August, 1909. 



^^^^t^Amcrican l^ee Jonrnal 



that they had decided to sell to no one 

 on the coast, except to their agent at 

 Seattle: that California bee-keepers 

 would have to send to Seattle or get it 

 from the sub-agent in San Francisco. 

 That settled me ; I can get all the foun- 

 dation I want without buying from a 

 manufacturer who is trying to put a 

 fence about his goods in the interest 

 of the few. Of course, I do not take 

 much stock in this statement, and in- 

 tended to write the foundation-maker 

 and learn the truth of the matter, but 

 other things of more importance to me 

 prevented my doing so. 



Here it might be well for me to re 

 mark that the "close " manufacturer is 

 not connected with any bee-paper 

 There are not such great profits in bee- 

 keeping that the apiarist can be cinched 

 with impunity ; off with the head of the 

 dealer who will try " to do " you, ye 

 cultivators in the noble art of tending 



bees. 



*-»-»^ 



Late Extracting of Honey 



In years gone by I extracted before 

 all the combs were fully sealed; of late 

 years I have not done so. I am con- 

 vinced the former practice was the bet- 

 ter way for several reasons. To me 

 the strongest reason is that you do not 

 ha-ve to be constantly trying to circum- 

 vent a mighty army of robber-bees. 

 'Tis no fun to have such bees ever- 

 lastingly poking their noses into every 

 hive you open and into every lot of; 

 honey, comb or liquid, that you have 

 to, of necessity, leave exposed for even 

 ever so short a while. 



Some will tell you that you get a 

 much better honey by leaving it on the 

 hive to the end of the season. I have 

 not so found it ; I have had just as ex- 

 cellent honey in quality and body, when 

 I e.xtracted it every few weeks as I 

 have had by allowing it to remain until 

 the end of July. Besides, you cannot 

 keep the different grades of honey sep 

 arate ; you get a stiff, mixed-up con 

 glomeration that has a sort of compos- 

 ite color and a bastard flavor. Some 

 might like it; I surely don't. 



Then the labor of it ; you cannot 

 work so fast or so nicely with the late 

 pasty honey. It won't uncap easily: 

 it won't extract speedily ; nearly half 

 remains in the combs unless you give 

 the combs a "Virginia Reel" that 

 knocks the very life and usefulness out 

 of them. 



Then, too, you have a time of'it get- 

 ting the thick honey to pass through 

 a strainer, or even to flow through 

 faucet or from bucket. Such is the 

 thick honey I have had to deal with. 

 ."Xnd if after all this trouble I could get 

 a better price for it I miglit be some- 

 what compensated. But too often it 

 has to be sold for less than the honey 

 that is taken as the flowers bloom, and 

 that is of fair consistency and delight- 

 ful flavor and sparkling clearness. Be- 

 sides, your crop is not so large, for by 

 keeping the bees busy with frequent 

 extracting you naturally, I might say. 

 get a greater quantity, and that's what 

 we are all after, so long as other things 

 are equal. 



It may be possible that bee-keeepers 

 in other localities may find it more to 

 their interest to extract at the end of 

 the season ; if so, do so, but for me I 

 find it otherwise, as stated. 



Rather Doleful— the Honey Harvest 



From several sources during June I 

 learned that the crop in the southern 

 portion of the State was not as good 

 as it was expected to be at the com- 

 mencement of the honey season. As 

 heretofore stated, the early outlook 

 was good ; there was far above the 

 average rainfall during January and 

 February, but from the first week in 



not so favored. With me the yield has 

 been a little above the average; re- 

 member, however, that this is not a 

 honey section, and I do not present 

 this general report to advertise our 

 nectar-producing capabilities. 



In passing I might well ask, Are we 

 to have any more honey-vears in Cali- 

 fornia? But let's pause a' moment and 

 consider that in the grand old days of 

 the 'VO's and early '80's the be.'-men had 

 full swing; Flora and Apiarist went 

 everywhere, as it were, hand in hand ; 

 the flowers invited the bees to kiss 

 them, and the hives groaned with the 

 weight of the treasures thus acquired. 

 But as the ranchman, orchardist, and a 

 whole raft of other branches of agri- 

 cultural pursuits came "sailing" o'er 

 tlie valleys and climbing into canyons 

 and up the mountain sides, the sweet- 

 ness of Flora began to disappear, for 

 she was trod upon, browsed upon, and 

 worse, when not destroyed by fire, was 

 uprooted by the plowshare. So, the 

 coming of the cultivator into the bee- 

 gardens of the great southland meant 

 the going of the honey-flora and the 

 busy bees to gather the same. Today 

 for the sage-fields we have, as a substi- 

 tute, alfalfa-fields, but these are not 

 .enerally in the old haunts of our old- 

 time honey-gatherers ; they are more 

 to the north. Where these fields exist 



fair crop of honey is gathered even 

 in the dryest of years; in fact, if I mis- 

 take not, there is a better chance of 

 ,ecuring a crop of first-class honey in 

 I dry year in these alfalfa-districts 

 than there is in a wet one. 



Honey as a Health-Food 



This is a 16-page honey-pamphlet in- 

 tended to help increase the demand for 

 honey. The first part of it contains a 

 short article on "Honey as Food," writ- 

 ten by Dr. C. C. Miller. It tells where 

 to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. 

 The last part is devoted to "Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Hon- 

 ey." It should be widely circulated by 

 those selling honey. The more the peo- 

 ple are educated on the value and uses 

 of honey, the more honey they will buy. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample copy for a 

 2-cent stamp ; 50 copies for 90 cents ; 

 100 copies for $1.50; 250 copies for 

 $3.00; 500 for $5.00; or toon for $9.00. 

 Your business card printed free at the 

 bottom of front page on all orders for 

 100 or more copies. Send all ordeis 

 to the office of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



California Black Sage. 



March on there was practically not a 

 drop of rain. .All deep-rooted vegeta- 

 tion was able to make a good growth 

 and yield plentifully of nectar. Where 

 thenights and mornings were propi- 

 tious, the bees were able to gather much, 

 and, in fact, did store a fine crop of 

 beautiful honey. But all places were 



Souvenir Bee Postal Cards 



We have gotten up 4 Souvenir Postal 

 Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No. i 

 is a Teddy Bear card, with a stanza of 

 rhyme, a straw bee-hive, a jar and sec- 

 tion of honey, etc. It is quite senti- 

 mental. No. 2 has the words and mu- 

 sic of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lul- 

 laby;" No. 3, the words and music of 

 "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey ;" and No. 

 4, the words and music of "The Hum- 

 ming of the Bees." We send these cards, 

 postpaid, as follows: 4 cards for 10 

 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents; or 10 cards 

 T^itli the American Bee Journal one year 

 for 80 cents. Send all orders to the of- 

 fice of the American Bee Journal, 



