1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



grow ; the second season out out the 

 (lead wood and train the laterals so as to 

 make the rows like a hedge ; nip or cut 

 Oft the new shoots when 8 feet high. In 

 this way they bear larger and better 

 fruit, are more convenient to pick, and 

 are not blown down by the wind, as the 

 bushes support each other. 



The red varieties are increased by 

 suckers or sprouts from the roots. They 

 may be cultivated 2 seasons, and if 

 needed for honey more than choice 

 fruit, they may be allowed to occupy 

 the ground. The black caps are in- 

 creased from tips, i.e. by the ends of 

 the vines taking root. The Doolittle, 

 Mammoth Cluster and Home Sweet 

 Home are especially adapted to culti- 

 vate in hedge rows, on account of their 

 stock canes. 



Farmers might load their tables with 

 this delicious, health giving fruit the 

 year round, by settings plants of Doo- 

 little for early, and 100 of Sweet Home 

 for late use and canning. 



New Boston, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Apis Americana. 



E. A. THOMAS. 



There has been much discussion of 

 late about " How to obtain the best race 

 of bees," and I notice there is a great 

 diversity of opinion in regard to it. I 

 fully agree with the editor of the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal that the coming 

 bee will be the Apis Americana, a cross 

 between our present Italians and some 

 other race, and I believe that, although 

 there are but few who hold that opinion 

 now, the time is not far distant when 

 the majority of the apiarists of Amer- 

 ica will acknowledge the superiority of 

 the American strain of Italians. 



During the past few years there has 

 been a mania among bee-keepers for 

 imported stock which has steadily in- 

 creased up to the present time.but which 

 I sincerely hope has now reached its 

 height. Do not understand by this that 

 I object to all importations for I do not, 

 but only to those careless and almost 

 reckless ones that, instead of improv- 

 ing, will cause the deterioration of our 

 present excellent strain. So long as 

 queen breeders in Italy know that any 

 queens they may see fit to send to Amer- 

 ica will be accepted just because they 

 came from Italy, just so long will some 

 of them take advantage of such know- 

 ledge to ship to this country queens 

 they would not be willing to use them- 

 selves, arid which American bee-keepers 

 would not accept as a gift if they knew 

 what stock they sprang from. But only 

 let them understand that they must 

 send only the very best and purest that 

 Italy can afford, or lose the American 

 trade, and they will be more careful 

 how they try to impose upon the cre- 

 dulity of American bee-keepers. There 

 are many good reliable breeders in Italy, 

 and those who are desirous of import- 

 ing should search them out and give 

 such their orders, and give all others a 

 severe "letting alone." But to return 

 to my subject. When an apiarist be- 

 comes, satisfied that he has anjexcellent 

 strain of bees he should be very careful 

 how he introduces new blood into his 

 apiary, I care not from what source it 

 comes whether from Italy or a home 

 breeder, until he has thoroughly tested 

 it and found it to be good. Many a bee- 

 keeper after having obtained a class of 

 bees that did credit to America and 

 which bid fair to become worthy of the 

 name Apis Americana, not content to 

 let " well enough alone," has ruined his 

 stock by introducing foreign blood that 

 was as worthless as it was cheap. For 

 the improvement of our present strain 

 of bees- 1 would suggest that queen 

 breeders exchange queens from their 

 working stock and make a careful 

 record of the result of the cross. When 

 they get a cross that is an improvement 

 on their own bees let them breed from 

 it and introduce the blood into their 

 apiary. Thus by crossing the best blood 

 in the country we may hope to obtain a 

 strain of Italians that will rival those 

 found in Italy, and which will be ex- 

 ported to all parts of Europe. 



