1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



235 



mitted to say a few words about pack- 

 ing and marketing the honey. Since 

 the advent of the deep-cell foundation, 

 the cheerful idiot is again cavorting 

 on his hobby of bogus comb honey, 

 filled with glucose, sugar, syrup, etc., 

 ad nmisium. Life is too short to make 

 a personal matter of it with those 

 chattering Jack-er-daws, and some of 

 the honey is packed in such a slovenly 

 manner as to justify the bees in dis- 

 owning it. Therefore, to my mind, 

 the best thing for a self-respecting 

 comb honey producer to do is to see 

 that his honey is put in proper shape, 

 and then label each section, stating 

 thereou that it contains" Pure Honey," 

 and adding his name and address as a 

 guarantee that it is the unmixed pro- 

 duct of the bees. Section labels, 

 printed in four colors, cost only 75 

 cents a thousand, and can be had for 

 less in larger lots. This is only 7| 

 cents for labels enough to label 100 

 lbs. of honey. To put them on rap- 

 idly, just brush the paste on the sec- 

 tions after they are all packed, then 

 lay the labels on and smooth with a 

 clean, dry cloth. 



The middle man generally does not 

 like to see the sections labelled with 

 the producer's name, but, under the 

 existing circumstances, it seems nec- 

 essary, and will not interfere with his 

 calling in the least, for as long as we 

 allow a few private individuals and 

 corporations to own and control our 

 money, we will be confronted with a 

 restricted market and falling prices, 

 which makes the middleman a nec- 

 essity. And when we mount on that 

 wave of prosperity (let her wave) we 

 will need him just the same, for then 

 the producer cannot afford to take the 

 time to hunt a purchaser for his pro- 

 ducts. 



Acton, Cal. 



HIVING A SWARM. 



A strange and interesting sight at- 

 tracted the attention of people on Ex- 

 change street, between Main street 

 and the canal, at noon today. The 

 air was full of bees, which were evi- 

 dently about to swarm. Where they 

 came from nobody seems to know. 

 The bees themselves were uncom- 

 municative as to their intentions. 



Standing in front of the Trust 

 building was an express wagon. The 

 bees circled about this wagon and the 

 horse. It looked for a time as though 

 they were all going to light on the 

 auiraal's back. Some few, indeed, did 

 and it was only by vigorous use of 

 his tail that the beast kept himself 

 free. 



When the wagon was driven away 

 the bees seemed a little disconcerted. 

 The queen was not doing her duty, 

 and the swarm skirmished in disor- 

 dered ranks. Finally they moved up 

 to Exchange street bridge. A few 

 tried the telegraph post in front of 

 Conolly's store. It was satisfactory, 

 and the rest followed. In a few min- 

 utes the entire top of the pole and 

 the crosspiece was black with the in- 

 sects. 



Then somebody suggested getting a 

 barrel or a box and hiving them. 

 These were Italian honey bees. A 

 swarm the size of the one on Exchange 

 street would be of considerable value. 

 They probably came from some hive 

 in the country, perhaps many miles 

 away. 



Henry Tucker of Honeoye Falls 

 climbed up the telegraph pole, where 

 the bees had all gathered. He had a 

 bandage about his head to guard 

 against stings. He carried a large 



