420 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



DOES HONEY FROM THE SAME PLANT VARY 

 IN COLOR IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES? 



On page 58 of the A B C of Bee Culture it 

 is stated that ' ' Where white clover does not 

 grow spontaneousljr, alsike is, undoubtedly, 

 ahead of every thing else now known. It 

 not only produces honey in large quantities, 

 but the quality is not excelled by any thing 

 in the world." Now, this is saying a good 

 deal, and it is not my intention to dispute it. 

 Mr. Doolittle, in his comments on this state- 

 ment, says, "The quality is excellent, as you 

 state; but the color of alsike honey, in this 

 locality, is decidedly poor, it being of a red- 

 dish-pink shade. When clear, or when it is 

 mixed to any degree with our first basswood 

 honey, as it often is, such honey has to go 

 as second quality on account of its color." 



He referred to comb honey, of course. 

 While the statement on page 58 of the ABC 

 book does not say that the color of alsike 

 is light, or white, I think almost any one 

 would take it so; but whether so or not, it 

 certainly is white in some places whe re it is 

 grown. i^^ Z"^, S^^ 



I have given the above, not for the pur- 

 pose of controversy, but rather for the pur- 

 pose of stating an exceedingly interesting 

 fact, or fancy or fallacy. Can or does any 

 plant produce honey of one color in one place 

 and another color in another locality? I may 

 as well admit right here that I have, for 

 quite a fraction of my life, believed it was 

 so; but I have at last come to doubt it. I 

 remember very well extracting some honey 

 which, I had every reason to believe, was 

 from red clover, more than thirty years ago. 

 I remember very well, also, the pink shade 

 of this honey, and have many times told how 

 red-clover honey was of a reddish or pink 

 color; and now after so many years I have 

 come to doubt my own statements. 



What would we think if some one were to 

 tell us that the basswood honey in his sec- 

 tion is of a pink or red or brown color? I 

 fear most of us would do, as many of our 

 judges do, reserve our judgment till some 

 future time before we regarded it as a fact. 



It would seem to me now quite as reason- 

 able to expect the flowers of a given plant 

 to change their color as that the nectar of 

 the flowers should change its color by being 

 grown on a different soil or in a slightly dif- 

 ferent climate. 



How, then, do I account for the difference 

 in certain kinds of honey in different years 

 or localities? I account for it very largely, 

 if not wholly, in the mixing of the honey 

 from different sources, in the hive, by the 

 bees, when gathered and stored. We notice 



a great difference in clover honey, or honey 

 gathered during the honey season, in differ- 

 ent years or localities. While I live in what 

 might be called a clover section, our honey 

 gathered during the clover season in differ- 

 ent years varies from ' ' water white " to a 

 wine color, or, perhaps, more accurately, as 

 Doolittle describes it, a reddish-pink shade, 

 although some years I think it rather even 

 darker than that. 



Do the seasons so affect the clover as to 

 cause it to change the color of its nectar, 

 and become strong in flavor as well? ' ' Doth 

 the same fountain send forth sweet water 

 and bitter?" I think not; but I have notic- 

 ed this: That, just as the clover honey is 

 likely to be short, we are likely or quite sure 

 to get more color and poorer quality. As a 

 rule our honey in Western Vermont is of a 

 fine white or very light- amber color; but if 

 the clover fails to yield early in the season, 

 or an open winter has killed most of the clo- 

 ver, then look out for a strong- colored honey, 

 gathered, without much doubt on my part, 

 from white daisies and sumac. 



I was amused when, in Chicago some three 

 or four years ago, I met Mr. S. A. Niver. 

 He showed me many favors, and gave me 

 some interesting facts. Among other things 

 he told how he raised and marketed honey in 

 New York State, where he formerly lived. 

 One year he said he had a lot of honey a good 

 deal mixed. Early in the season the bees 

 stored a reddish honey in the sections, and 

 then white basswood honey, and finished 

 them with dark buckwheat. Possessing a 

 large development of the commercial in- 

 stinct he labeled it "Fancy Mixed," and 

 sold it for a good price. It was certainly 

 mixed, and I have no doubt a fancy article 

 of its kind. I inquired the source of the red- 

 dish honey gathered early in the season be- 

 fore basswood. He said he did not know. 

 I then inquired if they had the white daisy in 

 that section, and he informed me that the 

 country was overrun with it. * 



The past year has, in this section, been 

 very favorable to the growth and bloom of 

 the clovers, and both white and alsike were 

 in great adundance, and the honey gathered 

 from these sources was undoubtedly mixed 

 very largely with some other, yet the quali- 

 ty was what might be called "water white," 

 at least during the best of the season, and I 

 have come to think that all shades off from 

 this are caused by the mixing-in of honey 

 from other sources known or unknown. 



In very marked contrast to the past season 

 was that of 1882, when, owing to the previ- 

 ous open winter, almost all clover was killed, 

 both white and red, and what little alsike 

 was grown at that time. Probably some 

 newly stocked pieces of clover showed some 

 signs of life, and gave some flowers; but it 

 was difficult to find it. I feared my bees 

 might starve; but they were not discouraged, 

 but worked on what they could find; and as 

 there was an abundance of daisy bloom in 

 my home yard they filled their hives, and 

 some of them stored considerable surplus; 

 but it was all of the reddish kind. I believe 



