294 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aprii, 15. 



LE Rucher Belge reports honey sold to 

 hospitals "a raison de 96 centimes le kilogr.," 

 and the editor says the producer could not 

 have had more than 66 centimes per kilogram, 

 or 6 cents a pound. He thinks no country in 

 the world could have produced pure honey at 

 such a price. Friend Wathelet, it is not a 

 thing to be proud of ; but it is nevertheless a 

 fact that in this country thousands upon thou- 

 sands of pounds have been sold at a less price, 

 and sometimes at half that — fine honey too. 

 Honey is now higher than usual, and quota- 

 tions in Gleanings run from 6 to 8 cents a 

 pound for extracted, or 66 to 88 centimes le 

 kilogram. 



"No COMB HONEY in the markets ; " "we 

 do not know where there is any to be had ; " 

 " comb honey can not now be bought in the 

 open market for love nor money ; " are ex- 

 pressions I find in Gi^eanings. But I see no 

 advance in price. Why is that, with a bare 

 market and a general advance in prices of oth- 

 er things? [If honey were a staple article 

 like butter, then the price would jump clear 

 up ; but just as soon as it goes up, consumers 

 go without it and say they will take something 

 that is cheaper. Maple syrup usually comes 

 on the markets about the first of March ; and 

 if comb honey is not pretty well cleaned up 

 by that time it is liable to hangover until new 

 honey is in, and then there is quite a sacrifice 

 in price on the old. — Ed.] 



Speaking of bottom starters in sections, 

 G. M. Doolittle says in Progressive, where 

 full sheets of foundation are used "I do not 

 see any need of bottom starters, and I never 

 could see wherein enough foundation was sav- 

 ed between the full -sheet plan and the bottom- 

 starter plan to pay for the extra work of put- 

 ting in the bottom starters." Bro. Doolittle, 

 I don't save any foundation by using bottom 

 starters, and I've put in thousands of full 

 sheets without them, but I'm not sure of hav- 

 ing such sheets fastened to the bottom unless 

 I put in so much there's danger of sagging. 

 And I don't care how solid your section is 

 nailed, the comb must be well fastened for 

 shipping. [I had never supposed the use of 

 bottom - starters saved foundation. My im- 

 pression was that it was for the purpose of 

 making the bottom attachment, which attach- 

 ment is certainly very important. — Ed.] 



" Write your Senators and Representatives, 

 urging them to support any national pure-food 

 measure that may come before them," p. 2G9. 

 If I am correct, any pure food measure will 

 not do, as at least one has been pushed that 

 we do 7iot want. Rev. E. T. Abbott says, in 

 American Bee Journal, "Urge . . . the 

 Brosius bill as revised by the last pure-food 

 congress. Also urge them to be on their guard 

 against any attempt to side-track this bill in 

 the interest of one which is backed by only a 

 few individuals." [The editorial from which 

 you quote was written before I heard from Mr. 

 Abbott, and I hope all bee-keepers will urge 

 their Senators and Representatives to support 

 only the Brosius bill ; yet the opposition, 

 doiibtless, will put up quite a number of bills 

 of this character, the purpose being to divide 



the strength of the pure-food Senators and 

 Representatives. That is just what the brew- 

 ers did in our Ohio legislature. When they 

 saw there was danger of our local-option bill 

 passing, then other minor bills were pushed 

 in to crowd in upon the calendar, and for the 

 very purpose of inducing some weak-kneed 

 members to accept these substitutes rather 

 than the real measure that temperance people 

 wanted. It is a very slick and easy way to de- 

 feat legislation ; and it is therefore very im- 

 portant that the bee-keepers write their Rep- 

 resentatives to support only the one bill, the 

 Brosius, as revised by the pure food congress. 

 — Ed.1 



^icKiJsrGS 



'^/lOM OUR NEIGHBORS FIELDS, i^ 



The drizzly rain, the swelling buds, 



The song of birds on tree-s, 

 All speak of spring's return at last, 



And end of winter's freeze. 



The Chicago Record of Feb. 17 published a 

 long account of some honey-caves in Texas, 

 near the Mexican line. I make the following 

 clipping from it which seems to comprise near- 

 ly all of it that may be considered reliable : 



There is enough honey in the brakes of Devil's Riv- 

 er to make any man rich who will get it to market. 

 There are tons of it ; in clefts in the rocks, in hollow 

 trees, in caves and in the famous " Devil's Punch- 

 bowl," which is a great sink in the Devil Valley, and 

 out of which bees swarm always in clouds so thick 

 that at a distance of two or three miles it has the ap- 

 pearance of a great signal smoke. The hills and val- 

 ley land along the river are covered for a great part of 

 the year with an endless variety of flowers ; and in 

 the winter season, which is never cold enough to freeze 

 the bees, there is an abundance of decaying fruit — cac- 

 tus apples and berries of many kinds — so that they 

 never have to stop working on account of lack of ma- 

 terial or bad weather, and thus go on piling np their 

 wealth throughout the whole year. The honey is of 

 an excellent quality, of good flavor and color, and 

 brings as good a price when brought to market as that 

 made by tame bees. 



The liusiness of gathering this honej% while fairly 

 prcfitable. is not fcllowed to any great extent, for the 

 reason that there is little in the work of the honey- 

 hunter which is any thing like sport, and every thing 

 connected with it is full of privation and danger. 

 The country is so rough that it is impossible to get 

 anywhere near the honey-caves unless one goes on 

 foot, packing his camp equipage on his back or on a 

 burro. Water is not overplentiful, and much of that 

 to be found is unfit for use ; and, besides all this, the 

 actual getting of the honey is no easy task. Some- 

 times the caves are in such inaccessible f laces that the 

 hunter has to let himself down the face of a cliff for 

 two or three hundred feet, and hang there at the end 

 of his rope while the bees sting him half to death, 

 while he digs out a few pounds of honey ; or. again, 

 he may find a cave easy to rob, only to find that he 

 must carry the spoil several miles on his back before 

 he can get it to a place where he can load it upon his 

 burros. But getting the honey is not all of the work. 

 He must strain it and put it into cans, so that it can 

 be packed out to the nearest trading-point. 



The clipping was sent by the editor to the 

 writer of the following letter, in order to get 

 at the facts as nearly as possible : 



Mr. E. R. Root]: — As far as the .story goes regarding 

 the quantity of bees, caves, honey, etc., it was quite 

 correct. The rough country in this border land is full 

 of wild honey, and as good as the best ever made by 