As regards the color of our bees, I 

 beg to differ with those who consider it 

 necessary to breed dark colored bees in 

 order to obtain good honey gatherers. I 

 have bred both dark and light colored, 



and I am satisfied that my present 

 strain, which isas handsome as any one 

 need wish for, has excelled anything I 

 ever had or saw. If breeders will work 

 carefully and use every means in their 

 power to improve their bees, we may 

 live to see Mr. Newman's prophecy 

 come true, and the Apis Americana 

 have a world-wide fame. 

 Coleraine, Mass. 



Translated from Btenen-ZeltunK by Grelnor Bros. 



Fertilization a Crippled Queen. 



DR. DZIERZON. 



Ill looking over a nucleus the past sea- 

 son, I found a young Italian queen just 

 hatched. She was very large and beau- 

 tiful, but in trying to make her Bight 

 she fell to the ground, because of her 

 left wing being considerably shorter, 

 and she could not rise, although she 

 made every effort. If I had possessed 

 a surplus queen, or even a queen-cell, I 

 should have disposed of her; but as I 

 had not, I left her in the hive, hoping 

 that she might gain strength enough to 

 enable her to make her wedding trip. 

 Two days after I looked again and found 

 my queen there still, and my experi- 

 ments with her proved that she was as 

 unable to fly as before. It occurred to 

 me to shorten her long wing to produce 

 equilibrium. She could then fly some, 

 but dropped to the ground again. Af- 

 ter I had trimmed her long wing down 

 to the size of the crippled one, she suc- 

 ceeded in keeping herself up in the air 

 for quite a while, although it seemed 

 very hard work for her. and she finally 

 reached her hive. I let her run in, then 

 fixed an alighting-board, that she might 

 have a chance to run from the ground 

 up to her hive, if compelled. 



On one of the following days I was in 

 the apiary again at noon, and on look- 

 ing about I noticed great excitement in 

 one of the neighboring hives near said 

 nucleus. When I opened the hive I 

 found the short-winged queen in there 

 balled, but not yet injured. Undoubt- 

 edly she came out to meet a drone, and 

 on returning entered the wrong hive, 

 which, when we considerher clumsiness, 

 could not be wondered at. I picked her 

 out of the ball, and took her back to her 

 own hive. A few days after I found 

 her depositing eggs, and she proved to 

 be fertile ; but whether she was fertil- 

 ized on that trip, or whether she made 

 another, is not certain. 



Read before the N. E. Convention. 



Best Method of Marketing Honey. 



GEO. w. HOUSE. 



In writing upon this subject I fully 

 realize the difficulties of the task before 

 me, and also the differences of opinion 

 that exist on this interesting subject, 

 and one that is of such vast importance 

 to the honey producer of to-day. We 

 are yet in the infancy of this enterprise, 

 and time will doubtless reveal many 

 changes and improvements where now 

 we think we have attained perfection. 

 Of course practical bee-keepers will em- 

 ploy all their energies to keep up with 

 the times, and give their patrons the 

 benefit of new developments as soon as 

 they are proved to be improvements. 

 We should ascertain what the market 

 demands and thendilligently apply our- 

 selves to the work, in order to reap the 

 reward. 



We talk of supply and demand ; of 

 overstocking the markets and over- 

 stocking the land. But in solving the 

 problem of " marketing," man's inven- 

 tive genius is called upon to provide 

 the necessary elements, whereby the 

 desired results may be attained without 

 increased expense to the consumer or 

 decreased profit to the producer. This 

 is a practical age and requires practical 

 inventions, to be used in the race for 

 the " mighty dollar." 



There need be no fear of overstocking 

 the markets. Honey is being used by 

 many manufacturers in the liquid form, 

 and its demand is increasing through- 

 out the land. Honey in the comb is 

 finding its way to the tables of thous- 

 ands of families throughout all Europe, 

 where till recently it was never seen. 

 Thus the question of overstocking the 

 market is nearly settled. All honor to 

 the Messrs. Thiirber and their repre- 

 sentative in Europe for their untiring 



energies in this grand undertaking. 

