THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



43 



INTERESTING NOTES 

 [From Chambers' Journal for June.] 



[The writer quotes the following- 

 instances to show that beekeeping, 

 in England, is profitable. — Ed,] 



" One beekeeper (a country la- 

 borer) gives the average expendi- 

 ture and income of an apiary of ten 

 colonies for a period of ten years, 

 as follows : bis outlay was £60 

 [$300.00] and his income £269 

 [$1345.00] or an average of nearly 

 £29 [$145.00] clear gain each year : 

 also a gardener in East Lothias 

 whose profit from one colony in 

 one season was £7 [$35.00] ; a 

 railway offlcial who from twenty- 

 five colonies sold £107 [$535.00] 

 worth of honey in 1878 (this was 

 in a favorable locality and the sea- 

 son also was favorable)." 



The writer then states that even 

 greater profits than these have been 

 realized, and adds that there are 

 localities where £2 [$10] per colony 

 may be averaged. 



The question then is asked why 

 capitalists do not engage in this 

 business, and the answer is given 

 that beekeeping cannot be monop- 

 olized as the apiaries must be small 

 and scattered on account of tlie 

 scarcity of food or bee-pasturage. 

 He also states that comb honey in 

 England demands high prices, sel- 

 dom less than 2 shillings [about 40 

 cents] per pound retail, and thinks 

 that there is but little danger of 

 glutting tlie market, as the demand 

 will probably always exceed the 

 supply. 



The writer then refers to Ameri- 

 can honey, and while in regard to 

 extracted honey he may have some 

 grounds for suspicion, yet we think 

 that he has not carefully examined 

 the facts relative to comb hone}' . He 

 states as follows : "numerous quan- 

 tities of very inferior stiffftxre annu- 

 ally imported from America to 

 supply the English demand ; and 

 this honey finds a ready sale ; of 



course it sells at a much lower 

 price than the gemiine article, and 

 is used by a class who would think 

 twice before giving half-a-crown 

 [about 60 cts.] for a pound of hon- 

 e_y, though in reality they pay much 

 more, for only a portion of what 

 they buy as foreign honey is really 

 honey. You cannot adulterate eggs 

 people will tell you ; nor yet honey 

 if you buy it in the comb, just as 

 the bees left it sealed and stamped 

 with their own peculiar trade mark. 

 And yet, there is nothing 7nore 

 achiUerated than much of the honey 

 sent to us across the Atlantic. 



"The makers of wooden nutmegs, 

 of cheese from lard, butter from 

 suet, and who send the best Belfast 

 hams, from Chicago direct, are fit 

 enough for adulterating honey even 

 though it was sent across the 

 Atlantic " just as the bees left it," 

 and adulterated honey is much more 

 objectionable than cheese or oleo- 

 margarine. Most of it is nothing 

 more than glucose or artificial grape 

 sugar, now so largely manufactured 

 in the states for making spirits, 

 and for the adulteration of sugar, 

 honey, preserves and everything 

 sweet. The bees are allowed to 

 gather honey by day and are liber- 

 ally fed by night so that the real 

 honey and the false are stored side 

 by side. 



"The real thing only serves to 

 give enough of the odor and a 

 little of the flavor to make it sell. 



"Other adulterators give plain 

 cane sugar syrup which is harmless 

 enougli, but is worth only 2 penCe, 

 half-penny [about five cts.] per 

 pound. But even American honey 

 itself is inferior ; hence there never 

 will be foreign competition in this 

 article as in the case of grain and 

 meat." 



Regarding this matter we think 

 the writer has been misinformed, or 

 as before stated has not carefully 

 examined the facts in the case. 

 Our American beekeepers, through 



