Jllv, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



451 



Several times, when out walking, I have 

 caught a glimpse of a delivery wagon with 

 the words "Honey Bread" on it, but have 

 not been able to locate any of the bread 

 yet. Honey would add greatly to the de- 

 licious raisin bread for which tliis part of 

 the country is famous. 



In the April issue of Bees and Honey, the 

 official organ of the Alameda Beekeepers' 

 Association, it is suggested that honey pro- 

 ducers adopt the slogan "Eat it with Hon- 

 ey." That is a fitting accompaniment for 

 "Say it with Flowers" or "Say it with 

 Music," and has my heartiest endorsement. 

 As I have so frequently said on this page, 

 I dislike to have the public urged to use 

 honey indiscriminately in cooking. It is 

 degrading a delicious table sweet to the 

 level of a cheap cooking syrup. 



ONE day when my sister and I were 

 climbing into the automobile of a real 

 estate agent to go house-hunting I re- 

 marked, just to make a little conversation, 

 "We beekeepers are hoping for some sun- 

 shine. ' ' You ought to have seen that man 's 

 face light up. Instead of getting into the 

 driver's seat he came back and leaned over 

 the side of the car and began to ask us 

 questions. When he found out we were 

 daughters of a beekeeper, wives of two more, 

 sisters of two more and that our bread and 

 butter had always come from the beekeep- 

 ers' supply business he seemed to regard us 

 as old friends instead of prospective cus- 

 tomers. I suppose he should be classed as 

 one of Mrs. Allen's enthusiastic "side- 

 liners," but I predict that the real estate 

 business is going to lose a man and the 

 beekeeping industry will gain one soon. 



He told us some interesting stories about 

 how he acquired most of his bees. It seems 

 California bees are like some of the rest 

 of us in this part of California: they have 

 their difficulties in finding a place in which 

 to go to housekeeping when they decide to 

 swarm. For that reason they have a habit 

 of entering human dwellings uninvited and 

 the average owner finds difficulty in evict- 

 ing them. This real estate agent once re- 

 moved a colony of bees from a house, a 

 friend of the owner heard of it and re- 

 quested his services, others heard of this 

 and so his fame spread. He has removed 

 bees from frame, stone, stucco and brick 

 residences and from factories and other 

 buildings. California is rather deficient in 

 hollow trees, and it is for this reason that 

 bees enter dwellings and not because they 

 are any more fond of human society than 

 eastern bees. One day a husky policeman 

 came down to our office in Los Angeles and 

 begged for help in evicting a colony of 

 bees from his home. Doubtless he was a 

 brave man when dealing with lawbreakers, 

 but he admitted his timiditv when dealing 

 with the temperamental little honey pro- 

 ducers. We hear of so many similar cases 

 that wo call them the "unvrilli'ig beekeep- 

 ers' ' of California. 



BEING some three thousand miles from 

 the Gleanings office it is a little hard to 

 cut my page to fit. The following reci- 

 pes were prepared for the last issue, but 

 were crowded out. 



Devil's Food Cake. 

 Vs cup shortening % cup thick sour milk 



V2 cup brown sugar IVz to 1% cup sifted 



V2 cup honey pastry flour 



2 squares melted choc- 1 teaspoon soda 



olate 2 teaspoons baking 



1 teaspoon vanilla powder 



2 eggs Vs teaspoon salt 



Cream the sugar and shortening until smooth 

 and then work in the honey and the chocolate 

 which has been melted over hot water. Add the 

 vanilla, beat in the eggs and then beat with a 

 Dover egg beater until thick and fluffy. Add the 

 sour milk and the flour, in which the other dry 

 ingredients have been sifted, a little at a time 

 alternately until all of both have been used. The 

 batter should be as thick as ordinary cake batter, 

 and as the amount of moisture in flour varies it 

 is impossible to give the exact amount of flour. 

 Bake in a moderate oven 30 to 40 minutes. Frost 

 with the following frosting: 



Easy Chocolate Frosting. 



1 cup pulverized sugar 1 tablespoon butter 



2 or more tablespoons 1 square melted choco- 



hot water or coffee late 



1/3 teaspoon vanilla 



Soften the butter and work into the pulverized 

 sugar, adding the hot water a little at a time; 

 then add the melted chocolate and the vanilla. 

 stirring until smooth. This may be prepared while 

 the cake is in the oven, putting it in a warm 

 place until ready to use it, when a little more hot 

 water should be added if it is too thick to spread 

 easily. 



Ginger Cookies. 

 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon baking pow- 



1 cup dark-brown sugar der 



1 egg 2 teaspoons ginger 



1 cup honey 1 teaspoon cinnamon 



% cup thick sour milk 1 teaspoon salt 

 1 teaspoon soda 4 or 5 cups sifted flour 



Cream together the sugar and shortening, beat 

 in the egg and then the honey. Add a little of 

 the sour milk and then sift in a little of the flour 

 in which the other dry ingredients have been sift- 

 ed, continuing this until all the sour milk has been 

 used and enough flour to make a dough which can 

 be handled. Roll out, cut with a cooky cutter 

 and bake in a moderate oven. This will make 60 

 or more fat cookies which will keep well, if the 

 family permits it. 



Steamed Brown Bread. 

 1 cup sifted white flour 1 teaspoon salt 

 T cup cornmeal % cup honey 



1 cup graham flour 2 cups thick sour milk 



2 level teaspoons soda 1 cup seedless raisins 

 Wash the raisins and steam until plump, cool 



and dust lightly with a little of the flour. Mix 

 and sift the dry ingredients together and add to 

 the honey and sour milk which have been stirred 

 together, adding any bran which remains in the 

 sifter. Stir in the bran and steam two hours or 

 more in three one-lb. baking powder cans which 

 have been well greased and dusted with flour. The 

 loaves may be put in a moderate oven for five 

 minutes to dry them off after steaming. When 

 done stand the cans nn a folded towel, which has 

 been wrung out of water, for a few minutes, run 

 a thin knife around the edge and turn them out 

 on a wire cake cooler. 



Mock Macaroons. 

 2 egg whites 2 cups corn flakes 



V4, cup gran, sugar Vh teaspoon salt 



V4, cup honey % teaspoon vanilla 



V2 cup shredded cocoa- % teaspoon almond 

 nut 

 Beat egg whites until stiff and dry. add gradu- 

 ally the sugar and then the honey, beating con- 

 stantly. Then fold in the corn flakes, cocoanut 

 and salt which have been mixed, add the flavoring 

 and drop from the tip of a teaspoon on buttered 

 shallow pans. Bakf in a rather slow oven. 



All measurements level. 



