1903 



THE AMEBICAX BEE-KEEPER 



S3 



replied. "They told me it came from 

 Cuba.' 



Back I went to the store again, and 

 the clerk asked the buj'cr, and came 

 to me with the statement that Bro. 

 Miller was right; and then I perambu- 

 lated over to the aforesaid Bro. Mil- 

 ler's place of business, and we pro- 

 ceeded to discuss the merits thereof 

 from the outside of the comb. Later I 

 sampled it on some hot biscuits at 

 home, said biscuits being made for the 

 occasion. 



There seems to be no question in re- 

 gard to the magnificent appearance of 

 this honey. Never has such beauti- 

 ful comb been exhibited for sale in this 

 city, for it surpasses in its texture and 

 whiteness anything I ever saw. 



The honey, however, is too sickish- 

 sweet in comparison with our native 

 product, and the flavor is rather more 

 ethereal than material, (for lack of 

 better words to express the compari- 

 son) to suit the taste of most of those 

 who assisted in the demolishing of the 

 comb I had. 



The taste of it was rather an aroma 

 than a flavor, and the general idea 

 is that it lacked "body." Of course 

 tastes differ very much indeed, and I 

 found several who liked this honey 

 very much, but I do not think that it 

 will displace our native product, in 

 spite of its superfine appearance. 



A day or two afterwards I procured 

 as fine a comb of what I consider the 

 best Vermont honey as I could find, 

 and compared both kinds with our local 

 product. The local honey and that 

 from Vermont had identical character- 

 istics, and both were superior to the 

 Cuban product in what I call the 

 "body" or the flavor as well as in firm- 

 ness of comb, while the Cuban honey 

 had much whiter comb and a far more 

 subtle aroma. 



The price at which it was sold tells a 

 story of its own too — from four to five 

 cents less per pound at retail than our 

 native honey — nevertheless its price 

 will aid in introducing honey to many 

 who would not o.therwise get it, and 

 for those who like a honey with an 

 aromatic, evasive and almost imper- 

 ceptible flavor, it is most excellent. 



Give me ,the home grown product ev- 

 ery time; but I am glad to see the 

 foreign honey in the market, for I 



think it will sell many pounds of that 

 raised nearer home. 



Providence, R. I., Jan. 26, 1903. 



.*'?_^^^r:-s'c, 





Grafton, Mass., Feb. 2, 1903. 

 Editor American Bi-e- Keeper: 



I am very much interested in bee- 

 keeping and an admirer of your paper. 

 I wrote you an article some time ago 

 advocating the good advantages of old 

 New England as a place to keep bees. 

 During the past season, although all 

 admit it has been a poor year for bees, 

 I took seventy-five pounds of comb 

 honey from one colony and left half as 

 much more for the bees during the long 

 winter before them. Others report 

 even better success. Our bees seem 

 to be wintering all right, but it is the 

 damp spring weather which is so dis- 

 aSptrous to all bees in this section and 

 no doubt it is the same everywhere. 



The Worcester County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met last Saturday in Wor- 

 cester, for the election of officers. Mr. 

 Chas. E. Prouty was elected president 

 and Air. C. R. Russell secretary and 

 treasurer. We have started a boom in 

 our association, and hope to carry out 

 all we have undertaken. 



The first thing will be a banquet, and 

 we hope to see all our bee-keeping 

 friends in this county. We wish, Mr. 

 Editor, you could drop in and see us 

 on that occasion. We would treat you 

 to New England honey, all right. 



The next on our program will be 

 some interes,ting speaker who will tell 

 us how we can keep bees to better ad- 

 \ani;age in New England. Then we 

 hope to have several cut-door meet- 

 ings during the summer with our broth- 

 er b'"e-keepers which will add interest 

 and instruction. 



Yours very truly, 



E. P. Goddard. 



