472 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 6, 1905 



water. A firm with which I am famiUar has such an outfit, 

 and can bottle about a half-ton of honey a day. 



This concern's melting-box holds IS 60-pound cans at 

 one time, and the bottle-filling tank' about 100 gallons. It 

 also has a second filling tank holding about 50 gallons. This 

 latter tank is used mainly for melting granulated honey tliat 

 was in barrels. A barrel of honey is stood on end on a 

 sheet of galvanized iron about 4 feet square laid on the floor. 

 If the honey is not solidly grained, the edges of the metal 

 sheet may be turned up, say two inches., After ending the 

 barrel, it is all removed in pieces, except the bottom-end. 

 The honey is then shoveled into the melting tank. This 

 beats digging the honey out of the barrel. Emptied barrels 

 are worth practically nothing, anyway, so they may as well 

 be torn to pieces, and the honey shoveled, as mentioned. 

 Perhaps the barrels could be sawed or broken up, so as to be 

 burned in the heater, and thus be used as fuel for heating the 

 water to melt the honey. 



The heater and the melting tanks should be connected 

 so that there can be a circulation of water through all of 

 them at the same time. or. arranged so that each can be dis- 

 connected at will. 



The honey should be bottled and corked or capped hot, 

 say as near 160 degrees as possible. But great care must be 

 i.:std not to let the honey stand long in the melting tanks at 

 a high temperature. It should be bottled at once. If not, the 

 flavor and color will be injured. If overheated, or allowed 

 to stand too long at a high temperature, it becomes a dark 

 amber, and somewhat bitter in taste. Of course such honey 

 can be used for baking purposes or for making honey- 

 vinegar, but even for baking I think that better honey would 

 make better cakes and cookies. 



Now, having the honey bottled, and nicely labeled, the 

 next thing is to get it into the grocers' hands. Take a 

 sample jar or bottle (several, if you have various sizes) and 

 call on the grocer. Tell him your prices, and suggest at 

 what prices the honey should be retailed. It is a good thing, 

 also, to leave him a honey circular, giving directions as to 

 the uses of honey and where to keep it properly. Tell him 

 what day you will deliver whatever he orders, and try to 

 have a fair-sized wagon-load before making any deliveries. 



It is a good thing to make regular calls on the grocers, 

 and see that they are kept supplied. Also, whenever you 

 call leave a self-addressed card (authorized postal size) on 

 which they can write their orders, affix a one-cent stamp, 

 and then mail. Such cards are a convenience all around. 

 If you have a telephone it is well to print your number on 

 the card also. 



Some honey-sellers have found it an advantage to have 

 attractive honey show-cases which they loan to any grocer 

 who will keep their honey for sale. Such case holds perhaps ' 

 two or three dozen jars, and about as many sections of 

 honey. The idea, then, is to load up a wagon with honey, 

 call on the stores where the honey-cases are, and see that 

 they are kept filled. This plan has worked well. It is rather 

 expensive to start with, but as many grocers have no good 

 place to put honey so that it can be seen by their customers, 

 and also where it will be kept clean, a glass show-case is a 

 good thing for all concerned. 



An individual glass jar has been used with some success 

 in the restaurant trade. It holds about two ounces of honey, 

 and is also neatly labeled. The cost of the jar is about 2 

 cents. The jars can be returned after using, at one cent 

 each. As many restaurants charge 10 cents for a serving of 

 honey it will be seen that there is a profitable field for the 

 individual honey-package for hotels and restaurants. 



But what needs to be done lirst is to get into the heads 

 of the consumers the fact that they can buy pure extracted 

 honey; that comb honey is not made by machinery; that 

 honey is the best sweet on earth ; and that they ought to eat 

 more of it, and cut out the glucose syrups and other ques- 

 tionable mixtures that are forever being palmed off on the 

 public. These are matters in which every bee-keepers' as- 

 sociation, as well as bee-keepers themselves, can help, and 

 help mightily. We must all unite in talking honey, and also 

 in getting newspapers to print items about honey. The 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association should lead in this cam- 

 paign, I think. It should prepare suitable matter for publica- 

 tion, and then its members and local organizations should 

 see to it that every editor they know publishes it in his 

 paper, even if it takes a little cash or several pounds of 

 honey to induce him to do it. 



