Ai'RiL, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



293 



HEAD S O F GRAINlI?[^fl l DIFFERENT FIELDS 



APRIL 



BY GRACE ALLEN 



Young-eyed April, as you come 



Dancing down the path of spring, 

 All the bees begin to hum, 



All the birds begin to sing, 

 All the earth, that was so dumb, 



Has a welcome word to fling 

 Gaily at you as you come 



Dancing down the path of spring. 



Crocus, tulip, daffodil, 



Violet and buttercup 

 Open wide for you to fill 



All their sudden beauty up. 

 Pour in joy! What tho it spill? 



Bee and lady-bird will sup 

 At the heart of daffodil, 



Violet and buttercup! 



Oh the April-hearted bees! 



How they liover here and hum 

 In your fairyland of trees — 



Applebloom and snowy plum! 

 You have perfumed every breeze, 



Y"ou have made us glad you've come. 

 But your heart is in the bees 



Where they hum and hum and hum! 



Why Extracted It can not be denied 



Honey Has Such that the present con- 



a Future ditions of the honey 



market are unprece- 

 dented. It is evident that, as the people 

 have their attention drawn toward honey, 

 they are not slow to decide in what form it 

 may be used most economically and to their 

 greatest satisfaction. 



There are three sides to the honey ques- 

 tion — that is, comb or extracted. The pro- 

 ducer, the dealer, and the consumer each has 

 to be considered if we are to realize which 

 way the wind is blowing. It may as well 

 be confessed right now that I favor the pro- 

 duction and use of extracted honey. From a 

 personal point of view it appears that al- 

 most everything favors that form of honey. 

 To mention briefly the acknowledged facts 

 only, there is less trouble with swarming, 

 fewer skilled operators are required to pre- 

 pare the crop for market, less work in a 

 general sense, a greater yield, a better yearly 

 average, probably less expense, perfect, safe- 

 ty for the product for anj^ length of time 

 after harvesting, lower transportatioji 

 charges, and less risk of damage or loss. 

 Extracted honey can be used in a thousand 

 and one ways, while comb honey can be 

 eaten only with a spoon. 



Large amounts of comb honey, crystallized 

 beyond redemption, are now in the hands of 

 dealers; and the common cry is, "What am 

 I going to do?" The dealer can not be 

 blamed if he vows ' ' never again. ' ' This is 



the one phase of the comb-honey predica- 

 ment which is most serious. 



The matter cf grading and ])acking comb 

 honey has ever been a tender point, and 

 disagreements and dissatisfaction are not 

 infrequent. The question of damage and 

 loss in transportation, and the nasty messes 

 and incidental injury to other jnerchandise 

 have to be faced occasionally, while there 

 are rarely any of these troubles in connec- 

 tion with extracted. 



When we come to consider honey from the 

 consumers' standpoint, there is opened a 

 wide field for thought. Honey has always 

 hitherto been regarded as a luxury, and 

 quite rightly too. Comb honey is a raw 

 product. It has enjoyed its predominant 

 position from the fact that it is the original 

 and (until comparatively recently) the only 

 form in which good honey has been known. 

 But man is continually seeking improvement, 

 and adapting natural things to serve better 

 his needs and convenience; and who shall 

 say that the removal of pure honey from the 

 husk is not a part of progress and improve- 

 ment? Comb honey will always be classed 

 as a luxury (and there is always a demand 

 for luxuries as such), while extracted honey 

 bids fair to take its place with other stand- 

 ard household supplies if the supply can be 

 made dependable. 



When the housewife sees comb honey in 

 the store it is not associated in her thoughts 

 with any of the necessary supplies which she 

 purchases constantly, being a distinctly dif- 

 ferent article. On the other hand, liquid 

 honey naturally associates itself with mo- 

 lasses, maple and other syrups, olive oil, and, 

 in fact, all the kitchen supplies of a liquid 

 character put up in glass and tin (the values 

 and cost of which she knows). Having once 

 made a purchase of liquid honey, and become 

 acquainted with it, she thinks of it, as of 

 her other necessary purchases, without doubt 

 or hesitation. 



The past history of the honey market 

 (when honey was, more often than not, a 

 drug on the market) and the present con- 

 ditions as outlined in Gleanings for Janu- 

 ary, point to two things at least — that is to 

 say, comb honej'' has never hit the popular 

 fancy, be the reason what it may, while ex- 

 tracted honey has captured the market, 

 which is good enough evidence that the 

 people are finding that it suits their taste 

 find their purses. The problem now is to see 

 that the supply does not fail. 



Hoboken, N. J. C. D. Cheney. 



Best Time 1. Is there any time 



to Transfer better than another for 



transferring bees from 

 old box hives to others for increase, not figur- 

 ing any on the honej"? 



2. How much wax might one expect to 



