182 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 9. 1905. 



right dimensions to accommodate her prolificness, it some- 

 times happens that the queen does not breed up to her full 

 capacity when pollen is coming in freely. Just why queens 

 do not breed sometimes when pollen is coming in very 

 rapidly is a mystery I have never been able to solve, though 

 I have spent much thought and study on the subject. The 

 nearest I have come to the matter is that, for some reason, 

 the bees fail to feed the queen on the stimulating food 

 usually given at all times when she is laying very pro- 

 lifically. 



AH observing bee-keepers know that when queens are 

 laying at their best the bees give them food every few min- 

 utes, and many think this food is the same, or very nearly 

 so, as that which is fed to the larvae. But at these times, 

 when the combs are being crowded about the brood-nest 

 with pollen and honey, it is a rare thing that I find the bees 

 feeding the queen. For this reason I have always felt that 

 the fault lay with the bees rather than with the queen, and 

 if any one can devise a plan or way whereby the bees can 

 be caused to feed the queen abundantly at the time when 

 brood is being crowded with honey and pollen, he will have 

 the key to the situation, and be able to turn these things to 

 a good account by causing them to be changed over into 

 brood. But until such a plan has been devised, I will tell 

 the reader how I treat these combs that happen to be filled 

 with honey and pollen af times when it seems to be impos- 

 sible to coax the bees and queen to work in harmony in 

 turning these into brood at just the time the bee-keeper 

 would wish them to. 



The excess, if any, in pollen comes from hard maple, 

 the same coming between the willow and apple bloom. At 

 this time some colonies will fill combs almost solid full of 

 pollen with more or less honey along the top edge of the 

 frame, and I used to remove these combs at such times and 

 put empty combs in their places, only to have them filled 

 again in two or three days. Finding that I did not gain 

 imuch here, I next put in dummies in place of the frames 

 'taken out, and when the sections were on, this would throw 

 -a greater force of bees into them, and thus as soon as any 

 -honey came from the fields it would go into the sections 

 and remove the honey part of the pressure from the brood- 

 combs. But, still later on with the advent of comb foun- 

 dation, I would simply shove these combs of pollen and 

 honey back toward the side of the hive, by removing an 

 outside comb if necessary, and place a frame of comb foun- 

 dation between the pollen and brood, and where honey 

 enough was coming in from the fields to cause them to draw 

 out this foundation the queen would fill it with eggs before 

 the cells seemed deep enough for the bees to do such work 

 at storing either pollen or honey in them, and thus I had 

 brood where I should get only pollen and honey were I to 

 put an empty comb in place of the foundation. 



There is always something about drawing out founda- 

 tion or building comb that sets the bees to feeding the 

 queen more abundantly, and she in turn lays more vigor- 

 ously than when no comb is built ; and where combs can 

 toe drawn from foundation, or built from starters, there is 

 usually no trouble in having them filled with brood ; and 

 ■where young brood is maturing rapidly much pollen is used, 

 thus keeping the combs from becoming overloaded with 

 pollen, and rearing a lot of bees for the harvest. But with 

 tne such large yields of pollen do not come more than once 

 in two or three years, and when they come they do not last 

 more than a week or ten days, after which the bees are 

 generally anxious for brood ; and what appeared as combs 

 nearly spoiled because they were so full of pollen, very 

 soon assumed a difi'erent aspect, and by the time the main 

 honey harvest arrived there was little more pollen than was 

 necessary in the hive. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Honey as a Health-Food.— This is a 16-page honey- 

 pamphlet intended to help increase the demand for honey. 

 The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as 

 Food", written by Dr. C. C. Miller. It tells where to keep 

 honey, how to liquefy it, etc. The last part is devoted to 

 " Honey-Cooking Recipes " and " Remedies Using Honey ". 

 It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The 

 more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey 

 the more honey they will buy. 



Prices, prepaid— Sample copy for a two-cent stamp ; SO 

 copies for 70 cts.; 100 for $1.25 : 250 for $2.25 ; SCO for $4.00 ; 

 or 1000 for $7.50. Your business card printed free at the 

 bottom of the front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. 