1 believe when the people of the United States once 

 understand the lioncy question they will use our sweet in 

 such quantities that bee-keepers will have to bestir them- 

 selves in order to supply the demand. Then the advice to 

 "keep more bees" will be heeded more than it is now, for 

 bee-keepers will see that there is a profitable outlet for their 

 crops of honey, and that there is good money in the business. 



I trust this convention will discuss this question fully. 

 It means so much to every bee-keeper in the land. Just now 

 there are bee-keepers who do not know how or where to 

 dispose of their honey. In the good time coming such will 

 . not be the case. Honey-buyers will be hunting for honey — 

 they will be calling on bee-keepers to send in their honey, 

 and at a good price. May that happy day be hastened in 

 its coming ! George W. York. 



/T 



\= 



®ur ^cc^Uccping Sisters 



=\ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



=/ 



Some Sisters' Sayings and Doings 



Over in England the sisters seem to have 

 gotten the start of the brothers — at least their 

 bees have — as appears from the following 

 item in the British Bee Journal : 



"Mrs. Wright would like to inform the 

 editors of the British Bee Journal that she had 

 a swarm of bees from one of her hives at noon 

 on May 6." 



This seems to have been the earliest swarm 

 reported. 



On the other hand, a sister in Australia 

 seems to have come to grief from having been 

 too slow, according to the following from the 

 Australasian Bee-Keeper ; 



" Mrs. AmosMilford, wife of a fruit-grower, 

 whose house and orchard are situated at Har- 

 court, Victoria, walketl into the garden yes- 

 terday, and, as she did not return, her hus- 

 band went in search of Iht. He was horrified 

 to find his wife prostrate on the ground, her 

 head and shoulders black with a swarm of 

 bees, which had evidently attacked and set- 

 tled on the unfortunate woman. The bees 

 were driven off and mediciil assistance hastily 

 summoned. Mrs. Milfoil, however, is suf- 



fering so greatly from pain and shock that 

 her condition is regarded as very critical." 



Does any sister live in the vicinity of Mad. 

 Cawein, who can coach her a little on the 

 matter of bees and rotten peaches before she 

 writes another book of poetry j The Literary 

 Digest, which calls her a poet of Nature, gives 

 the following as a specimen stanza : 



Bee-bitten in the orchard hung 

 The peach, or, tiillen in the weeds. 



Lay rotting where still sucked and sung 

 1'he wild bee, buriiig to the seeds 



That to the pulpy h.iney clung. 



" Stenog," of Gleiiiiings, seems to think it 

 is not entirely according to Nature " when we 

 are called to watch u liee making its way by 

 boring into a rottiiiLC peach lying on the 

 ground." But, then, "Stenog" is not "a 

 poet of Nature," auJ is not up on poetic 

 license. Indeed, it is generally understood 

 that he is not a license man at all, either high 

 or low. He should remember, too, that this 

 was a " wild bee," that had never had the 

 ways of Nature trained out of it in a Danzen- 

 baker hive. Neither was it a common peach, 

 but one of the poetic kind that turns into 

 honey. What a beautiful thought is expressed 

 in the words, 



" the seeds 



That to the pulpy honey clung." 



How plainly that brings before us the pic- 

 ture of the clinging nature of peach-seeds, 

 clinging to the honey, " pulpy " honey at 

 that! No, "Stenog" is not "a poet of 



Nature." 



Bee Dress, Veil and Gloves 



I do not know how other women bee-keep- 

 ers dress, but after a number of years in the 

 business I have settled down to pretty much 

 one style of dress, and one kind of veil and 

 gloves. In the first place, I tried wrappers — 

 the usual kind with loose fronts — but for sev- 

 eral reasons I found them unsuited to the 

 work before me. First, they are too warm to 

 admit of anything being worn over them, and 

 not having the sleeves lined the bees would 

 sting the arms and shoulders through the thin 

 fabric of which summer wrappers are com- 

 monly made. Next, the loose front, even 

 when belted down by girdle or apron, would 

 drag down when obliged to stoop for a length 

 of time over the hives, so that it quite seri- 

 ously interfered with the free use of the feet 

 at such times. Again, when carrying heavy 

 hives and supers, the weight pressed against 

 the dress would pull down this loose portion 

 enough to almost trip one down, especially it 

 obliged to travel over rough ground or 

 through high grass. 



For the above reasons, also because of their 

 unwieldiness in the wash-tub and on the iron- 

 ing-board, the wrappers were discarded and 

 loose, unlined, bloused-waist suits adopted 

 instead. 



These suits are made of calico or gingham, 



