612 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



THAT SOUR HONEY. 

 An Explanation. 



BY C. H. CLAYTON. 



3/r. Editor: — Referring to Mr. Martin's 

 California Echoes in Gleanings for April 1-5, 

 wherein he speaks of a certain lot of honey 

 weighing between 11 and 12 lbs. to the gallon, 

 and being pronounced sour by " nearly every 

 bee-keeper," I wish to say that this lot of hon- 

 ey was graded in the week between Dec. 2b 

 and Jan. 1 ; was weighed in the five-gallon 

 can, sometimes two cans on the scales at once, 

 and probably did weigh somewhere between 

 11 and 12 lbs. to the gallon ; but where be- 

 tween ? Some of the cans were fuller than 

 others ; and when the cans were weighed sin- 

 gly they ranged from 57 to 62 lbs., allowing 

 2% lbs. for the weight of tins ; so the 11 to 12 

 pounds per gallon is very indefinite. To be of 

 value as bearing on the condition of the hon- 

 ey, the record should be accurate. 



None of this honey was sold until well along 

 in January, long after Mr. Martin's employ- 

 ment by the Exchange had ended. There 

 were 98 cases in the lot — 53 white, the rest 

 light and amber. 



About the middle of Januarj^ I received a 

 trial order for one or two cases of white, " can- 

 died preferred. ' ' This was the only lot of white 

 we handled during the season, that granulat- 

 ed, so I sent some of it, explaitiing matters to 

 the bu3-er. The purchaser wrote me it was 

 the finest honey he ever had, and doubled his 

 order, and kept sending orders for it until he 

 had taken the whole 5.3 cases of white and 

 about 50 of amber and light amber, building 

 up a trade that has taken about six tons in 

 three months, in a town of 8000 inhabitants. 



Now, I have on my desk before me, as I 

 write, that identical sample bottle about half 

 full yet, from which those tastes and smells 

 were taken, and it is granulated nearly solid — 

 not a sign of that watery, "bubbly" condi- 

 tion we are accustomed to associate with fer- 

 mented honey. Will sour honey granulate ? 

 I ask for information. I don't know. 



For my part I think some dealers and some 

 consumers may know nearl}- as much about 

 the quality of honey as the average bee-keep- 

 er. Our honey is sold under a guarantee ; and 

 if there had been any thing wrong with it we 

 should have heard something drop. One par- 

 ty, who at first pronounced it fermented, was 

 given a taste of it a few days later, and fancied 

 he detected a " mild orange flavor," "modi- 

 fied, perhaps, by a touch of lemon." He had 

 been told wlicrc it was produced. I firmly be- 

 lieve I could, by suggestion, get a dozen dif- 

 ferent flavors assigned to that little bottle of 

 honey ; but it seems reasonable, in view of the 

 sound condition of the honey to-day, nearly a 

 year after extracting, to conclude that the pe- 

 culiar flavor of the honey is due to citrus 

 bloom ; and this should teach us to be careful 

 lest we announce a positive opinion founded 

 on incomplete or no knowledge. 



I will mail you a small vial of the honey to- 

 morrow if I can dig it out of the bottle. 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



MARKETING. 



Why Honey Should be Sold at Home rather than 

 Shipped Awaj"; The Competition between Sugar 

 and Honey; Selling Extracted in Prefer- 

 ence to Comb. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



Which shall I produce, comb or extracted ? 

 One should have some settled policy or plan, 

 and work to that, to attain the best results. 

 I do not write this for those who are bee- 

 keepers just for the pleasure or recreation they 

 may get out of it. but for those who desire to 

 do that which will serve best to make a living. 



Comb-honey production is my choice from 

 the standpoint of taste or inclination, yet I 

 am turning my attention more largely to 

 extracted, and I will tell you why. I live in 

 a little city of less than 2000 population, sur- 

 rounded by a farming communit}'. We have 

 no factories or public works, nor people who 

 are wealthy, retired merchants, or those liv- 

 ing on the income of a fortune, but people 

 who are striving for a living. The farming 

 population is not wealth}-. Both in the town 

 and country the population is strictly of those 

 who are not capitalists, but of that class who 

 Dinst work and econo)nize to sustain their 

 business and obtain therefrom their living, 

 hence huy f civ luxuries. In more well to-do 

 and old - established communities markets 

 are better for all kinds of produce, and a cash 

 basis of doing business obtains that is not 

 found in such a comnmnity as this. Loveland 

 and vicinity is less than 20 years old as a busi- 

 ness communit}'. We hardly think of selling 

 honey, butter, eggs, and such products, for 

 cash at the stores — can not do it, for they 

 ivon't pay cash. Cattle, wheat, and potatoes, 

 where grown in large quantities, do bring 

 cash; but the lesser products can be marketed 

 only by trading and trafficking. I do not 

 mean that no one pays cash for honey, for 

 people buy of me and pay cash as they 

 would at a store, but there is no wholesale 

 market where cash can be realized as on grain 

 or stock. 



This being the case in my locality — and 

 similar conditions prevail in many places — I 

 am forced to take my choice, as it were, of 

 two or more evils. If I ship to the city mar- 

 kets I have left but a small price when freights 

 and commissions are out. The quotations the 

 past year on extracted honey have not aver- 

 aged over 6 cents, as quoted in the journals (I 

 make this statement without referring to the 

 journals on file, and I think I should be safe 

 in putting it one cent lower yet; but at (i cts. 

 I have not the least fear of being caught with 

 the figure too high should any one undertake 



