THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TURIS T. 



1C7 



pressure and on the instant the 

 other foot pnshes the section out 

 rubbing in the wax. It is superior 

 to any tiling I know of. 



If these directions have been 

 properly/ followed, at the end of 

 the season of clover and basswood, 

 if there lias been a good flow of 

 nectar, our hives will be found 

 loaded with a lieav}'^ crop of comb 

 honey, the choicest possible at that 

 time of the year ; but we are now 

 only in the position of the farmer 

 when he enters his meadows with 

 the mowing maciiine : our crop is 

 still to be cured, only we have this 

 advantage ; that we may, if we will, 

 cure our product with certainty 

 and under cover. Our honey is 

 produced to sell, and to sell well it 

 must be palatable. Honey not 

 cured or cured improperly is a 

 poor thing with which to tempt the 

 appetite. Purchasers cannot dis- 

 tinguish the good from the poor at 

 sight, so one purchase of the poor 

 prevents a dozen sales of the 

 good. Poor honey is the bane of 

 our markets. When all honey is 

 thoroughly cured it will all be 

 taken with avidity. It would then 

 be a real luxury and would be irre- 

 sistible. Purchasers would not be 

 able to get enough. How should 

 honey be cured? Stack it up in the 

 cases as they come from the hive 

 in such a manner that the air can 

 circulate through it freely, in a 

 well built, thoroughly diy, room 

 with a stove in it; do not rely on 

 the heat of the sun to do the 

 work. A fire will be needed only 

 occasionally during the warm 

 weather ; but as cold weather ap- 

 proaches, keep the room dry and 

 wai-m by more frequent fires and 

 in November you will have honey 

 that can be shipped anywhere with- 

 out breakage or leakage. It will 

 be hard to tear it out of the sec- 

 tions and yet consumers will work 

 eagerly to get it out. 



1 consider this matter at present 



the weak point in comb-honey bus- 

 iness. However it may be in some 

 other thingSj in this we help our- 

 selves in helping others. Let there 

 l)e a move forward in this direc- 

 tion. 



Lapeer, 3Ilch. 



[The above was not received in 

 time for the June number, so 

 space is made for it in this issue.] 



For the American ApicuUurist. 



WORKING FOR EX- 

 TRACTED HONEY. 



WiUimantlc, Conn., Jan. 3, 1887. 

 Editor A.mekica.v Apiculturist: 



In your last issue of the "Api" I saw a letter 

 from Mr. G. M. Doolittle who says "when 

 swarming' time arrives 1 simpiv exchaii<;e the 

 brood in the liive from Avhich the swarm is- 

 sues lor empty frames or fiames of lounda- 

 tion (generally the loimer; the plan is known 

 as the Hutcliinson plan alUiough itoriginaled 

 Witli nie) wliile the swarm is in tlie air and 

 hive tliem on the returning plan." What I 

 would lilie to know is, what doe.-) Mr. Doolittle 

 do with the parent stock; also what is done 

 with the new swaim ? 



I am not at all acquainted with what is 

 called the "Hutchinson plan." I have oltea 

 read of it. 



Yours trulj-, 



A. T. Trowbridge. 

 Reply by G. M. Doolittle. 



Just at the present time there 

 seems to be a " craze" among bee- 

 keepers on the subject of comb- 

 honey production, many who have 

 heretofore worked almost exclu- 

 sively for extracted honey chang- 

 ing their tactics and are'now ad- 

 vocating and talking comb honey 

 to the exclusion of that which 

 tliey formerly endorsed. I fear 

 this is not a wise policy, for it can 

 only result in soon lowering the 

 price of comb honey and advanc- 

 ing the price of extracted, this 

 causing an expensive changing of 

 fixtures the second time. It seems 

 to me that the well-balanced apia- 

 rist should produce both comb and 



