THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



I iiave often seen Perriue's lioney on 

 sale on this (Fox) river, and elsewliere, 

 and I ivnow that it _>>i\'es first-class satis- 

 faction, — far better than the crude honey 

 sold by the honey raisers in tliis or any 

 other county. Whether Perrine mixes 

 anything with his lioney or not, I cannot 

 say, but if he does, it is something that 

 improves rather than injures it. That is, 

 his honey is milder in jlnvor, and there- 

 fore better relislied by tlie masses. Crude 

 honej', as gatiiered by the bees, is quite 

 apt to candy — hut does not always — and 

 when it is in that state, consumers gener- 

 ally dislike it. Besides, it is impossible 

 to convince many that pure honey will 

 change to sugar. As a rule, Perrine's 

 honey does not solidity, if used within a 

 certain period, and for this reason, con- 

 sumers like it better, and so do the mer- 

 chants that handle it. Now, no one 

 can properly censure a dealer who caters 

 to the wishes of his patrons, provided he 

 uses nothing that injures their health. 

 But the discussion of this subject in the 

 strain of the past few mouths, is creating, 

 and has created considerable prejudice 

 against liquid honey, and the producer is 

 the chief t^utterer. 



As a consequence of this prejudice, the 

 dealer can buy all the liquid honey he 

 wants, at lower prices than before this 

 discussion commenced. But suppose the 

 dealer cannot sell liquid honey, then the 

 producer must peddle it in small lots 

 among his friends and neighbors — those 

 who have confidence in his honesty. In 

 a short time he will find his reputation for 

 honest dealing sadly injured, for crude 

 honey will, generally, candy more or less, 

 and then his best friends will claim that he 

 has sugared it ! For there is no man on this 

 earth that can sell crude honey and escape 

 from this charge — unless we except H. A. 

 King! the party who inaugurated this dis- 

 cussion. Why Mr. King made a Iwhhy of 

 this topic at the lastKatioual Bee Conven- 

 tion is not apparent, except to the few 

 who have watched his course for the past 

 few years. If we mistake not, it was 

 for the sole purpose of bringing himself 

 once more into notoriety -inA the recurring 

 of a vast amount of advertising, free of 

 expense. He knew this would Ite the re- 

 sult, for the Press, generally, will publish 

 a pretended traud, or what is novel or 

 ridiculous. 



There might have been another object, 

 and that was to injure the business of Mr. 

 Perrine, who has worked diligently for a 

 reputation for the goods he handles, and 

 Mrs. Spaids, who was once tlie wife of 

 Mr. Perrine, might be at the bottom of it. 

 It is well known that she is jealous of Mr. 

 Perrine's prosperity, and that she would 

 gladly use any means, no matter how con- 

 temptible, to break him down, and, at the 

 same time, build up the reputation of the 

 honej^ market of New York City. 

 St. Charles, 111. M. M. Balduidge. 



For (lie American Bee .Journal. 



How About California? 



The following letter from a friend who 

 has lately gone to California, I submit to 

 the readers of The Amkuic.vn Bp:k Jouii- 

 NAi^, as they ought to canvass the subject 

 well before attempting a removal to such 

 a distance as the Pacific slope. As I 

 know many bee keepers are contemplating 

 such emigration, I commend this letter to 

 their careful consideration. 



H. Nesbit, Cynthiana, Ky. 



San Diego. Cal., June 24, '75. 



H. Nesbit, Esq. Dear Sir: Yours of 

 the 14th at hand, and contents noted. I 

 came here from Kansas in May, to go to 

 bee-keeping, but found I was four months 

 too late to do anytliing this year, as bees 

 swarm here in March and April, and from 

 that time to September 1st, are making 

 box honej^ and but few are for sale, 

 except from October to January. 



They had a hard frost here in April, 

 which stopped swarming, and cut the 

 honey crop very short. 



Italian queen-raising might pay, but I 

 think it doubtful, as one-fourth are now 

 Italians. You could not find a location, in 

 my judgment, out of reach of blacks or 

 hybrids, as the mountains have many wild 

 bees in them and the bee-men are already 

 located all over the honey region. 



Bee-men complain of losing one-third of 

 their queens in fertilizing this year. Do not 

 think -that queens will be sold very profit- 

 ably. This country wants to be seen to be 

 appreciated — it is not at all that fancy 

 paints it. I am very much disap- 

 pointed and do not ihink I shall stay, as I 

 left my family East; and if I bring them, 

 the}' will have to stay here in San Diego, 

 while I go alone up among the mountains, 

 twenty-five to forty miles to the bee-range. 



There are no thriving milages within a 

 hundred miles from here. This is the 

 only village for one hundred miles in any 

 direction, and this is as dead as can be — 

 alwaj^s like Sunday in the streets. 



Outside of this town there are no church- 

 es, and no society you or your daughter 

 would w'ant. Little houses, 15x20 or less, 

 three to six miles apart, with one or two 

 men in each, constitute the population, 

 and thus the country is dreary and unin- 

 viting. There will be plenty of bees and 

 ranchesfor sale this fall. Bees in Harbison 

 or Langstroth hives sell at about flO; in 

 box-hives, $3 to $5. Harbison's average, 

 for five years past, is 83 lbs. comb-honey — 

 more than most get. This year they will 

 not get half that. They do not know what 

 e.dracted honey is here. I brouglit two ex- 

 tractors with me, but as strained honey is 

 only five to six cents per pound, they will 

 not give me any work extracting. 



If j'ou are determined to come, m}" ad- 

 vice is, stop at Los Augelos, and go ninety 



