4S6 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



He has not had another such experi- 

 ence; but this season was a very poor one 

 with him, as well as all other bee-keepers in 

 his section. But he states that again, un- 

 der these very trying conditions, the Cau- 

 casians came out far ahead in the amount 

 of surplus. 



Since the second year I installed the Cau- 

 casians, they have kept pace with other pro- 

 lific stock as honey-gatherers until this sea- 

 son. But even then, in sjiite of unfavorable 

 weather, especially during the main honey- 

 flow in early spring, the Caucasians and 

 their crosses came to our rescue and gave us 

 a greater surplus than our other stock. 



There is another good trait concerning 

 these bees which has not hitherto been 

 brought out, which we will mention later, 

 as it is a very vital one to the apiarist who 

 wants to increase rajjidly. 



Cordele, Ga. 



LET'S BE INTELLIGENTLY HONEST! 



One More Plea for the Production of More Uni- 

 formly Graded Comb Honey of Better Oua'ity: 



BY WESLEY FOSTER. 



A bee-keeper and honey-dealer, whose ex- 

 perience and observation extend from one 

 end of the country to the other, and from 

 north to south, said that there was no one 

 section of the country that could come up 

 in quality and methods of production with 

 the district within fifty miles of Denver. 

 Here practically every bee-keeper operates 

 for comb honey; and, being close to Denver, 

 has attended the bee conventions regularly, 

 where it has been dinned into his ears con- 

 tinually to scrape the top-bars, use few baits, 

 use full separators, keep hives level, use top 

 and bottom starters in sections, raise comb 

 honey over new combs, if possible, and take 

 off honey as soon as completely capped. 

 Then the Colorado Bee-keepers' Association 

 adopted stricter grading-rules'(than are in 

 operation elsewhere; and the consequence is 

 that the bee-keepers as a rule in this terri- 

 tory have got up a standard of goods that 

 can hardly be excelled. The influence of 

 example is strong among us all; and if we 

 see a neighbor who is putting up a case of 

 honey in such a way as to get fifty cents 

 more than we do, it will not be long before 

 we will be using the same methods. 



You can go into the stores in Denver and 

 find cases of comb honey where every comb 

 is a perfect one; and the No. 2 comb honey 

 will be found to be graded in the same even 

 manner, every comb a fair representative of 

 its grade in color, weight, and filling. 



This honey is more than the result of care- 

 ful and honest grading. It is the result of 

 scientific methocls of production, and of the 

 closest and most painstaking care. These 

 results are the direct effect of close associa- 

 tion of bee-keepers and the study of market 

 conditions. Take any part of the country 

 and bring a number of bee-men together to 



learn better methods, and they will eventu- 

 ally have the same results. So I think we 

 are going forward; for, as we get together 

 and learn the tricks that push up profits, 

 we shall think more highly of frequent 

 meetings of bee-folk. I think it would be a 

 fine thing to get together for a "talkfest" 

 about three times a year — once in the spring, 

 to arouse enthusiasm for the coming season; 

 once in the summer, to get out among some 

 member's bees and talk over first-hand con- 

 ditions, and then have the regular conven- 

 tion in the fall or early winter. I know 

 " talk " counts, for the men who get around 

 and give their ideas to others get valuable 

 suggestions from almost every one they 

 meet. The more ideas we give away the 

 more we have left, any way. 



WHAT INFLUENCES THE CANDYING OF 

 WESTERN HONEY? 



The Western comb honey has been spoken 

 of as very much subject to candying. Now, 

 you may think this stretched a little; but 

 you can tell almost to a certainty whether 

 comb honey will remain liquid all winter. 

 It is hard to describe on paper; but the 

 whitest and most transparently clear alfal- 

 fa comb honey will hardly granulate at all 

 for over a year after coming from the hive. 

 The comb honey that candies is that which 

 is amber, slightly amber, and gathered from 

 fall flowers. Some of this honey will gran- 

 ulate very soon, while that which is slight- 

 ly amber will not begin granulating till aft- 

 er Christmas if kept in an evenly warm 

 room. So this honey that we know will 

 granulate soon should be sold the very ear- 

 liest possible, and, if disposed of before 

 Christmas, it will give satisfaction and its 

 full value be secured. 



One thing, the farmers and fruit-growers 

 who raise the most perfect cro])s enjoy their 

 work, and they are the ones who have nice 

 homes, lovely children, and the right spirit 

 to enjoy these things. These are the homes 

 where we find pianos, and the children 

 learning to play them; and the women have 

 kitchens with modern conveniences, and 

 the men have riding-plows, manure-spread- 

 ers, and dozens of other labor-lighteners. 



And now, take it as a rule, I believe the 

 bee-keei)ers have just as many of these con- 

 veniences as the farmers. Of course, a bee- 

 keeper is a kind of farmer. You will find 

 the majority of bee-men with nice homes, 

 and many have pianos, modern fixtures in 

 the houses, carriages to get about in, and a 

 few have automobiles. I find the men who 

 have these things for their families are 

 those who are scientific bee-keepers, honest 

 and careful graders and i)ackers of their 

 honey, and good business men. This last 

 is important; for unless a man knows busi- 

 ness methods he will not know enough of 

 the market to produce an article that it 

 wants. It seems that what we need, then, 

 is a wideawake attitude and eagerness to 

 lay hold of every good idea that will prove 

 of value. 



Here is a clipping I have found in the 

 Rural New-Yorker relative to the fruit sit- 



