THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



247 



ber. I would assess the cost of this 

 inspection of the honey on the produc- 

 er or the buyer of it who desires to 

 have the brand of purity and quality of 

 the National affixed to it. I would 

 also have the inspector appointed by 

 the Board of Directors and the Execu- 

 tive Committee jointly, they to examine 

 the recommendations as to his fitness 

 that have been received, and to appor- 

 tion out the salarj-, such salary to be 

 in proportion to the amount of honey 

 examined, and in the end to be paid 

 by the honey-producer, the buyer or 

 commission man who desires the Na- 

 tional to guarantee the quality and 

 purity of the honey. If necessary, 

 doubtful samples of extracted can be 

 analyzed, and, if pure, the certificate 

 or brand of purity attached. And, by 

 the way, we already have a chemist on 

 the Board of Directors who is compe- 

 tent to make such analysis at a nomi- 

 nal price. (Just here I ought to say 

 that Mr. Selser has never broached 

 this subject to me in any way, shape 

 or manner. ) 



This same inspector might also at- 

 tach his official grading on the various 

 shipments that come in, and thus avoid 

 a lot of trouble between producer and 

 buyer. To have some expert grade as 

 well as certify the purity of every lot 

 of honej^ coming into Chicago would 

 be worth much. 



Perhaps this idea is too Utopian to 

 be carried into effect; but I have brief- 

 ly outlined in a crude form the thoughts 

 that have been revolving in my mind, 

 and should be glad to hear from any 

 one with suggestions. If a practical 

 scheme can be evolved, I am satisfied 

 that much good will be accomplished, 

 and the officers of the National will be 

 glad to adopt it. 



FEEDING BACK EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Some Excellent Directions for Making a 

 Success of the Business. 



There is a sort of fascination about 

 feeding back extracted honey to have 

 it turned into comb honey. I doubt if 

 there have been very many pounds of 

 comb honey profitably produced "right 

 from the stump, ' ' as Mr. Heddon used 

 to say, by the feeding of extracted 

 honey, but with hot weather, black 



bees, or those with a dash of black 

 blood in their makeup, unfinished sec- 

 tions may be completed at a profit if 

 the work is rightly managed. Feeding 

 back is distinctly a separate branch of 

 apiculture, as much so as commercial 

 queen rearing. There are many 

 things about it that can be learned 

 only by experience, but much can be 

 learned by reading the experience of 

 others. Some very good hints along 

 this line were given last fall in Glean- 

 ings by Mr. M. W. Shepard, of Hol- 

 lister, Florida. Among other things 

 Mr. Shepard says: — 



The question of feeding back ex- 

 tracted hone}^ for the production of 

 comb honey does not appear to settle 

 any more than several other questions 

 of more or less importance to the bee- 

 keeping fraternity do. Opinions and 

 theories differ in regard to the matter, 

 and many of the shining lights of bee- 

 dom say it can't be done. After an 

 experience covering several seasons, 

 and having had my efforts crowned 

 with success, it may not be out of 

 place for me to say it can be done, and 

 done easily, and at a good profit, and 

 especially feeding back to finish un- 

 finished sections. We usually have 

 several thousand such sections at the 

 end of the main honey-flow, and in 

 this climate it is well nigh impossible 

 to keep combs of any kind off the hives 

 on account of the worms; so it is policy 

 as well as profit that led us to try the 

 feeding-back plan. 



We first assort our unfinished sec- 

 tions, get our supers ready, and then 

 begin by filling our supers, putting the 

 fullest ones in the corners and outside 

 rows; but be sure to uncap all sealed 

 cells. If you don't the bees won't, but 

 will build new comb on top of the seal- 

 ed cells, making what we call double- 

 deck combs. After you fill your sup- 

 ers, put not less than two on any good 

 strong colony whose brood chamber is 

 well filled with sealed brood and hon- 

 ey. For feeders we use a box made 

 of thin lumber, and which will hold a 

 gallon or a little more. Set this box 

 on top of the supers, fill it with thick 

 honey, throw a handful of coarse ex- 

 celsior on top of the honey; then cover 

 the whole up bee-tight. 



You will find that the bees will 

 store about all of the first feederful 

 below, not making much of a show in 



