1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



fact that we wero Just oonsiderinsr the 

 "uuripo honoy" fallncy, for publica- 

 tion, and his immediate interest was 

 plainly evident). 



"The partieular point to which at- 

 tention shoidd be drawn, Harry, is the 

 fact that the practice of extracting 

 unripe honey not only injures our mar- 

 ket, but the idea that a greater amount 

 of honey may be harvested by so doing 

 should be dispelled. You don't get any 

 more honey by extracting before it is 

 rii>e; and if this fact were generally 

 known, the incentive to do so would 

 be removed," .said Brother P. 



Mr. Poppleton further asserted that 

 it was a great mistake to suppose that 

 a colony would gather honey with 

 greater energy after being extracted 

 than before. The writer is convinced 

 that the effect of such an overhauling 

 is rather to retard to some extent hon- 

 ey-gathering operations. If the combs 

 afford room to accommodate the in- 

 coming nectar, gathering and storing 

 will be pursued with qiiite as much 

 vigor as if every comb were entirely 

 empty; while the disturbance must, 

 necessarily, more or less hinder pro- 

 ceedings. 



In this connection we l)eg to direct 

 the attention of the reader to the last 

 item under the Belgium heading, page 

 228 of The Bee-Keeper for October. 



This is but a logical result, though, 

 perhaps, of rather more influence than 

 one might think possible. 



If it were a practical possibilty to 

 extract all the honey at the close of 

 each day, doubtless a greater quantity 

 of honey could be secured; but such 

 stuff would be worthless. 



Mr. Poppleton advises us that pe- 

 culiar conditions prevailing in Cuba 

 afforded him an excellent opportunity 

 to test the matter of evaporation, and 

 that there can be no question as to the 

 great reduction that occurs during the 

 first few hours that the honey is in 

 the hive; which amounts to practical- 

 ly the total loss in weight which is 

 sustained through this cause. 



Therefore, let not any one. novice or 

 "experienced apiarist," seek to increase 

 his crop record by extracting "green" 

 honey. Even if it were true that more 

 pounds might be secured in this way, 

 the effect of such "honey'' upon the 

 markets is to undermine the very foun- 

 dation of the industry, liy creating dis- 

 gust where admiration should exist for 

 our product. Thus the scheme utterly 

 defeats itself. 



The whole thing is a delusion. which, 

 though denounced by "authorities," 

 has nevertheless been fostered through 

 promulgating the false doctrine of in- 

 creased crops. 



►♦♦»»♦♦ -^^ 



THE 



Bee -Keeping World 



FRANCE. 



A new honey -knife, or rather uncap- 

 ph>^ tool, is shown in the Apiculteur. 

 It is just like a mason trowel, with 

 half its length cut off. The three 

 edges are very shai*p and the blade 

 as thin as possible. It is the inven- 

 tion of Mr. Rousselle-Portmer. 



Mr. Sylviac in the Apiculteur re- 

 lates his experiment with a swarm 

 found late in the woods and which he 

 wintered. As a matter of fact, it was 

 a mere nucleus. He estimated that 



' > 



♦ f ♦♦♦» 



there were only about one thousand 

 bees. About two hundred died dur- 

 ing the winter. The details of the 

 feeding and the doings of the bees, 

 especially their mode of grouping 

 themselves, are very interesting. In 

 order to keep together they cut a hole 

 through a comb, so as to maintain a 

 compact cluster and yet reach the 

 honey on both sides. That swarm was 

 wintered out of doors, but the winter 

 was rather mild. The consumption of 

 honey varied exceedingly. During the 



