1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



767 



keepers have had in disposing of their prod- 

 uct. There has been entirely too much ef- 

 fort put forth in the matter of securing a 

 few extra pounds of honey; and entirely too 

 little in improving the quality of that which 

 is secured. 



We seem to be living in a fast age— an 

 age in which one man is doing his utmost to 

 outdo another; and where individuals are 

 unable to accomplish this end soon enough, 

 trusts of every description have sprung up 

 to hasten the matter. There is too much 

 quantity and not enough quality. But re- 

 member that only when bee-keepers can 

 warrant the quality of their product to be 

 even above suspicion, then, and no sooner, 

 will honey meet with the demand it merits. 



Inferior honey, like inferior goods of any 

 description, is only the result of careless 

 methods employed in its production. When 

 we see a good article of any kind we have 

 just reason to beheve it is the result of 

 no small thought and intelligence. Good ar- 

 ticles and careless methods never did go to- 

 getlaer and never will. The man who en- 

 deavors to produce things simply to sell can 

 not expect to cope with the man who does 

 his utmost to cater to the wants of the peo- 

 ple. Articles of good quality and neat ap- 

 pearance must sell; there is no holding it 

 back, for the people demand it, and are 

 willing to pay for it, but they will not pay 

 their money for an inferior article if they 

 know it. There has been considerable said 

 about teaching the public to use honey; but 

 permit me to say that we shall never be 

 able to teach the public to use inferior 

 honey. Before people will risk their money 

 on an article of doubtful nature they will 

 purchase some of the well- advertised syrups 

 of which there is scarcely an end. 



It has been said that ' ' a good article is 

 half sold while a poor one begs a market," 

 and this surely applies as well to the pro- 

 duction of honey as to any other business. 

 I fail to see why some bee-keepers will ex- 

 haust every effort, yea, even lie awake 

 nights pondering how they may be able to 

 secure a few extra pounds of honey, when, 

 by turning their attention to the matter of 

 quality, while they might not secure quite 

 as many pounds, could invariably secure 

 more money per pound, so that in the end 

 they not only realize as much, but at the 

 same time create a greater demand for their 

 product. 



If bee-keepers will turn their attention to 

 the matter of quality I will venture the pre- 

 diction that the sales of honey will not only 

 be doubled over what they now are, but 

 that the available supply of honey will con- 

 trol the price, the same as is now done with 

 wheat, sugar, and other commodities. If 

 honey is ever to become a commercial prod- 

 uct this is the only way to do it. 



It sounds like idle tales to say that many 

 people do not know or have never heard 

 about honey when it has been a great article 

 during all ages, as shown by the frequent 

 references to it in the Bible. Furthermore, 

 it is used in medicines, candy, and pastries. 



The only thing remaining for the bee-keeper 

 to do is to awaken to the matter of quality, 

 and then in connection with a little adver- 

 tising (by the way, it is not good to adver- 

 tise it until we can guarantee the quality to 

 be the highest), make honey a staple article 

 of the world. 

 Nisbet, Penn. 



[We are glad to have this particular phase 

 of this question emphasized, and shall be 

 pleased to hear from others of our subscrib- 

 ers who are willing to co-operate in bringing 

 up the standard of our honey to A No. 1 

 and Fancy, rather than to reduce the quali- 

 ty in order to get quantity. All dark, ill- 

 flavored, or otherwise inferior honey should 

 be sold to manufacturers— that is, the mak- 

 ers of pastry goods. It is usually the dark 

 and ill-flavored honeys that cause the cry 

 of " adulteration " from consumers. Then 

 they are liable not to buy any thing in the 

 way of honey. — Ed.] 



«»»« 



HOW "WE" INTRODUCED A QUEEN, 



A Laughable and Interesting Experience; a 

 " Swell Affair." 



BY MRS. W. M. BURKE. 



I am wondering if all beginners have the 

 gay time we have had in trying to introduce 

 a queen to a hybrid colony. By we I mean 

 my husband and myself; and here let me 

 say 'tis the same old case as "me and Bet- 

 sey killed a bar," I playing the part of me 

 ever since about a dozen bees got under my 

 veil in helping hunt for queen-cells; so he 

 has had the " work " to do while I stand off 

 a safe distance and cheer him up. But I'm 

 ahead of my " tale of woe." 



We sent away for a five-banded Italian 

 queen, thinking how we would love some 

 little yellow bees, such as we saw at Dr. 

 Miller's in East St. Louis, 111., in 1904. 

 Well, after nine or ten days of anxious 

 waiting we one noon received her "royal 

 highness." She was a queer amber-yellow 

 color, and, as my husband remarked, "no 

 great shucks to look at." 



The directions we had read and re-read 

 for introducing queens said, " Make your 

 colony queenless;" "be sure your colony is 

 queenless," etc., so we made sure by veil- 

 ing ourselves and sallying forth and picking 

 old Mrs. Queen and a small family of slaves 

 out, and putting them in a box with a piece 

 of screen over one side and a big slice of 

 comb honey in one end. Then we patient- 

 ly (?) waited two days, with the new queen 

 in her cage in the cupboard, then we follow- 

 ed to a dot the directions that came with 

 her, except, as Mr. Root preferred leaving 

 the cardboard over the candy-hole, we left 

 it there instead of taking it off as directed. 



We laid the cage, wire side down, over the 

 top of the brood-frames and shut up the 

 hive. We left it five days, as directed, al- 

 though it was a great strain on the nerves, 

 and at the end of that time our curiosity 

 was at the bursting-point. We hustled into 



