May 15, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



309 



Mr. Dciui — I wouldn't bi' sun? but wbtit I KOt tliosi- Itiil- 

 iaiis from Dr. Milliu- 1 



Mr. llo;;;rc — It Wiis luy fault, ami not tlio faultof tlii> h. ,■.;. 

 I had some honey that rami' oil cjf the vci'v saini' hivi', ainl it 

 did not act thai way. 



8WEET CI.OVKK IIONKV. 



Pros. York — "How many havo found that pcoplo ari' prf- 

 jiidirod apiiinsl sweet clover honey ? " 



Six raised the hand. 



'■ Is there any way to remedy sueh llavor?" 



Mr. llintz — Does that mean eomb or e.xtracted '.' If eomh, 

 it wasn't well ripened. I never had that trouble. 



Mr. Chajjinan — I asked that ([uestion, and I ncner e\- 

 lraet(Hi any honey that wasn't sealed. I took it the second 

 wecdi in .Septemb<'r when it was ]ierfectly ripe, and any that 

 larked sealing I put down for the bees, and ] have still had 

 people object; I myself object to the sweet clover as being 

 rank. 



Mr. Ilintz— My experience is that if sweet clover honey is 

 entirely scahid over, and a long time in the hive, it doesn't 

 taste rank. 



Mr. Mooney — ]\Iy honey in the early part of the season 

 doesn't taste like what I get later. The early-flow hom^y 

 taken away doesn't have the chance to ripen as it should, ami 

 I know that mine was strictly sweet clover honey in the fall. 



Mr. <_'hapman — The honey wasn't tak(>n until the first or 

 second week in September, and I ripened it. I have since 

 moved my location, and have honey from asters and I have 

 none of that trouble. 



Mr. Ilintz— Mine has never given me any trouble when 

 properly ripened. 



Mr. Whitney — Was that honey, when you extracted it, 

 thick or thin '.' 



Mr. Chapman — Good, thick honey; live gallons will 

 weigh (iO pounds. I call that thick honey. 



Mr. I'urple — In my locality I get nothing but straight 

 sweet clover honey, mixed in August with burdock, and I 

 notice that the honey we get first after blossoming is our best 

 honey. ,Just the time the sweet clover is in blossom is the 

 best. As the season advances it gets stronger. I extracted 

 .Tuly 14, but 1 never extract until it is all sealed over, and the 

 lirst extracting is always the whiter. 



Mr. Chapman — Isn't that mixed with white clover? When 

 the honey is thus mixed — in my present location I get it that 

 way— it is the finest. When I had the pure sweet clover 

 nearly every one objected to the flavor. 



Mr. Purple — The latter part of July the white clover is all 

 gone, even burdock. Then it comes in nearly white, and it is 

 as nice a honey as I get during the season in the middle of the 

 flow. 



Mr. Chapman — Ever have any objection to it? 



Mr. Purple — I have customers who don't ask for any bet- 

 ter honey than that honey. They will go to the market and 

 buy samples of honey, and it is good honey, but still they 

 would rather have the sweet clover honey than have that. 



HONEY TAKING COLOR FROM DARK COMBS. 



" Is honey darkened bv putting into dark combs by the 

 bees ? " 



Mr. Riker — That is one thing that I have seen and read 

 considerable about, and I have tested it in every possible way, 

 and find that it will take color from the comb. Water put in 

 such comb will pick up the dark color, but honey will not. I 

 never have been able to discover tliat the honey would take 

 any coloring of the dark comb. One time, at the State Fair 

 of Iowa, a gentleman made a remark that dark comb made 

 dark-colored honey. I told him that was opposite to my expe- 

 rience. I never noticed anything of that kind. It is the fact, 

 he said. I looked about. He had some bees there in a little 

 glass box, and comb, and I discovered that the comb was black, 

 but there was a little white honey around the edge and it ap- 

 peared to me that that was white honey. I asked him if he 

 would permit me to take some of the honey out of the blackest 

 comb and a little honey out of the whitest comb, to compare 

 with each other. He took the dark comb and put a sample of 

 the honey on a piece of paper, while I took the whitest and 

 put it on a piece of paper, and put it by the side of the dark. 

