IfH® miMMMlCMn WMM JO-URlMRIr. 



143 



appearance, and the flavor is injured 

 to a greater or less degree, if made 

 too hot. 



THE QUALITY OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Its quality depends both upon the 

 souree from which it is obtained, and 

 the care it receives after it is taken 

 from the hive. 



There are as manj' different kinds 

 of hone}' as there are dift'ereut kinds 

 of plants, shrubs and trees that yield 

 nectar ; but the honey from several 

 plants and trees are veryuiiuch alike 

 in appearance, yet it differs distinctly 

 in liavor ; each individual class of 

 plants producing, peculiarly to itself, 

 that indescribable quality, aroma, the 

 delicacies of which are as subtile to the 

 taste as the most delicate tints in tlie 

 myriads of flowers from which the 

 nectar was obtained, are to the human 

 eye. 



CAEINft FOR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Whatever may have been the source 

 from which the honej' was obtained, if 

 it is not proioerl}' cared for, it will soon 

 deteriorate. The first thing of para- 

 mount importance in this direction, is 

 to have it thoroughly ripened ; that is, 

 to have it reduced from the thin, watery 

 condition, from which it was taken 

 from the flowers, to a consistency re- 

 quired by the bees before they will 

 seal it up in their combs. To do this 

 with unerring certainty, and retain all 

 the delicacies in flavor that Nature has 

 bestowed upon it, it should be left with 

 the bees until they have completed 

 their work upon it. It is then ready 

 to be extracted, and this should be 

 done as soon as the combs are taken 

 from the hives, as the labor of uncap- 

 ping and extracting is much lighter 

 while the combs retain the heat of the 

 hive ; and there can be no improve- 

 ment made in the honey by allowing 

 it to cool in the combs. 



As soon as possible after extracting, 

 the honey should be put into clean, 

 tight vessels, and stored in a dry, warm 

 room. Under these conditions it will 

 retain all its good qualities for many 

 years, and can be marketed at any 

 time. 



MARKETING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



The kind of vessels best adapted to 

 the marketing of extracted honey, de- 

 pends very much upon the trade to be 

 supplied. If for manufacturing pur- 

 poses, where considerable quantities 

 are used, barrels holding from 300 

 pounds to 500 pounds would, probably, 

 be the best. For a retail trade in cities 

 and towns, small vessels, holding from 

 one pound to twenty-five povmds, are 

 most convenient. Square tin cans, 

 holding about 60 pounds each, and 

 crated one and two in a crate, are very 

 conveaient for marketing, and in 



many instances are preferable to llii^ 

 large barrels, as they are so much 

 more easily handled. 



The bcc-k(^cper who supplies a coun- 

 try trade should be prepared to supply 

 any quantity, from one pound to lioO 

 pounds. 



USES OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



As a food element it has no equal in 

 the whole list of sweets, and its uses 

 arc very many. Children can eat it 

 without stint, and are not troubled 

 with sour stomachs, or bowel disorders 

 so common among children that are 

 fed lavishly upon candies and sugar. 

 It can be substituted for sugar in nearly 

 everything about the kitchen. 



As a preservtrtion of fruits, it is 

 superior to sugar. Many dyspeptics, 

 who dare not eat sugar, eat honey, and 

 are benefited by it. Lung and throat 

 aflections are mitigated, and many are 

 cured by the continued use of honey. 



It is used in curing meats and flavor- 

 ing tobacco. Druggists and doctors 

 use it in compounding medicines ; and 

 in the manufacture of wines and other 

 beverages, where sweetening is re- 

 quired, it is excelfent. 



In consideration of the fact that ex- 

 tracted honey is healthier than sugar 

 or syrups, it should be used in every 

 household, in preference to them. 

 Nice, white, extracted honey is as 

 cheap to-day, as the best grades of 

 sugar ; and recent developments in 

 apiculture, together with the almost 

 unlimited tield for production, warrant 

 the conclusion that this business is 

 capable of being increased many fold. 



The are hundreds of thousands of 

 bee-keepers in the United States, and 

 millions of pounds of hone}' are pro- 

 duced annually, yet no one is robbed 

 of a farthing's worth of his earthly 

 possessions, and the soil is not impov- 

 erished ; but, 



To our Nation's wealth 



Are added, day by day, 

 Millions, with better health, 



That otherwise would stay 

 In the bosom of earth, 



Or waste on desert air, 

 But for the bee's great worth, 



Its keeper and his care. 



Liverpool, Ills. 



ASSOCIATION. 



Duties of llie Members of Bee- 

 I4.ee|»ers' Societies. 



Read at the Colorado State Convention 



BY V. DEVINNEY. 



The formation of clubs, unions, and 

 associations for certain purposes, and 

 with special ol)jects in view, is the out- 

 growth of a well-enlightened state of 

 civilized societj' ; for barbarous man 

 needs but little, and his wants are but 



few, his own Iiamls ofti'U suiiplying all 

 his demands; but enlightened man, on 

 the contrary, with unlindled wants, 

 cannot attain them without the co- 

 operation and assistance of others. 

 Hence, as population multiplies, there- 

 by necessarily increasing the business 

 of the nation, as a result a.ssociations 

 spring up in every department of trade 

 and avocation. 



The obvious purpose of these asso- 

 ciations is to promote the welfare or 

 pleasure of their members. That many 

 of them fail in attaining these hoped- 

 for results, is unquestioned ; that a so- 

 ciety, whose individual members are to 

 be mutually benefitted by association, 

 should weaken and perish, is wonder- 

 ful to contemplate. There is an ex- 

 planation and a cause, no doubt, for 

 this, which we, the State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, should ascertain, and, if 

 pcssible, remedy while we, as a soci- 

 ety, are still vigorous and powerful. 



It may be well to here inquire what 

 are the requirements of the individual 

 members of a society. As man is an 

 intelligent nwaral being, imbued with a 

 feeling of benevolence, he is morally 

 obligated by all the attributes of his 

 better nature, to assist in the work of 

 the society, and also to build it up. If 

 he does not do this, he stultifies him- 

 self and violates an unspoken, but 

 nevertheless an implied, obligation to 

 be a worthy and helpful member. 

 Thus it often is, that a society accom- 

 plishes little, or nothing, owing to the 

 failure of each individual to do his 

 duty, and perform his part of the work; 

 for when nothing is done, nothing is 

 gained. A hive without workers gathers 

 no honey; a choir whose members sing 

 not, makes no music. 



How, then, can a bee-keepers' asso- 

 ciation, or, I may saj', any other asso- 

 ciation, be useful, grow strong and 

 powerful, if its members take little or 

 no interest in the society, and do but 

 a small share, or no share at all, of the 

 society's work? A society in this con- 

 dition will accomplish nothing, but 

 will foster disappointment, discontent, 

 and end in dissolution. Such a sad re- 

 sult is not presumed, nor contemplated 

 in organizing a society ; but it is too 

 conmion a result, I am sorry to say, 

 to be contradicted. 



The symptoms of such a result ai'e 

 manifested in various ways — in a scant 

 attendance at the meetings of the soci- 

 ety; a want of zeal and interest in the 

 discussions and work of the meetings; 

 a backwardness in aiding the develop- 

 ment of the society's work; a failure to 

 respond to the orders of the society for 

 essays; and suggestions in kind and in 

 quality to correspond to the needs of 

 the society, — these and many other de- 

 linquencies stand before us like 

 "accusing spirits," seeking from us 



