44 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



honey is brought before the consumer 

 just as it was stored by the bees, while 

 extracted honey is the pure honey 

 emptied from the comb by means of 

 the honey' extractor. If not adulter- 

 ated by middlemen both are equally 

 healthful and nutritious. 



Honey is not a luxury, but a nec- 

 essary addition to our food, it being 

 the pure sweet as secreted hy the flow- 

 ers from which it is gathered by the 

 bees, being healthful and much safer 

 than the poisonous confections sold 

 under the name of "candy." 



Comb honey is preferred by many 

 on account of its fine appearance. It 

 must be placed in the market in good 

 shape, indicating that it is intended 

 for food and not simply as a luxury, a 

 sweet morsel to be tasted by the chil- 

 dren . Some of our writers on bee cul- 

 ture (but I am happy to say only 

 a few) went wild some time ago 

 advocating one-half pound frames. 

 They argue that it can be sold at a 

 higher price, but all bee-keepers 

 know that forcing bees into such 

 small combs greatly reduces the crop, 

 and if such a course could be pursued 

 by our bee men it would at once con- 

 vey the idea that honey was only a 

 substitute for candy or chewing gum. 

 My advice to the bee-loving readers 

 of this magazine is to let them severe- 

 ly alone in their craze. A season or 

 two will abolish such small things. 

 The man whose soul is so small and his 

 ideas so contracted, and his business 

 principles so mean as to place a half 

 pound honey package upon the mark- 

 et for the purpose of extorting a half 

 penny or so from his fellow man de- 

 serves to be classed with — you may 

 draw your own comparison. 



Anything smaller than a one pound 

 section or frame is a loss to the pro- 

 ducer as well as the consumer. A one 

 pound comb makes a nice package, 

 and such frames can be nicely crated 

 and safely shipped. 



Comb honey should be removed 

 from the hive as soon as all the cells 

 are sealed over. If left to remain it 

 becomes darker by the bees passing 

 over it. When taken from the hive 

 it should be placed in a dark room 

 until sold or shipped to market.. 

 Some writers advise smoking it with 

 sulphur to kill the wax worm. I 

 never found this necessary, asl never 

 have found worms on my comb honey. 

 Honey should be nicely graded, and 

 the finest shipped or sold in separate 

 lots. My frames hold two pound each, 

 of these I place six in a crate having 

 glass at each end showing quality of 

 honey. These crates suit the retail as 

 well as the wholesale dealers and con- 

 sumers generally buy a whole crate — 

 12 to 13 pounds. Many of my cus- 

 tomers in adjoining towns buy from 

 three to six crates. Unfinished or 

 partly sealed combs can be emptied 

 with the extractor and put away for 

 next season. 



Extracted honey should be placed 

 in nice, clean, attractive packages. 

 For home trade self-sealing jars do 

 very well. For shipping, kegs are 

 found to be the best, 



Just here I would give a word of 

 warning. Do not extract before your 

 honey is sealed, if you do it is not 

 ripe and too thin and will sour, thus 

 spoiling your reputation as a honey 

 producer. Don't be too eager to ob- 

 tain a large quantity, let the quality 

 be good and you will have no trouble 