 There are but few of us that realize the 

 benefits of the exertions put forth by 

 this great linn in finding a market for 

 our products. Their undertaking has 

 been crowned with success, and to them 

 we owe our sincere thanks if nothing 

 more. The markets of the world are 



open to our products, and it is now : 



duty to see that those markets are not 

 ruined through any fault or neglect on 

 the part of the American producer. We 

 must also have united action looking 

 toward the prevention of adulterations. 



We must have co-operation in mar- 

 keting honey, to produce the most sat- 

 isfactory results. We have seen what 

 wonderful results have been accom- 

 plished by associate action, and by a 

 combination of interests. The great 

 enterprises of to-day, that are so aston- 

 ishing in their magnitude, are the re- 

 sults of associated effort, and this is 

 destined to revolutionize the business 

 operations of the world. We have seen 

 what wonderful results have been ac- 

 complished by the associated system of 

 dairymen. What unity and action has 

 done for dairying and other branches of 

 industry it may also accomplish for api- 

 culture. Association and unity of ac- 

 tion are the great mainsprings of power 

 and progress in the world. I am pleased 

 to know that the bee-keepers of this 

 country are awakening to this principle 

 in marketing their products. 



While in New York city last October 

 I devoted one whole day investigating 

 the honey market, and I must say that 

 I was completely disgusted with the 

 workings thereof. Not being personally 

 acquainted with more than two of the 

 firms handling honey, I had a splendid 

 opportunity to investigate the facili- 

 ties and the workings of many houses, 

 by withholding my name and pleading 

 ignorance. The honey of some of our 

 leading apiarists was found in several 

 different commission houses, and one 

 apiarist in particular, who has probably 

 written and said more upon this subject 

 of "marketing honey " than any other 

 one person, consigned his honey to more 

 than one commission house, and the 

 honey was not put up in a very market- 

 able condition at that; the edges of the 

 boxes being covered with propolis, and 

 evidently no attempt had been made to 

 remove it. One commission house sold 

 this man's white honey for 12 cents, 

 while another house was holding this 

 same man's honey at 18 cents. 



One of the four honey houses in New 

 York informed me that they received 

 two-thirds of all the honey sent to that 

 market. The proprietor of another 

 house told me that lie handled most of 

 the honey sent on commission to that 

 city. Of course I saw their stock of 

 honey, and truthfully say that both 

 houses combined do not sell one-fourth 

 the amount of honey sold by either of 

 the other two houses. These men mis- 

 represented their business, and if they 

 misrepresented to me why wouldn't 

 they do the same to all other producers. 



Then there are other commission 

 men who receive now and then a small 

 consignment of honey, and in almost 

 every instance you will find that honey 

 setting outside the door begging for a 

 sale. After seeing all this and much 

 more, I can say without fear of success- 

 ful contradiction, that at present there 

 are but two firms in New York that 

 have the facilities of handling our pro- 

 ducts, H. K. & F. B. Thiirber & Co., 

 and D. W.Quinby. Undoubtedly there 

 is not another firm in this country that 

 can place our honey on the markets of 

 Europe to so good an advantage as can 

 the Messrs. Thurber, while Mr. Quinby, 

 who has been in the business for many 

 years and has many customers, can 

 place honey to good advantage and sat- 

 isfactory to the consignor. Both these 

 firms are making a specialty of our pro- 

 ducts, and they are the only ones. Go 

 to New York with your honey; see 

 where it is destined ; look over the field 

 before you, and I will venture to say 

 you will corroborate all I have said. 



Such being the case, what are we to 

 do ? We must have unity of action. 

 Let us concentrate what honey we put 

 on that market by sending to these two 

 houses. By so doing our honey will 

 command a higher price, sell faster, and 

 thereby insure us quicker and more 

 satisfactory returns. What will apply 

 to the New York market will hold good 



for any of our markets. Wo must con- 

 centrate our honey, ami the quicker we. 

 do this the sooner we shall be able to 

 sell our products for cash. 



