upjjer 

 portion being a liquid with no gTanules in 

 it, is of a dark reddish-amber shade. This, 

 and sample No. 2 that is 24 years old, are 

 almost identical in appearance in the can- 

 died lower half, being like so much scorched 

 lard, and compact at the bottom, and the 

 liquid part at the top, and of amber color. 

 There is an abrupt change from the candied 

 to the liquid. 



SAMPLE NUMBER 5, 18 YEARS OLD. 



This is in a quart Mason fruit-jar. It 

 was produced at Loveland, Colo., in 1895, 

 and was liquefied and exhibited at the fair 

 in 1896. It is full, and sealed as fruit is 



sealed in these jars. To-day it stands with 

 the upper third of very coarse granules like 

 sugar; the lower two-thirds is an amber 

 liquid with coarse granules all through it. 

 I think that tliose Colorado honeys almost 

 invariably granulate very fine at first, but 

 after being heated the second granulation 

 is a truer crystallizing, but never solid. I 

 have repeatedly noticed the older once-melt- 

 ed honeys showing that tendency to form 

 coarse crystals scattered throughout the liq 

 uid. 



These samples as they grow old are be- 

 coming more and more interesting to me 

 I often look at them, and recall the strenu- 

 ous days when in my prime I was wrestling 

 with bee problems. The two vases have for 

 years stood either on top of my desk, or on 

 the bookcase, or somewhere in the living- 

 room, constantly in the light, and have been 

 knocked about, sometimes being taken to 

 fairs or conventions. They make a pretty 

 ornament in the room. Each vase contains 

 about a gallon of honey. 



I have a sixth sample in a quart jar. 

 This is just a remnant of dry grannies. 

 The jar not being sealed tightly while mov- 

 ing, the liquid leaked out. 1 have just sam- 

 pled it, and it still tastes like honey. It is 17 

 years old. I did have other samples 20 

 years old and even older, of different sources 

 of bloom, but they were put in tin pails, 

 and the pails corroded, and spoiled the 

 samples. There should be no metal in the 

 receptacle for preserving honey samples. 



Blessing, Texas. 



A BEGINNER'S EXPERIENCE 



How an Amateur Starting with a Stray Swarm be- 

 came the Owner of Thirty-four Colonies 



BY" C. E. BUSK 



I have always had a distant respect for 

 the honeybee; but my actual experience 

 with bees dates back about a year. My 

 father hived a stray swarm, and then I 

 became interested in bees, and the bees 

 became interested in me. 



A second swarm came, and we hived that. 

 After that it fell to my lot to take care of 

 the bees, with the friendly assistance of one 

 of our neighbors, who is also somewhat of 

 a novice with bees. Equipped with an old 

 liat, a good-sized jiiece of mosquito-netting, 

 and a pair of old gloves, with some sock-legs 

 sewed on for gauntlets, I began to tliink 

 that I was really a beekeeper. 



The next summer we caught three swarms. 

 I took one of them from an old tree, and 

 another out of a hav-barn. The one taken 



