1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAF.< 



787 



less fabrications, put forth to injure our business. We must 

 gather our own statistics of the honey crop, and not depend 

 upon others. 



We can learn something if we will from the experiences 

 of others. The peach industry of Delaware was nearly de- 

 stroyed by the growers sending their crops to commission men 

 without proper restrictions and safeguards. The result was 

 that many markets were glutted, and prices went so low that 

 farmers began to tear up their orchards. Now, since an asso- 

 ciation has been formed for securing an intelligent oversight 

 of the market, the grower is getting some remuneration for 

 bis labor. 



California bee-keepers — a group of specialists — were 

 among the first to recognize the necessity of securing by 

 united action a controlling voice in the pricing and selling of 

 their products, and they have formed an association for that 

 purpose. They have acted wisely. The weak point in the 

 scheme is that the whole country is not included. Eastern 

 honey, I fear, will be used to break to pieces the association. 

 It is for Eastern bee-keepers to say whether they will estab- 

 lish an intelligent oversight over their markets so that the 

 products of the apiary may be properly distributed, and so that 

 the cost of production, together with the supply and demand, 

 may act as controlling factors in establishing prices. 



We are not alone in our trouble. The maximum price of 

 butter In New York city Is daily fixt without discussion, by a 

 committee of five members of the New York Mercantile Ex- 

 change. The same method of establishing the price is in prac- 

 tice in Chicago and Elgin. 



What can bee-keepers do for immediate relief to over- 

 stockt markets, and for the consequent low prices ? Keep 

 more of your honey at home. In other words, cultivate the 

 home market. In the settled parts of the country every bee- 

 keeper can sell his own crop about home, up to a ton or more. 

 There is no need of cutting prices in doing this. Indeed, this 

 is the surest way of destroying your home market. Could bee- 

 keepers be induced to do this there would shortly be a scarcity 

 of honey in our centers of trade. 



This Union can be of great benefit in several ways in 

 securing better markets, viz.: 



1st. It can in season disseminate reliable information as 

 to the yearly crop. This, with the cost of producing, must 

 be the basis of prices. 



2nd. It can appoint a committee of producers and middle- 

 men to meet as soon as reliable information of the crop can be 

 secured, to name prices that should prevail in equity to all 

 concerned. Certain safeguards could be named to assist pro- 

 ducers and middlemen in maintaining these prices. 



ord. This would necessitate the appointment of another 

 committee of similar make-up to formulate brief rules for the 

 uniform grading of honey. This committee ought to take at 

 least six months to make its report, and the same to be acted 

 upon at the next session of the Union. 



4th. The greatest benefit to the honey market will be ob- 

 tained by the success of this Union in suppressing the adul- 

 teration of liquid honey. I have no doubt but that the con- 

 sumption of extracted honey would be increast tenfold if adul- 

 teration could be stopt. As glucose and its allied product — 

 grape-sugar — are only used for purposes of adulteration, and 

 are injurious to health, I suggest that the Union make a very 

 strong effort to have our legislators classify them with to- 

 bacco, beer and whiskey, and- impose a very heavy internal 

 revenue tax upon them. Doubling the price of glucose would 

 of itself very much discourage the makers of spurious honey. 



5th. Prosecuting and publishing dishonest dealers will 

 help matters very much. We are friends of the honest mid- 

 dleman. He can market our honey better and more cheaply 

 than we, and we cannot dispense with his services. The ex- 

 act opposite may be said of the dishonest one. This Union 

 should request that in all cases of complaint of InsufBcient re- 

 turns, commission men shall permit our Secretary to inspect 

 their books. No honest man will refuse this so long as we 

 keep an honorable man in this oiBce. We should also request 

 that receipt be promptly returned for all goods consigned 

 commission men ; also that monthly statements of account be 

 made. 



All of which is respectfully submitted, not because of any 

 originality of thought, but with the hope that something in this 

 communication may stimulate thought and provoke discussion. 



P. H. Elwood. 



Mr. Abbott — I don't object to the farmers' honey. My 

 honey gains by comparison with the farmer-honey. 



G. W. Bell — I take honey to the editors of local news- 

 papers, and they give me notices that bring lots of custom. 



E. A. Sturtevant — My crop is sold by a dealer in Boston, 

 who puts a dozen Chinamen on the streets. He dresses them 



In white jackets, and they carry the honey In a tray on top of 

 the head. 



