GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



the crop ? Is it not true that there are enough 

 No. 1 sections among the late honey to account 

 for the prevalence of the general idea that 

 alfalfa comb honey candies quickly, and that 

 that idea would never have been formed in the 

 minds of persons who had never bought any 

 but early honey, or in the minds of honey- 

 producers who had taken care to keep the two 

 crops separate? How is it that not more than 

 two cases were candied among 60( pounds sold 

 in March, 1893, by a Denver bee-keeper? In 

 1892, 60 lbs. of my early honey were kept until 

 late the following spring before being used up. 

 without showing any signs of candying. Oihers 

 besides myself have had ihe same experience. 

 The same season, the late honey was candied 

 before it was taken oif the hive. But that was 

 an exceptional year for the rosin weed Mr. 

 Aikin refers to. (I think its botanical name is 

 Orindelia squarrosa.) 



Referring to Dr. Miller's suggestion on page 

 113, I dn not think honey caramels are what I 

 am groping after. They may be delicious, but 

 they have to compete with any quantity of 

 saccharine-sweetened glucose confections. But 

 honey itself competes with nothing, in delicious- 

 ness, at least, because, so far, nothing in this 

 country imitates its precise flavor. Any kind 

 of honey confections is not honey itself. I am 

 not against all possible uses of honey, but I 

 don't think it pays to make much fuss over 

 them, for the reason that the same amount of 

 energy expended in extending the consumption 

 of honey itself pays far better. 



The children of my customers got tired of 

 honey just as quickly as adults, if I may judge 

 by what was told me. 



Referring again to Mr. Aikin's remarks on 

 marketing extracted honey, here is some un- 

 expected and very important confirmation, 

 from a Colorado bee-keeper: ''We put about 

 8000 lbs. of extracted honey on the market, in 

 lard-pails, last year, and think it the best way 

 we have found. The three-pound lard-pails 

 hold five pounds, and the five-pound size seven 

 and a half of honey. We fill them from the 

 extractor, and let them granulate, then put on 

 a neat label with instructions for liquefying, 

 and state that Colorado honey will always 

 granulate if pure. Three years ago we could 

 hardly sell a pound of it granulated. Now we 

 can not produce enough to supply the home 

 demand. This last year we have had orders 

 from several towns and many other places, and 

 not one complaint." 



Now, who says it does not pay to sell granu- 

 lated honey? I don't think it comes very near 

 the truth to say that " people never read 

 labels." 



Does not the distrustof marketing granulated 

 honey arise from allowing the honey to granu- 

 late in the hands of the consumer? Has any- 

 body ever made a fair trial of selling honey 



fl/ter granulation, and failed? Let him hold 

 up his hand, and tell us why. 



The above was written before Geo. L. Vinal's 

 article came to hand. I see he says, " Not half 

 of the people read the directions." But wheth- 

 er they do or not, how did those four tons of 

 granulated honey get sold in one district? 

 When people buy granulated honey, they can't 

 help knowing what they are doing; but when 

 they buy something that need.s careful explana- 

 tion (ifterioard. we all know how many of them 

 will be so smart that you can't tell them any 

 thing. 



Denver, Col., March 23. 



HOW TO KEEP INSECTS OUT OF COMB HONEY. 



By Prnf. A. J. Cook. 



Your inquiry from H. Price Williams, for- 

 warded to me, has awaited opportunity to an- 

 swer until now. Mr. Williams wishes to know 

 if there is a paper made that is absolutely 

 insect-proof. He says he wants something that 

 he can wrap cases of comb honey in so that it 

 can be kept until sold. Mr. Williams states 

 that in his region (Miami, Florida) red ants and 

 every other conceivable insect abound in incon- 

 ceivable numbers. 



The problem which Mr. Williams sets for 

 solution is very much the same which confronts 

 us who make collections of insects and plants 

 for our cabinets. There is, however, one dif- 

 ference in the cabinet — we are not careful to 

 avoid ill smelling substances which might be 

 detrimental to honey. The first way we fence 

 against insects in our cabinets is to use boxes 

 which are so tight that no insect can gain ad- 

 mittance. I know from quite a long experience 

 in producing and keeping honey that the same 

 means may be successfully used in protecting 

 our honey from our insect-marauders. A good 

 way to make a cover that fits tightly (of course, 

 there is no difficulty in making a perfectly 

 tight box), is to set a rubber in a groove so that 

 the cover will press upon it when closed. This 

 is cheap, and absolutely efficient, as I have 

 proved. I believe this would be the cheapest 

 way to protect honey and also combs from in- 

 sect depredation. We also find that certain 

 substances like napthaline, carbolic acid, and 

 kerosene oil, are so offensive that their presence 

 is almost sure to keep the insects from making 

 an attack upon our museum specimens. It 

 might be, however, that these substances would 

 injure the sale of the honey, and so they should 

 be tried before being generally adopted. 



I think that, in most cases, simply wrapping 

 such packages in paper will prevent insect 

 attack. The thing to be sought is to keep the 

 odor of the honey from passing through the 

 paper so as to attract the insects. This might 

 make it necessary to seal the package hermeti- 