 We then presented it to the crowd standing by for them to 

 judge. Every person decided that the honey I took out of the 

 black comb was the whitest. I took a little advantage of the 

 old gentleman when I took the honey out, as I spread it thiti 

 ■ on the white paper. When he took it out of his comb and put 

 it on he left it perhaps twice the thickness of the paper. 

 After they had all decided mine was the whitest I told them it 

 was the same honey. Then I showed them and the old gen- 

 tleman how I had taken advantage of him, that the hoie y 



that I put on I spread out more tlian ho did his; but when I 

 came to spread his down to the same depth as mine, they 

 couldn't tell which was which. I have testeil it, I have tried 

 every whi<h way, to see If bhick comb will color the honey. It 

 will color water hut not honey. 



Dr. .Miller — I wouldn't like to take either side of that, for I 

 want to get out of this crowd alive. There are different views. 

 There are some who say that Mack comb will yhdil honey just 

 oxac!tly the same as that in virgin comb, and yet there Is this 

 that is ditlicult to answer. Mr. liicker knows black comb will 

 be colored, and most of yon who have had ('onibs out In the 

 rain, and li'ft them out all night, when shaken out will notice 

 it looks like ink. I saw an explanation of that the other day. 

 I can't recall where I did seiMt. I am not sure but what It 

 was at the Kutfalo convention. .Some one said honey Is not 

 watery, it is oily : that, therefon^ the black coloring-matter 

 cannot come into Ihe honey because of Its oiliness. We know 

 pretty well, at least in my locality, that wati-r is not oily, and 

 honey and water, will mingle together. There are those whr) 

 make a business of exhibiting viTy line, white honey, taking it 

 from virgin comb, and thi'y claim they had whiter honey by 

 doing that. 



Jlr. Chapman — I made an engagemc^nt with a man who 

 produces a great deal of honey to meet and detel-minr' that 

 question. There was over a ton of honey produced in brood- 

 combs, which had never been used for other purposes than 

 breeding, and the (irst extracting was very slightly discolored, 

 but the subsequent extracting was just as good as that in the 

 new combs. We tried the experiment of filling the combs 

 with rain-water, and found that the cocoons absorbed the 

 water and allowed the material deposited to come through 

 into the water, and into the cell, but honey didn't soak into 

 the cocoon, and the lirst that was extracted was slightly dis- 

 colored. You would have to have a great quantity in order to 

 notice the coloring at all, 



[Continued ne.xt week,) 



Contributed Articles. 



No. 6.— Bee-Keeping for Women. 



Thing's Learned Only by Experience— Robber. 



Bees. 



BY EMMA M. WILSON. 



THERE are some thing^s in bee-keeping that can be fully 

 learned only by experience. Among these is the dan- 

 ger from robber-bees. No matter how much the begin- 

 ner may be told about the danger, she will go on in blissful 

 freedom from anxiety until she has one serious case of rob- 

 bing, and then she will know what robbing is as no book or 

 bee-paper can tell her ; and after that she will always be on 

 the alert. 



During the time of a good honey-flow there is little dan- 

 ger in that direction. Honey may be left standing exposed 

 for some time without causing any trouble ; the bees pay no 

 attention to it. They can get all the nectar they want from 

 the field. But in early spring, or at any time during the 

 season when there is not abundant nectar coming in, look 

 out for robbers. There is danger. My, what a commotion 

 a bit of honey carelessly dropped at such a time will cause I 

 It would seem as if the bees had gone crazy. The apiary 

 that a little time before seemed all peace and quietude is 

 suddenly changed into a howling mob of angry, stinging 

 bees. It would seem as if the entire apiary were engaged in 

 the uproar, when in reality there may be only one or two 

 colonies engaged in robbing. But it aftects the whole 

 apiary, for when that bit of honey is gone the robbers set 

 out in quest of more spoils, and every hive in the apiary is 

 likely to be tried. Every colony is alert and on the defen- 

 sive. If any are weak or poorly protected look out for them. 

 If the robbers seem to be getting the better of them, stop up 

 all cracks where a bee can get through, and close the entrance, 

 leaving only room for one or two bees to pass at a time. 

 Then throw an armful of hay or straw over the entrance and 

 soak thoroughly with water. That will dampen the ardor of 

 the robbers, as they do not like to crawl through the wet 

 hay, and they will most likely give up the fight. Under no 