 Send all orders to the oflSce of the American Bee Journal. 



See Langstroth Book Offer on another page of this 

 copy of the American Bee Journal. \ 



=\ 



©ur^Sistcr 

 BeeKecpcrs 



Conducted by Emma. M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Increasing- the Home Demand for Honey. 



J 



The Editor asks, " Why do not more families use 

 honey ? What can be done by bee-keepers to induce them 

 to use it more than they do ?" 



I believe there is only one answer to the question, and 

 that is the majority of bee keepers must first produce and 

 sell their honey differently than they do now. I believe 

 they are largely in the fault why honey is not used more. 



The bee-keeper must not be above his business, but sell 

 his own honey in his own city or village. Many a man 

 ships his honey when the people in his own town or neigh- 

 borhood ought to be eating it, but because it is not brought 

 to them and their attention called to it they do not use it. 



People like good food to eat, and will buy and use good 

 honey just as they will fresh eggs and the best butter, and 

 will be steady customers of the one who brings it to them. 

 The most important of all is that the honey be ripe ; not 

 extracted until it is all sealed over ; for honey taken any 

 other way will not build up a market on a firm foundation 

 that will grow and enlarge with time. 



We have worked up a market in this way, and created a 

 demand for honey in our part of the city and country where 

 there was none to speak of before we came here. We are 

 not dependent upon commission men or grocery stores to 

 sell our honey. They do not know how to keep it, nor how 

 to create a demand for it — they sell only to the demand 

 already created. 



We are happy that we can supply people with so health- 

 ful and delicious a food. The one that comes for a dime's 

 worth is waited upon as pleasantly and carefully as if he 

 had bought a gallon. I feel it a privilege to tell any one 

 the many uses of honey besides using it on the table. How 

 they could make their own vinegar, at small cost, and know 

 it was pure, instead of buying the adulterated stuff at the 

 stores that never ought to be eaten. 



We never tire of honey, but eat it every day in the year ; 

 yet we know of bee-keepers who do not save enough for 

 their own use, but sell it at a lower price than they pay for 

 sugar. Surely, such bee-keepers ought not to expect other 

 people to use it. There are months at a time without a 

 pound of sugar in our house. On account of honey being 

 the most healthful, we use it in all places where sugar is 

 used except making jelly. 



Fruit canned in sage honey is delicious, and when I 

 mention it to others they wonder that it can be used for that 

 purpose. I use enough to make a thick syrup on the fruit. 

 Satsuma plums are especially nice that way, and usually 

 opened when we have company. They are of a beautiful 

 blood-red color. I never have any fruit spoil, but use only 

 ripe honey, that was all sealed over before extracting. 

 Unripe honey would not keep the fruit. 



The Germans are the best honey-buyers, and the ones 

 most likely to use it for cooking. They probably learned 

 to use it in their native country. People learn more readily 

 to use honey on the table than for cooking, and unless the 

 price is a Utile lower than sugar there will not be much in- 

 ducement to use it, so long as the market abounds in un- 

 ripe honey. Sugar is always the same quality, but honey, 

 bought from the stores, is almost always different in quality 

 and flavor. One time it may be white but thin ; sometimes 

 sour ; next time may be thicker, but dark and strong. 

 Often it is granulated. Few know how to liquefy it, or 

 want to be to the trouble of doing it. And some I have met 

 had supposed it was spoiled when in the granulated form. 

 Most people prefer mild-flavored honey because they are 

 used to sugar which has no flavor. At first some do not 

 like the flavor of honey in cooking. I did not, but after 

 years of using it I have learned to like the flavor. We are 

 afraid to use sugar. 



About nine years ago we thought we could increase the 

 sale of our honey' by putting a label on eveiy section, jar 

 and pail of honey we sold, stating it was "Pure Mountain 

 Sage Honey ", and ©ur name and address so they would 