I will venture here to present another 



subject of great importance, and one 



that, needs the co-operative effort of 

 every apiarist. " Statistics of the ag- 

 gregate production of both comb and 

 extracted honey." With united action 



this can be accomplished. I would sug- 

 gest that this association petition our 

 national society, praying that the presi- 

 dent thereof snail appoint reliable and 

 willing vice-presidents in each ami 

 every State in the I'n ion, whose duty 

 it shall be to demand of each and every 

 secretery of the different, associations 

 within his State to collect, the correct 

 statistics of the yield within his terri- 

 tory ; to report to the vice-president, 

 who in turn shall report to thesecretary 

 of the National society, and he, be re- 

 quired to cause the same to be pub- 

 lished in each of the bee-journals no 

 later than the first of September. 



Every bee-keeper in making up his 

 report should be very careful not to 

 over-estimate his yield. In the past 

 this has worked injury to our markets, 

 many bee-keepers making a fictitious 

 and an exaggerated report for fear that 

 some neighboring apiarist may lead 

 them in the amount of honey produced. 

 This is all wrong and I trust we shall 

 soon see the end. Remember that 

 honey buyers keep their eyes upon all 

 reports regarding the amount of honey 

 produced in the country. That from 

 these reports they fix the price to be 

 paid ; and when we go to sell our honey 

 we are compelled to face the reports. 

 When we are able to furnish coreect 

 statistics, then we shall see the benefit. 



Our larger markets are mostly sup- 

 plied by the larger producers or special- 

 ists, while our local or smaller markets 

 are left to the amateur or novice. To 

 control these lesser lights will be hard 

 work ; but as long as they keep out of 

 the larger markets they will do no great 

 injury. They will be helping to in- 

 crease the consumption. As soon as 

 we get to a basis of buying and selling, 

 speculators will control these small lots. 



Our markets are also much injured 

 by placing our products upon them in 

 an unmarketable shape. Honey in the 

 comb should be placed upon the market 

 so as to call the attention, and tempt 

 the consumer to purchase. To this end 

 we should put up our comb honey in 

 single comb sections, the combs being 

 straight and evenly built and completely 

 capped over. In regard to size of boxes, 

 the demand seems to be settling down 

 to about three sizes, viz : 4x4, 5x5 and 

 5x6 inches. In glazing, we should have 

 the glass nicely cleaned and put on in 

 good shape, being careful to first re- 

 move ail propolis or wax adhering 

 thereto. In grading and crating the 

 apiarist should give his personal atten- 

 tion, that he may be positive as to de- 

 tails should any question arise involving 

 this part of the work. In grading it is 

 well to make two grades white and two 

 grades dark honey, putting all straight 

 and perfect combs in the first grade, 

 while those that are stained, unevenly 

 built combs and not quite capped over 

 should be put in grade No. 2. In dark 

 honey we frequently have combs that are 

 from % up white, being finished with 

 dark honey. This should be graded 

 black. No. 1, and all remaining combs 

 should be classed as buckwheat. In 

 crating, use only neat white crates 

 holding 12 boxes, or if the boxes are 

 small use crates weighing from 20 to 25 

 lbs. net. The honey must not be ve- 

 neered and the crates should weigh 

 even pounds, i. e., no halves or quarter 

 pounds. We cannot be too particular 

 in having our boxes and crates neatly 

 made and placed on the market free 

 from all dirt or stain or leakage. 



In shipping, great care must be exer- 

 cised. The crates should be placed in 

 the car with the combs running with 

 the car, not over 6 crates high, setting 

 close together at the side and end. 



Extracted honey is now classed as a 

 staple article, therefore it is best to ship 

 in bulk or barrels. But if designed for 

 the retail trade it should be put up in 

 small packages, such as small tin pails, 

 or pint or quart glass fruit jars, some- 

 thing that can be used after the honey 

 is consumed. 