W. F. Marks — The label plan workt well with our local 

 association for a year or two, and then some of the members 

 became careless and trouble began. In our little association 

 we have a honey-grader, and he grades and puts a label on 

 each package ; he puts it on in such a manner that the pack- 

 age cannot be opened without breaking the label. 



Wm. Couse — We could never do anything in this line 

 without inspection. Each man would say that his honey was 

 the best. In buying grain the dealers get samples from dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, and then compare them and de- 

 cide what the different grades shall be. We would have to do 

 the same thing with honey. 



Mr. Manum, of Vermont, not being able to be present, 

 sent this paper : 



Profitable Feeding; of Bees. 



Much has been written upon the subject of feeding bees. 

 And many experiments have been made by bee-keepers with 

 varied success. I am aware that any one method will not 

 prove successful with every bee-keeper, since localities vary so 

 greatly, as well as our methods of management. I can, there- 

 fore, only speak for myself and my locality, taking my market 

 into consideration. I have no market for extracted honey, 

 hence I work entirely for comb honey. 



The subject of " feeding back " extracted honey for the 

 purpose of completing unfinisht sections has often appeared 

 in print. We have been told by some writers that feeding 

 back is unprofitable, while by others we are told that it nnn 

 be made profitable. Here comes in the difference in locations 

 and markets. If one has a good market for extracted honey at 

 a fair price, it would not be profitable to feed back any ex- 

 tracted honey he may secure. 



In the 25 years that I have experimented in feeding bees, 

 I have been both successful and unsuccessful in making the 

 feeding back of extracted honey profitable. In these 25 years 

 I have learned something regarding the preparation of colo- 

 nies to be fed, the kind of feeder best adapted for the purpose, 

 and the preparation of the honey that is to be fed. Until 

 within five years my success in feeding back was somewhat 

 varied, but for the past five years I have made it profitable to 

 feed by extracting from a portion of my unfinisht sections and 

 feeding the honey thus taken to coloBles especially prepared 

 for doing the work of completing sections, thus transferring 

 the honey from a portion of the unsalable sections to another 

 like portion, thereby making the latter portion marketable 

 with no expense except my own labor of extracting and feed- 

 ing. I find that the shrinkage by the transfer of the honey 

 from one set of sections to the other is very slight. The 

 greatest loss is due to the process of extracting, or, in other 

 words, to the adherence of honey to the extractor and other 

 receptacles. 



I first prepare the colony by filling the brood-chamber 

 with combs well filled with brood or sealed honey, or both. 

 The unfinisht sections are then placed on the hive, 2, ci or 4 

 tiers high, according to the strength of the colony. Directly 

 on these sections I place a larger feeder capable of holding 16 

 pounds of honey. The honey is first diluted with warm water, 

 and then poured into the feeder just at night for the first, and 

 if all works well it will need refilling in the morning. I find 

 for the best results the honey should be a little thicker than it 

 sometimes is when first gathered, for if fed too thin the sec- 

 tions when capt will have a watery appearance ; while, on the 

 other hand, if fed too thick, the work will progress slowly, 

 and the cappings will be more or less soiled. Therefore, In 

 my case, when I misjudge the duration of the honey-flow, and 

 unfortunately put on more sections than the bees are able to 

 finish, I find it necessary to do some extra work, such as ex- 

 tracting and feeding back. In this I find it more profitable 

 than to carry over these unfinisht sections, or to sell the honey 

 in the liquid form. 



But the most satisfactory and profitable feeding with 

 which I have had experience, is spring and summer feeding — 

 stimulative feeding, so-called — but more especially summer 

 feeding. 



Early in the season (I mean the breeding season) the 

 apiarist should see to it that the bees are well provided with 

 stores near the brood. This may be honey or sugar syrup. 

 Our colonies should never want for ample supplies at this sea- 

 son. In order to avoid this, I aim to feed moderately, or 

 enough to keep a supply of uncapt honey in the combs until 

 the bees commence to gather honey. If there is an Interval 

 at any time during the honey season between any of the 

 sources from which we get our surplus, as there usually Is 

 between fruit-bloom and raspberries, and between raspberries 

 and clover, I feed moderately, that the brood-combs may be 



