204 



GLEAN! 2s' GS IN BEE CULTUiiE. 



Mar. 



Jiave orders ahead that will keep me busy for a 

 inouth. Before I get one order filled, another 

 comes. I worked so bard to till orders that were 

 wanted tor Christmas that I almost used myself up. 

 1 am not g'ettins- any new specimens now, but am 

 working for cash. It is a rerjy slow way to make 

 money; but, " half a loaf is better than no bread," 

 and I am trying to earn enough to buy a nice case 

 lor my specimens. 1 shall do it, too, if I live long 

 enough. 



I've been trying to think of something to write 

 for Gleanings, and intend to write as soon as I 

 can. I'll do it just to please you; but I do not be- 

 lieve that Mr. Root will print it. You have made 

 me out better than I am— have given me such an 

 cvalled character that 1 fear I can not come up to 

 it. Anna B. Quillin. 



Ipava, Fulton Co., 111., Jan. 20, 1888. 



And some people write and ask me if Anna Quil- 

 lin is a '• myth," or if she is really a living woman. 

 Does not this letter sound as if she were alive, and 

 a worker in the world too? It seems to me that 

 the Indian Agency would be a good place to send to 

 for Indian relics. Mah.vla B. Chaddock. 



Vermont, 111., Jan. 20, 1888. 



Thank you, Mrs. C, for the letter you 

 sent ; and I want to say to our good friend 

 Anna, that we are not going to consider her 

 an exalted character at all. in the way in 

 which she puts it ; but we all thank her for 

 the lesson she has taught us ; namely, to 

 remember, when we feel like complaining 

 of our lot. that, on the contrary, we have so 

 much cause for gratitude and "thanksgiving 

 to God we ought to be ashamed to coniplain 

 for just one minute. Is there any one 

 among the readers of Gleanings who feels 

 he has any right to say he is not able to 

 help himself any longer, after reading the 

 above V Please do write us something, dear 

 friend Anna. I know it will be helpful. 



EXTRACTING HONEY. 



FRANCE GIVES HIS METHOD, AND ALSO HOW HE 

 GRADES IT FOR MARKET. 



T AM asked to give some thoughts on how to get 

 Mp the best extracted honey. First, have a loca- 

 ^i tion well supplied with the best honey-produc- 

 "** ing flowers, which, in my location, Is, first, 

 white clover; then second best, basswood tim- 

 ber. But there is nothi'ng here that equals the 

 white-clover honey. It is important to get as much 

 of that as possible in its very best condition. In 

 order to do that we must have every thing ready 

 that may be wanted to work with, that no time be 

 lost by the bees. We want plenty of good clean 

 combs for the bees to store their honey in. To get 

 these we must sec to it that the dark honey that is 

 in the combs, left from their winter stores, and 

 what is gathered in the spring time from dande- 

 lions and fruit-blossoms, etc., which is dark, is all 

 emptied out of the combs, so .as not to be mixed 

 with our nice white-clover honey, just as soon as 

 our bees commence on the white clover, and are 

 making a living. Then we commence to extract, 

 and whirl out all the honey we can get from every 

 comb in the hive that has the least bit of dark hon- 

 ey in it. A very little of this dark honey will stain 

 or darken a whole barrel of white honey. The 

 cleaner we get out this first extracting, the whiter 

 the second extracting will be. The first extracting 

 with us is very dark, and is usually sold at the 

 cracker-factories for about two cents less on a 

 pound than the best honey. 



If the weather is not too wet, one week's time 

 after we extracted the first time we can extract 

 again. But if we are having wet weather, it is bet- 

 ter to wait two or three days longer, for the ^loney 

 to get thick and ripe. But unless the weather is 

 very wet, we get good thick honey when we ex- 

 tract once in a week. Do the best we can when we 

 take out the first extracting, there will be enough 

 of the dark honey left in the combs to darken the 

 second extracting considerably. 



The second extracting usually sells for about one 

 cent less on a pound than the best honey. In good 

 average seasons we extract four or five times, de- 

 pending somewhat on the weather as to moist- 

 ure. If the weather is dry, and yet moist enough to 

 favor a good honey-flow, the honey will be first rate 

 if taken out as often as once a week. In wet 

 weather it is best to wait ten or twelve days, or 

 long enough for the honey to get thick and ripe. 

 If two-thirds of the honey is capped over, the hon- 

 ey is all right; don't wait any longer. 



Our third extracting is the best quality of any 

 that we get. It is strictly pure white clover, and 

 commands the highest price. The fourth extract- 

 ing is as good as the third, if we get it all out be- 

 fore the basswood blossoms open; still, I can usual- 

 ly sell mixed clover and basswood at the same 

 price as clear clover. The basswood usually be- 

 gins to blossom before we get all of the fourth ex- 

 tracting out, so that the fifth extracting with us is 

 pure basswood honey. We leave enough of the 

 basswood honey in the hives for the bees to winter 

 on, as, after the basswood, we don't have honey- 

 producing flowers to more than give the bees their 

 daily living. 



We have some customers who like the flavor of 

 the basswood honey the best of any. With a big 

 crop of honey it is important to have each grade of 

 honey kept strictly labeled; and, for convenience, 

 each grade in the storeroom in divisions by them- 

 selves. The way we do it is this: We take barrels 

 with us to the different apiaries, enough to hold the 

 day's honey that we expect to get. We can esti- 

 mate very closely how much storage room we 

 want, to hold the day's yield. We extract one 

 whole apiary in a day. In good seasons we get 

 2000 lbs. and upward in a day in the best part of the 

 season. We haul home every night all the honey 

 we have taken through the day, and put it in our 

 storehouse. Then we tack on to the head of each 

 barrel a card, on which we mark the date— year, 

 month, and day; the number of the extracting; 

 then "thick," "thin," or "medium," as the case 

 may be. All barrels of thin honey, if we have any, 

 are set off in a lot bj' themselves, the thick by it- 

 self; the same with the medium in thickness. Then 

 we have our honey in good shape to sell. We know 

 just what there is in every barrel. Our labels give 

 us the exact quality of the honey. For conven- 

 ience we have them divided off together, as regards 

 thickness. If we have any fall feeding to do we 

 feed the thinnest honey (usually the basswood). Be 

 sui-e to work off all the thinnest honey before the 

 heat of another summer arrives, as thin honey 

 would be likely to sour if kept over until next 

 summer. If we happen to have any thin honey it 

 will sell better when it is fresh. If we keep any 

 over ihc next season, let it be of the best and thick- 

 est honey. Good thick honey will keep for years. 

 I for one have learned a good lesson this poor sea- 

 son. Last year we had 42,000 pounds of the best of 



