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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1501 



to the health of the general public: and the 

 legend to l)e kept euntinuously l^efore the 

 eyes of that same piil)lie would run some- 

 thing like this: " Danger and death lies in an 

 excessive diet of sugar, which requires con- 

 version before assimilation: health and hap- 

 piness lies in the use of nature's purest and 

 best sweet, honey, which, without any undue 

 tax upon the digestive organs, is ready for 

 immediate assimilation." 



HONEY EXHIBITS. 

 How to Render them Attractive. 



BY W. K. JIORRISOX. 



Mr. Albert Gale, that well-known New 

 South Wales bee authority, in an article on 

 bee and honey exhibits, which appeared in 

 the October number of the New South Wales 

 Agricnltnral Gazette, contributes some ideas 

 on the subject of showing honey which de- 

 serve the attention of North American bee- 

 keepers as well <is those of the southern 

 hemisphere, for there can be no manner of 

 doubt that these exhibits are an excellent 

 means of creating a local demand for honey. 

 Over in Europe, where honey sells for much 

 more money than it does here, honey-shows 

 of great artistic excellence are common af- 

 fairs, and undoubtedly form the best means 

 possible of advertising the bee industry. 

 Mr. Gale's article is much enhanced in value 

 by two illustrations, which we are glad to 

 reproduce here for the benefit 

 of those who intend to get up 

 such exhibits, for they really 

 are artistic to a high degree. 



It may be well to explain 

 that the exhibits shown were 

 made by individual bee-keep- 

 ers anxious to carry off a 

 •'trophy" prize in competi- 

 tion. The hints given for 

 showing liquid honey are ex- 

 cellent. 



"Too frequently the bot- 

 tles are not selected with re- 

 gard to a unicolor tint, which 

 gives the contents the appear- 

 ance of not being a uniform 

 grade. Imperfect clearness of 

 the glass — that is, its being 

 speckled with opaque sub- 

 stances, is reflected in the 

 honey, and therefore the con- 

 tents of the bottle get the 

 credit of the impurities of the 

 glass. Ofttimes a bottle, after 

 it is washed, is permitted to 

 drain, and the internal sur- 

 face not polished, thereby 

 leaving streaks and blurs: the 

 honey reflected through it ap- 

 pears to be cloudy. Judges 

 are as careful to search for 

 faults as for perfe(^tion, and 

 thei'e is no doubt that many 

 an exhibit has been rejected 

 on account of the imperfec- 



tions narrated." There is a pretty good hint 

 here for the bee-keeper who bottles honey. 

 The hints on comb honey are equally helpful. 



"Comb honey, when exhibited in 1-lb. sec- 

 tions, is one of the most interesting and at 

 the same time one of the most admired 

 forms in which hcmey is staged. It appeals 

 to the onlooker in its most appetizing form, 

 and at the same time demonstrates the pro- 

 ducer's skill — that is to say, that of the bee- 

 keeper, not the bee. For a bee-keeper to 

 produce fii'st-class sections and coinb honey, 

 he has to be a master of his business. The 

 get-up in the 1-lb. sections is every thing. 

 The wooden frame surrounding the honey 

 should be scrupulously white, and free from 

 blemishes. All propolis should lie removed. 

 The beautiful white capping of the honey 

 should be perfect, free from bruises, free from 

 weeping, free from travel-stain, free from 

 finger-marks. Often a small puncture in 

 the capping causes the honey to exude and 

 thus damage the whole exhibit. The frame 

 or section must be complete — no uncapped 

 or empty cells, and the fewer pop-holes the 

 better. The comb should extend to the four 

 sides of the frame as completely as possible, 

 and the pop-holes in the four corners of the 

 frames should be absent in all sections." 



It is true we have been over this ground 

 before; but for the benefit of new readers, or 

 those who are thinking of making an exhibit 

 locally, we think the foregoing will prove 

 very helpful. 



There can be no doubt that a bee and 



A HONEY EXHIBIT MADE IN AUSTRALIA. 



— From the Aaricultural Gazette, N. S. W. 



