1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1231 



tractor, the less of drip there would be in 

 the cells. I venture to say that hand power, 

 when applied to the larger sizes of extract- 

 ors, four, six, and eight frame sizes, can not 

 begin to equal the work of the engine power 

 in thoroughness of work; and while it is true 

 that the combs dripping with honey can be 

 returned to the l)ees. yet it must be under- 

 stood that a good deal of such honey adher- 

 ing to the cell-walls, instead of being stored 

 Ijack is actually consumed or wasted. Mr. 

 Mclntyre pointed out that, when there was 

 a great deal of drip honey, bees were im- 

 provident, and ate more than they actually 

 required to sustain their little bodies. If 

 the extracting is done at the close of the 

 season, and the combs are not given Ijack 

 to the bees, then the cleaner and dryer the 

 combs, the better. 



But there is still another advantage to 

 which I have only partially alluded; namely, 

 that in a power-driven outfit the combs can 

 be kept revolving at a high speed until the 

 next set of comljs are fully uncapped and 

 I'eady for the machine. This contimious mo- 

 tion will keep up a Hying spray from the 

 combs against the sides of the cans; and as 

 the combs become empty the speed can be 

 slightly increased — something that would not 

 be possible by man power after the man had 

 used up all his reserve foi'ce in throwing out 

 the bulk of the honev. 



THE SHORTAGE OF THE HONEY CROP FOR 

 1906. 



Unless bee-keepers are holding back their 

 crops, this will be another season of scarcity 

 of honey. Buyers everywhere are trying to 

 get it. Indications are that the crop has 

 been short. Last season was the poorest 

 known for honey for many years; but con- 

 ditions now seem to show that the crop is 

 even lighter this year. 



Of course, it is true that a good deal of 

 honey that has been harvested has not had 

 time yet to get on the market; and it is no 

 doubt true that some producers are holding 

 back, waiting for a stiffening of prices. But 

 do not make the mistake of holding too 

 long. If others are holding back as some 

 did last year, and these holdbackers all 

 dump their crops on the market about the 

 same time after the season is over, there is 

 bound to be a drop in prices. 



There is some honey in Colorado and Cal- 

 ifornia ; and if the bee-keepers of those 

 States do not hold it too long they will get a 

 fair price for it. But the nearer the buyers 

 get to the holiday season the more conserva- 

 tive they will become, as they will not dare 

 to make an offer that will leave a lot of 

 honey on their hands after the holidays. It 

 is my opinion that producers will get their 

 best prices on large (juantities through this 

 month. Next month, and the one follow- 

 ing, buyers will l)e shy about buying large 

 lots, and consequently prices will assume an 

 easier tone. 



We are not influenced in this statement, 

 as we are only small buyers, purchasing for 

 our local trade. 



THE U. S. CHEMICAL STANDARD FOR HON- 

 EY; THE ATTITUDE OF THE UNITED STATES 

 CHEMISTS TOW^ARD HONEY-DEW. AND 

 WHAT EFFECT THIS HAS ON THE BEE- 

 KEEPER; HOW TO DISPOSE OF HONEV- 

 DEW HONEY. 



We have just received from the Unitetl 

 States Department of Agriculture, from the 

 office of the Secretary, circular No. 19, en- 

 titled, " Standards of Purity for Food Protl- 

 ucts; Supplemental Proclamation," dated 

 June 26. Turning to the subject of honey, 

 we find the following printed standard: 



1. Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudations of 

 plants gathered, modified, and stored in the comb h.v 

 honey-bees (Apis melUiica a,nA A. dorsata); is Iff-vo- 

 rotatory, contains not more than twenty-five per cent, 

 of water, not more than twenty-five hundredths per 

 cent of ash, and not more than eij^ht per cent of su- 

 crose. 



2. Comb honey is honey contained in the cells of 

 comb. 



3. Extracted honey is honey which has been sep- 

 arated from the uncrushed comb by centrifugal foroe 

 or gravity. 



4. Strained honey is honey removed from the 

 crushed comb by straining or other means. 



Our readers will remember that the chem- 

 ists of the United States at one time were 

 proposing to make the standard so that it 

 would eliminate natural honey-dew. This 

 was laid before the readers of the bee- 

 papers, when instantly a mighty protest 

 went up, to the effect that it would be simply 

 impossible to eliminate honey-dew entirely 

 from the honey of some apiaries, especially 

 in some localities. If this wei'e not recog- 

 nized as the product gathered by the bees, 

 and storetl in their combs, the honey of 

 thousands of bee-keepers would have to be 

 classed as adulterated when submitted to a 

 chemical test. The committee seemed in- 

 clined to I'ecognize the protest of the bee- 

 keepers as valid, and accordingly, modifled 

 its wording. But, as will be noted, it does 

 not even now speciflcally mention the exu- 

 dations of aphides, said exudations Ijeing de- 

 posited on the leaves of plants; but in a 

 supplementary statement the committee of 

 U. S. chemists expressed its judgment as to 

 the application of the standard for honey- 

 dew: 



The standard does not in any way exclude small 

 quantities of honey-dew from honey. We realize that 

 bees often gather small quantities of honey-dew that 

 can not be detected in the finished product by chem- 

 ical means, and does not damage its quality. It is- 

 only when relatively large amounts are gathered that 

 the quality of the honey is impaired, and it fails to 

 meet the requirements of the standard. It is gener- 

 ally agreed that such a large amount of honey-dew is 

 injurious to the quality of the product, which can not 

 then be properly regarded as honey. 



In a few cases where a large amount of 

 honey-dew is gathered it will be unsafe for 

 the bee-keeper to sell such pi'oduct as honey: 

 and I am not sure but it would be wise, for 

 moi-e than one reason, to keep it off the 

 market entirely. What little of the pure ar- 

 ticle may be gathered should be used for 

 stimulative purposes in the spring. In case 

 a bee-keeper should have many thousands of 

 pounds of it he might be able to dispose of 

 it to bakers for just what it is — honey-dew 

 honey. 



In not a few cases have I known where 



