86 



Tmm mmmmiGMn mmm jo'^Mmmi^, 



I should prefer to have eaoh hive 

 stand out by itself, on a well-kept 

 lawn ; but j-our arrangement might 

 answer very well, if the hives are 

 not so close as to be unhandy about 

 working among them. — G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



Houses and sheds for bees have 

 been "tried and found wanting." No 

 jjlaee has been discovered so far which 

 is as generally desirable for an apiarj' 

 as a well-kept open lawn. Wind-breaks 

 on the north and west are sometimes 

 an advantage, if the apiary is on level 

 ground, and not shielded bj^ friendly 

 woods not far away. — The Editor. 



PRICE OF HONEY. 



Extracted and Comb Huney 

 the Same Price. 



at 



Writtaifor the American Bee Journal 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



On page 20 occur the following 

 words : " If there be anything to 

 complain of, it was the action of those 

 who first used the honej'-extractor, in 

 placing the price of liquid honey at a 

 less amount than was asked for honey 

 in the comb, with wood, glass and 

 wax weighed up to the buyer ! It 

 would be a very difficult matter now to 

 raise the price of the clean, net, liquid 

 article — but at the outset it would 

 have been an easy matter to have ob- 

 tained a larger price for it than for 

 that in the comb." 



I produce comb honey nearly alto- 

 gether, the higher price to be obtained 

 for it being my reason, perhaps coupled 

 with the fact that for years I have 

 made a special studj' of producing 

 comb honey. But when you come 

 right down to the intrinsic value of 

 honey as an article of food, I think 

 that I must always admit that the same 

 honey is to me better out of the comb 

 than in it. In fact I always prefer for 

 my own eating extracted honey, if it 

 is equal in quality to that in the comb, 

 and I generally produce enough ex- 

 tracted honey so that I can have it on 

 the table three times a day. 



If I remember rightly, I have seen 

 the ground taken that chewing the 

 comb gives a piquancj- of flavor, or a 

 something that is wanting in the ex- 

 tracted. Take a nice section of honey, 

 cut away half of it and get the free 

 honey from it, either by running it 

 through the extractor, or by pressing 

 it out with a knife. Now you have a 

 half section of honey in the comb, and 

 the clear honey from the other half. 



If I eat a piece of the comb honey of 

 the size of a hickory-nut, and then 

 with a spoon eat the same quantity of 

 the clear hone}', I must say that there 

 is something more satisfactorj' about 

 the comb honey. What is it ? It can 

 hardly be a difierence in the honey, 

 for taking the honey out of the comb 

 could not change its quality. 



It is claimed that the wax gives the 

 extra flavor. But the wax can give 

 no flavor that it does not possess, and 

 if the wax is chewed alone it has 

 scarcely any flavor, certainly nothing 

 remarkably fine. I cannot think any 

 imjiroved flavor is given b}- the wax. 

 I think that the difference arises from 

 the fact that in the one case the honej' 

 is chewed, and in the other it is not; 

 or, if you please, the comb honey is 

 eaten, and the clear honej' is drank. 

 The act of chewing excites the flow of 

 the secretions of tlie mouth, and this 

 increases the pleasure of the taste. 



When I have been extracting honej', 

 I have found that nearly everj- one 

 who happened to be present, liked to 

 chew the cappings, and a good many 

 of them thought the flavor better than 

 that of honey in any other form. I 

 think that it was simply because there 

 was more chewing. 



I think, therefore, we must admit 

 that it is pleasanter to eat the comb 

 honey than to take the same amount 

 of clear honey without chewing. But 

 do we usually use the clear honey 

 without chewing ? Of course not, and 

 the question is, not which tastes better 

 eaten alone, but which tastes better 

 eated with bread or some other article 

 of food. In that case one kind gets as 

 much chewing as the other, and I 

 doubt whether the advocates of the 

 wax flavor can tell whether they are 

 eating comb honey or extracted honej- 

 on their bread, exceist as they can feel 

 the wax in the mouth. The wax is 

 indigestible, and as ordinarilj' eaten I 

 knovv of no advantage in having it 

 present. 



So I come back to where I started, 

 that if the quality be the same in eaoh 

 case, I prefer extracted honey to comb 

 honey. But that if comes in the case, 

 and " there's the rub." In the ma- 

 jority of cases, the quality of extracted 

 honey is not equal to that of comb, and 

 indeed you cannot expect it to be, so 

 long as raw nectar is extracted with 

 the honey, and then no pains taken to 

 ripen or improve it. I suspect that if 

 the qualitj' of extracted honey were 

 always what it might be, and what it 

 should be, that comb honey would be, 

 to a large extent, driven out of the 

 market. 



Then why should extracted honey 

 command any lower price than coiub ? 

 Some succeed in getting the same 

 price for it, and it is the thought of a 



good many that it never should have 

 been sold for any less price than comb 

 honey. If a wrong has been done, is 

 it too late to right it ? Suppose we 

 place the same price on each bj- rais- 

 ing the price of extracted and lower- 

 ing that of comb. My friends, the 

 thing wouldn't work. The great law 

 of suppl}' and demand controls the 

 honey market just as it does every 

 other market. You will never again 

 buy a buffalo-robe for as low price as 

 formerly, because the supplj' has al- 

 most ceased. Some kinds of fur that 

 formerly sold for a high price, al- 

 though in no greater supply than 

 formerly, bring a low price because 

 fashion has forbidden their use, and 

 demand has ceased. 



But you say extracted honey as an 

 article of food is of equal value with 

 comb, therefore the price should be 

 equal. I grant your premise, but not 

 your conclusion. If you are correct, 

 then I might say that cotton goods 

 make better overalls than silk, there- 

 fore the cotton goods should be higher 

 in price. The fact is, the two kinds 

 of honey are to some extent independ- 

 ent of each other. If people And, in 

 general, that extracted honej' is not 

 equal in qnality to comb honey, the 

 demand will be less. Then the ap- 

 pearance of comb honey on the table 

 gives it a greater value in the eyes of 

 many. 



Now, please do not throw so much 

 blame on those who have sold ex- 

 tracted honey at low prices. It costs 

 more to produce comb honey than the 

 extracted, and so long as that is the 

 case, I think we will always find the 

 price for comb honey higher. 



4>raniiIalioii of Honey. 



Referring to Mr. Bovee's opinion 

 about honey granulating (see page 20), 

 I may say that I never knew honey to 

 granulate so early for me as this year. 

 I think that some of it commenced to 

 granulate within two weeks after ex- 

 tracting. The fact that Mr. Bovee 

 never saw honey granulate within two 

 months after extracting, does not war- 

 rant him in saying that it never does 

 so. It is possible there might be found 

 persons who had never seen granu- 

 lated honey, but that does not warrant 

 them in dtenying Its existence. 



But please do not be too hard on Mr. 

 Bovee. We have all made mistakes, 

 such as saying that all pure honey 

 woidd granulate. 



Marengo, Ills. 



[The foregoing article is right to the 

 point. If extracted honey is equal in 

 quality to the comb, it certainly is of 

 more value, because it is all hoiiey, and 

 minus the wax and wood. Upon that 



