AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



477 



Topics o! Interest. 



Graling of Coml-Homey. 



F. WILCOX. 



There seems to be a desire for further 

 discussion of the subject of grading 

 honey. I produce from 3,000 to 12,000 

 pounds of comb-honey yearly, and I 

 have adopted a system of grading that 

 seems to suit my trade. I sell the 

 greater portion of my honey to grocery- 

 men, at a distance, in quantities of from 

 50 pounds to 500 pounds at a time. 



What was graded "No. 1" at the 

 Chicago convention, I call "Fancy," 

 and apply the word "fancy" to white 

 honey only. It seems hardly appro- 

 priate to speak of fancy dark honey, be- 

 cause it is the color as much as anything 

 that makes it a fancy article. I produce 

 so small a quantity that will come up to 

 that high standard, that I seldom quote 

 prices on it. 



All other white honey, well filled and 

 fastened to the wood so that it will not 

 break loose or become leaky in shipping, 

 I call "No. 1, White." All leaky or 

 poorly-filled sections weighing 12 ounces 

 or more, are graded "No. 2," without 

 regard to color, and sold near home. 



Badly travel-stained sections, and 

 those which look dark from having the 

 capping sunk down upon the honey ; 

 also those which have absorbed moisture, 

 or look sweaty, are graded as "No. 2." 

 This No. 2 honey that will bear ship- 

 ping, is sold to certain well-known cus- 

 tomers who want the cheapest comb- 

 honey they can get. 



"No. 1 Dark Honey" includes • all 

 good-looking dark honey, free from 

 propolis, in well-filled sections that will 

 bear shipping safely, and are not badly 

 travel-stained. 



Sections that are filled half full, or 

 more, with white honey, and finished 

 with dark, and those in which dark and 

 white are mixed in the same cells, if half 

 or more light, are called "Light" or 

 " Mixed," and sold at a price between 

 white and dark. 



All sections are scraped as clean as 

 possible, but no allowance is made for 

 those slightly stained or mildewed, ex- 

 cept that they cannot go into the fancy 

 grade. 



I ship the most of my honey to the 

 North and West, and never hear any 

 complaint of the grading, and seldom of 

 damage in handling. 



is as desirable to 

 as possible. The 

 cannot well make 



I think that the average consumer 

 does not object to honey slightly travel- 

 stained, and it is certainly of as good 

 flavor. The fact that it is left on the 

 hive until it begins to look a little brown, 

 is proof that it is perfectly ripened, and 

 it is generally well sealed. Badly bulg- 

 ing combs can be kept for home use, or 

 given to friends and children visiting 

 the apiary. 



If the majority shall think it best to 

 have a grade called "Fancy Dark," I 

 will comply, but it 

 have as few grades 

 average bee-keeper 

 so many different grades, and the api- 

 arist with few bees will never try to 

 make more than three or four grades. 



If a comb has more than three or four 

 cells of pollen, I never offer it for sale. 

 Honey-dew can be fed to the bees in the 

 early Spring for brood-rearing. 



Now my grades are : Fancy white 

 (seldom wanted) ; No. 1, White ; Light 

 or Mixed; No. 1, Dark ; and No. 2 (of 

 all colors). 



If I were to draw upon my imagina- 

 tion, I could furnish a more elaborate 

 system of grading, one that would prob- 

 ably suit dealers better ; but this has 

 worked well with me for the last 10 or 

 12 years. 



Mauston, Wis. 



Ire Italian Bees a Pure Race ? 



C. J. BOBINSOK. 



Referring to Query 810, on page 381, 

 "your opinion" is, I infer, to be re- 

 garded as " your" knowledge pertaining 

 to the question—" Are the Italians a 

 pure and distinct race of bees," unalloyed 

 with admixture of other so-called races 

 of hive honey-bees ? 



Our knowledge of hive bees, emanat- 

 ing from the earliest Egyptian hiero 

 glyphics, assures us that all of the dif- 

 ferent i^aces (so-called) of hive bees are 

 frcm one and the same origin, repro- 

 duced from the original progenitors, as 

 all mankind are the reproductions from 

 Adam and Eve, who, according to his- 

 tory. Were the progenitors of the human 

 " race." 



The ancient Egyptian priests pictured 

 as a hieroglyphic, a queen-bee for an 

 emblem of Royalty. This is evidence 

 that the priests were not ignorant of the • 

 ways of the busy bee. 



History points us to the one reason- 

 able conclusion, that all hive honey-bees 

 have one and the same organism — more 



