1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



105 



[For the American Bea Journal.] 



The Production of Honey. 



A Paper rnid before the Michigan Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation, September 21, 1871. 

 By J. M. Makyin, of St. Charles, Ills. 



To produce honey in larjje quantity, a great 

 deal depends on the beekeeper. He or she should 

 have natural or acquired abilitj", to have any 

 large amount of success, just the same as in 

 other branches of business. The stock of bees 

 should be of the best character, and kept up to 

 the highest standard of excellence. Good suc- 

 cess must be had in producing large quantities 

 of surplus honey, stored by light-colbred, good 

 tempered bees. Nothing short of this will satisfy 

 the American bee-keeping public at present. 



In small and large apiaries a swarm or a stock, 

 or more, will show superior working qualities, 

 by sending out sometimes double the number of 

 workers to tlie fields, that other hives of equal 

 numbers do. What is the cause? Or how can 

 we improve the working qualities of such stock 

 at large ? Italian stock at their first introduc- 

 tion, and our native stock in newly started apia- 

 ries, are generally better workers at first, or 

 until they are bred iu and in too long, without 

 a change of stock. Some close observer may 

 say a swarm or stock, or more, may get posses- 

 sion of a limited field, and hold possession by 

 beating others oft'! We should say, thereby 

 showing their superiority. 



The superiority of the Italian bees may be 

 seen while working on the fiowers. We have 

 seen five of these bees on a single thistle head, 

 and more on a squash flower. Not so many of 

 the more wild black. These are off" on the first 

 approach of a neighboring black bee ; to say 

 nothing of the well-bred yellow bees, which 

 stick to the source of feed until their bodies are 

 as large as some queens. 



It is now quite easy to imjirove any valuable 

 quality in bees, as we have control over the 

 hives, combs, and bees, and can rear niale^ or 

 females from any particular mother, at pleasuv,e. 



The atmosphere has an effect on honey pro- 

 ducing, which we can control in some measure 

 by planting honey producing trees and shrubs 

 for shelter, as well as honey, when enough do 

 not gi-ow naturally for the stock. The atmos- 

 phere is more apt to be good for the production 

 of honey over an uneven surface of country. 

 More or less honey producing trees, shrubs and 

 plants are left standing on such uneven land, as 

 it is hard to cultivate, and more or less water is 

 near or on the surface of such land to modify 

 the effects of the atmosphere. A variety of soil, 

 also, is generally found in the uneven sections 

 of country, and is favorable to the growth of the 

 different species of trees, shrubs and plants. 

 Some seasons the same varieties of plants will 

 yield more honey on light sandy soils ; in other 

 seasons the low, moist, rich land will give the 

 only yield of honey from the same variety of 

 plants. Fruit trees, .shrubs and plants are gene- 

 rally planted on a variety of soils, and usually 



yield enough for the stock. If not, more should 

 be planted. 



Alsike clover sometimes smothers itself out on 

 some soils and seasons, by its excessively large 

 growth ; but it yields honey every time, on any 

 soil, and in all seasons, as far as heard from. 

 Buckwheat is variable in its yield, but pays me 

 well in honey alone. Polani.'^ia pui'purea yields 

 no honey with me, in two years' trial on three 

 varieties of soil. Mr. Fairbrother, of Jackson 

 county, Iowa, writes me he has thirty years' ex- 

 perience with it, and likes it well, although it is 

 variable in its yield. He also writes that he 

 grows raspberries, buckwheat, and other plants 

 for honey ; and has had twelve years' exjierience 

 with melilot or sweet clover, and now has ten 

 acres of it. I conclude that the ten acres are 

 enough for their stock, as the partner wi'ote me 

 several years ago that they should increase the 

 acreage until they had forty, unless a less quan- 

 tity proved sufficient. It is the best honey plant 

 with me. 



There is no doubt that borage and catnip will 

 pay to cultivate where labor is cheaper and stock 

 more numerous, as these plants need more thor- 

 ough culture than others, at least in this sec- 

 tion. 



To get large amounts of surplus honey, a 

 regular business should be made of keeping 

 good strong stocks of bees, at the time or times 

 of a yield of honey in the flowers. It will pay 

 to feed a stock of bees, at the right time, the 

 right amount of feed, to rear bees with, not to 

 have the feed stored in combs for sale. Rediicing 

 the stock in the fall to a good working number, 

 and using the combs, honey and bee-bread in the 

 spring, as capital to work with, is a paying busi- 

 ness to emi)loy the time of the keejier. There 

 is probably no man living at the present time, 

 knows the full value to a .stock or stocks of bees 

 of judiciously used feed. I make the assertion 

 that the same value of feed fed to a stock or 

 stocks of bees, pays better than any other stock 

 feeding on the farm. Any one doubting this, 

 will please give me the name, kind of stock, 

 value of feed, time, and place, and oblige the 

 writer. 



In the management of extracted honey, it 

 should be kept in a dry, well ventilated room, 

 until it thickens or granulates. After that it can 

 be kept in a cellar. If kept iu barrels the hoops 

 should be often tightened, as the barrels shrink 

 more with honey in than when empty. If tlie 

 honey is put in crocks or jars, it should be kept 

 from hard freezing. We have lost several jars, 

 both large and small, by frost cracking. There 

 is no apparent injuij^ to the honey from freezing. 

 It puzzles some beekeepers to keep some varie- 

 ties of honey until it is cured or consumed. 

 There are exceptional cases, when the bees need 

 the help of the keeper with the extractor, to 

 secure the honey in the hive for the use of the 

 bees. (It may be the extractor and clearifier in 

 the hive, combs and honey, may check if not cure 

 disease in bees and brood.) A barrel of some va- 

 rieties of honey, of forty-two gallons, will shrink 

 to forty or less in thickening or granulating ; and 

 will expand to forty-ioui- gallons, or more than a 

 barrel, in heating to a liquid state again. Honey 



