T70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Xov. 



the apiarist or his agent in the house, a very much 

 greater number would purchase, when the tempta- 

 tion to do so is presented them under these circum- 

 stances, than if left to themselves to act in the mat- 

 ter. We have heard of honey crops of several 

 thousand pounds being disposed of in this manner 

 at good figures in the course of two or three weeks' 

 time. But not only is rapidity of sale etfected, but 

 the business is advertised by this system as thor- 

 oughly as any one line of effort in this direction is 

 capable of doing. 



Point 6. Much misapprehension exists in the pub- 

 lic mind concerning the various forms in which 

 honey is put upon the market of to-day. Section 

 honey and artificial comb filled with syrup or glu- 

 cose, extracted honey, strained ditto, and mixed ex- 

 tracted honey and glucose are all spoken of as 

 though they were synonymous terms for but two 

 articles only; viz., what is sold as honey in the 

 comb and honey out of it, whilst the foundation- 

 machines are for the manufacture of spurious 

 comb, and the extractor for filling them. Such like 

 notions seem to be entertained by some, whilst oth- 

 ers, hearing that Mr. So and So is using up barrels 

 of sugar in feeding his bees, account most satis- 

 factorily, at least so far as themselves are concern- 

 ed, for the wonderful yield he receives from his 

 apiary; or when the producer does get the credit of 

 at least selling pure goods, he is annoyed by having 

 his extracted perversely called " strained honey," 

 which, with many, means nothing more than the 

 product of a mingled mass of honey, bee-bread, 

 larvae, and comb, mashed up together, heated over 

 a fire, and strained through a cloth. Now, how is 

 this state of affairs to be remedied? We answer, by 

 the proper education of the public, concerning the 

 general nature of the operations by which the 

 modern forms of honey are produced ; let it also be 

 Explained wherein the extracted is superior to the 

 strained honey; also what section honey is, and why 

 so termed; make known the great test for all liquid 

 honey; viz., its granulation in cold weather, and al- 

 so why extracted honey can be sold at about half 

 the price of that in comb; teach them the value of 

 honey as a food and medicine, and by any and 

 every means spread abroad the knowledge respect- 

 ing its various forms and uses. This may be accom- 

 plished by circulating lithogram circulars as de- 

 scribed under the head of " Advertising," also by 

 the personal explanation of the apiarist, the thor- 

 ough enlightenment of every consignee of honey, 

 by the aid of descriptive articles in the town and 

 county papers, and by the exhibition of the princi- 

 pal apparatus and their method of manipulation at 

 all the local fairs. The present wholesale adulter- 

 ation of table syrups, and certain lines of sugars 

 and confectionery, can be made a lever bj^ which 

 the interests of the honey trade can be raised as 

 well as depressed. 



Point 7. Besides well advertising our business, 

 large quantities of honey can frequently be dis- 

 posed of at fairs. See Mr. Jones's statement con- 

 cerning honey sold by him in this manner at Toron- 

 to fairs, in Gleanings. To facilitate sale bj- this 

 means, a large and attractive exhibit should be 

 made in vessels of any size, from 3-o/.. tin boxes, 

 which can be sold at 5 cts. apiece, up to ban-els of 

 250 or 300 lbs. each, besides which should be a good 

 display of apiarian implements, nuclei in observa- 

 tory hives, literature and honey-plants, and, indeed, 

 every thing possible should be done to attract and 



tempt the observers. It is well to have a large sign 

 in a conspicuous position, intimating that honey is 

 for sale, with a scale of prices attached, and the 

 apiarist himself or a competent assistant should al- 

 ways be on hand to answer inquiries as well as con- 

 duct sales. A. H. Dvtton. 

 Brussels, Ont , Oct., ie84. 



HOW TO MAKE A CISTEKN. 



SOMK ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS. 



R. ROOT:— I should like to add a suggestion 

 to your directions for a cistern. For a fil- 

 tei-, dig a narrow hole about 18 or 20 inches 

 from the main cistern wall, same depth as 

 the cistern, and about three feet wide 

 when stoned and cemented. Make two or three 

 holes between the cistern and this well about a foot 

 from the bottom, and put in some pieces of stone 

 pipe having an orifice two or three inches in diame- 

 ter. Pack these pipes with sponge, pounding it in 

 with a hammer. In the cistern put a few bushels 

 of broken stone or coarse gravel on the bottom be- 

 low the pipes, then a layer of charcoal, then gravel, 

 then coal, then gravel, etc., finishing with gravel. 

 This forms the filter. The water will pass through 

 the coal and gravel, then percolate slowly through 

 the packed sponge into the well, where it can be 

 drawn up for use. It will never be necessary to 

 wait for a dry time to clean the cistern, for the wa- 

 ter in the well can be drawn out at any time in a 

 couple of hours, and the well washed out clean, and 

 in the morning there will be plenty of water again. 

 Put the overflow-pipe in from the bottom, and the 

 cistern will not need cleaning for twenty-five years. 

 Half a bushel of iron filings spread over the top of 

 the filter will neutralize any organic matter that 

 may get in the cistern, and will not afl'ect the taste 

 of the water. 



For a felon, bathe with tincture of iodine, and it 

 will give instant and complete relief. 

 Nelson, O., Sept. 22, 18K4. S. J. Baldwin. 



Thank you, friend B., for the hints you 

 give. The one in regard to making cisterns 

 so you can clean them out without losing 

 what little water you nn\\ have on hand is a 

 valuable item. How many times we have 

 concluded it would surely rain, and began 

 to work in a hurry to pump out all our soft 

 water, and then found to our disgust that 

 it didn't rain after all I and, worse still, 

 sometimes we have weeks or months of 

 drought, without a drop of water in the 

 cistern. I have before mentioned that the 

 roof to our new house is of slate; and 

 while we are alK)ut it, perhaps it may be well 

 to state that a slate roof does not cost as 

 much in the end as a shingle roof. Of course, 

 the cistern should be thoroughly coated with 

 the best water-lime cement, except this fil- 

 tering partition. Before the water is turned 

 in, the cement should be allowed to dry thor- 

 oughly. There is this one drawljack with 

 these cement cisterns ; that is, that the lime 

 impregnates the water for quite a time. The 

 repeated washing-out, though, with the plan 

 I have given, helps the matter very materi- 

 ally. Pumping the water out several times 

 from the liltered side will also help. After 

 all the limy taste is removed you will have 

 water equal to any spring water in the world ; 



