1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



to establish a market price for their product in other cities 

 cannot be disputed. 



Where the product of one State is brought into direct 

 competition with others, do organized effort of the one can 

 adjust prices for either. Therefore, in order to accomplish 

 the object which has hitherto been consummated by all other 

 industries in this country, it will positively be necessary that 

 all bee-keepers unite under one general management, which 

 might be known as the "Bee-Keepers' Union of America." 



If there are any who may infer that I am antagonistic to 

 the California Bee-Keepers' Exchange, they are not aware of 

 the true sense of my feelings. I am strictly "in it," and 

 trust every bee-keeper of this State will do likewise. 



Large bodies move slowly, and to interest the entire bee- 

 keeping fraternity of the United States will take time, al- 

 though we are " getting there," and " don't you forget it." 



Foster, Calif. 



Better Marketing of Honey — Adulteration. 



BV EDWIN BEVIN.S. 



Doubtless bee-keepers everywhere are profoundly grate- 

 ful for the light they got from reading the answers to Query 

 No. 7. They know now just how to get some more money for 

 the crop of 1896 than they did for the crop of 1895. Of all 

 the replies to this query, I like the first one the best. It leaves 

 the bee-keeper at perfect liberty to market his honey in any 

 way that his faucy or his reason may suggest. The majority 

 of those making replies seem to think that working up the 

 home market will do much towards getting us out of the 

 woods. That will, doubtless, help to some extent, but there 

 may be times and circumstances when it will cost as much to 

 work up the home market as the difference between the price 

 you will get in it and the price you will get when sold or con- 

 signed to the wholesale dealer. 



I would like to know what Dr. Miller means when he says, 

 " Perhaps a better quality of extracted honey." Does he 

 mean that all extracted honey must be raised to a higher 

 level ? Is there not sotub extracted honey that is just as good 

 as it can be ? If he means by a better quality, unadulterated 

 extracted honey, he would be quite right. But, unfortunately 

 the suspicion of adulteration attaches to the whole extracted 

 product. Were it not for this suspicion there is no sensible 

 reason why pure extracted honey should not sell for as much 

 as comb honey. If anybody wants to fill their stomachs partly 

 full of something irritating and indigestible, they can mix 

 their extracted honey with sawdust, and so save the bees a 

 good deal of time and labor in comb-building. 



One man says in the American Bee Journal that some- 

 body stole his extractor ten years ago, and that he was glad of 

 it. I would keep an extractor if only to get honey for my own 

 use. I will not eat honey-comb when I can get the honey 

 without the comb. 



But to return to the subject of honey-adulteration. This 

 damnable business is the greatest drawback to successful bee- 

 keeping that the apiarist has to contend with. "But, gentle- 

 men bee-keepers, what are you going to do about it?" An 

 €cho answers, " What ?" 



There was some honey on sale here last winter, put up in 

 glass tumblers, purporting to hold a pound, and having in 

 them a strip of honey-comb. They also had a printed label 

 telling how to liquefy the honey if it should happen to granu- 

 late. This honey was retailed by the grocer at 10 cents a 

 tumbler. I told the grocer that I did not believe it was pure 

 honey. He said that he did not think it was, but that it would 

 sell just as readily os if it was pure. The instructions bow to 

 liquefy were superfluous. I would warrant it not to granu- 

 late in 2^) years, even if kept on ice. The outlook for any 

 immediate advance in the price of extracted honey, or any 



diminution of the supply while the glucose barrel is handy is 

 not encouraging. Dr. Miller's answer leaves us still in the 

 dark. 



Mr. Abbott seems to think he has found a panacea for all 

 bee-keeping ills in the exercise of push, vim, energy, and other 

 kindred virtues. I would respectfully ask Mr. Abbott of what 

 avail are push, vim, energy, etc., against the small-pox? But, 

 hold on, Mr. Abbott makes a provision that he is to be let 

 alone. But we will suppose that he is not let alone. It is 

 more than likely that he will not be let alone. It is quite 

 likely that he will be overtaken by the small-pox, or, in other 

 words, that the honey-adulterator, or his agent with push, 

 vim, energy, etc., will get around on his territory and under- 

 sell him. Mr. Abbott need not flatter himself that he is going 

 to head off the adulterated article entirely by offering a nice 

 article of nicely-put-up comb honey at a moderate price. I 

 fancy that the sale of the nice hooey will suffer some by the 

 competition. Is not the price of nice comb honey diminished 

 and its sale restricted everywhere by this competition ? Mr. 

 Abbott disclaims any need of law to aid him in the sale of his 

 goods, and the above is written on the supposition that the 

 other fellow has a free field for the exercise of his pluck, 

 push, and energy. 



What did the man mean who said he thought he could see 

 some advantage to bee-keepers in a change of Administra- 

 tion ? Possibly, in my endeavor to probe this matter to the 

 bottom I may be found trespassing on forbidden ground, and 

 expose myself to a vote of censure. 



On this important subject — of how to get more money for 

 the honey-product — I have no suggestions to make. Only this : 

 I will say to comb-honey producers, that I have recently seen 

 some section honey on sale that was very unattractive in ap- 

 pearance. The sections were half to three-quarters filled, 

 and the comb looked as if the bees had traveled over it a good 

 deal after having waded through pools of tobacco-juice. The 

 wood of the sections was of about the hue, and looked as if it 

 might be as old, as an Egyptian mummy. It would be an ad- 

 vantage, perhaps, if the bee-keeper would keep such stuff out 

 of sight. If he is so unfortunate as to have it he would better 

 feed it to his bees, if they will eat it. 



The remedy for this state of things is obvious, and the 

 man who applies the remedy will no doubt find some financial 

 advantage in doing so; Leon, Iowa. 



Swarming — Its Control and Management. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The control and management of swarming has been a 

 most difficult matter — a problem which as yet, no bee-keeper 

 has been fully able to solve. The question is specially puzzling 

 to the comb honey producer. To secure a bountiful harvest 

 he must have very populous colonies, but when colonies are 

 very populous they are disposed to swarm, and thus we have 

 Charybdis and Scylla — either too weak colonies or too much 

 swarming. This fact led the late Mr. Quinby to offer S50 

 for a queen that would produce bees void of the swarming 

 impulse. 



Eight days after a swarm issues a new queen will emerge 

 from the cell, and quite likely a second, and possibly a third, 

 and rarely a fourth and fifth swarm will come forth. Of 

 course, these last swarms will be weak, and almost if not quite 

 worthless. This is another difficulty that confronts the bee- 

 keeper. He desires no increase, or at most ouly one colony 

 from each old one, and much study has been devoted to the 

 accomplishment of this desire with the least labor. 



It has not been uncommon among bee-keepers in the past 

 to practice artificial division — making new colonies to suit 

 one's desires. This, however, is rarely done now-a-days, and 

 I think I may safely say that it is the concensus of opinion 

 among all our best bee-keepers that the best results are gained 

 by permitting natural increase or swarming, aud controlling 

 and limiting this as far as possible without too much labor, 

 and never permitting a colony to swarm more than once. In 

 case we work for extracted honey it is not difficult to control 



