1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Queen Cages for Mailing.— Mr.IIenry 

 Alley, in Gleanings, thus describes the 

 cage he uses : 



I shall use a sponge lilleil with honey 

 instead of sugar candy. Experiment: 

 ing with candy last year cost me the 

 loss of many queens. I do not lose 

 one queen in 50 with sponge and 

 honey. Now I will explain about the 

 cage. It is made 5 8 inch wide, so as 

 to give more space of sponge to the 

 bees, thus making the food hold out 

 longer. In shipping, the tin might 

 press in, but as I make them the tin 

 is on solid against the wood on all 

 sides, and cannot press in. 



In shipping 2, 4, (i, or more queens 

 at one time, I will place the wire face 

 to face, but reversing the sponges, so 

 that the bees in one cage can feed 

 from the sponge in the other. In 

 shipping 3 queens, I will make tin one 

 inch shorter, and cover the sponge 

 with wire cloth, and then the bees in 

 all 3 cages can draw food from their 



the world's market, a life which is too 

 retired to attract any but the thought- 

 ful and intelligent, and an employ- 

 ment that is both pleasant and profit- 

 able, we know of no class more enviable 

 than the apiarists of Southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



neighbors. Bees in such cages will 

 live from 2 to 3 weeks. I think t he- 

 pressure of the wire will hold the 

 sponge in place; if not, drive a sharp 

 nail through the side into it. Half a 

 dozen bees to a cage will be all the 

 company a queen will want. 



To put bees in the cage, keep up 

 the corner of wire not nailed down, 

 and raise it with the index ringer. 

 The spring of the wire will keep it 

 down. I have done this all my days. 



I can bore the holes in them with 

 power, and can do it much quicker 

 than I can nail them up. Then again, 

 the cages used to-day are much 

 stronger and neater. I have put a few 

 bees in them, and covered the tin with 

 paper to keep the bees away from the 

 cold tin. 



The Honey Crop in Ohio.— The Bee- 

 Keep rs' Instructor gives the following 

 concerning the crops of honey in the 

 northwestern part of Ohio : 



Up to the tirst part of this month 

 bees were doing remarkably well, tak- 

 ing into consideration the general 

 weak condition of colonies in the early 

 spring. And while we have heard of 

 no excessive yields, a pretty fair 

 amount of surplus has been stored, 

 while colonies have been increasing to 

 a limitless extent. There has not 

 been any excessive swarming like we 

 hear of in some sections of the coun- 

 try. Bees everywhere, so far as we 

 have heard, are in good condition, but 

 how long this will continue we cannot 

 tell, as we are now suffering from a 

 severe drouth, which, if it lasts much 

 longer, is going to play havoc with our 

 honey prospects. The white clover is 

 dead, and dying ; basswood bloom has 

 dried up, and the chestnut, of which 

 we have but little, is about gone. The 

 present indications are that bees will 

 barely gather enough honey for awhile 

 to keep them. Should we have good 

 rains soon we may have asmall second 

 crop of white clover. Our main de- 

 pendence, however, for the rest of the 

 season, will be on fall flowers and 

 buckwheat. So far the season has 

 been very satisfactory. How it will 

 wind up is yet to be seen. 



ian bees. We say a few because it is 

 best for the beginner to go slow. A 

 gentleman, resident in the city, whose 

 Dime is occupied from 7 a. in. to lip. 

 in. in other dot L6S, procured 5 colonics 

 of Italians last Spring, and gave them 

 such care as he could. The cost and 

 result of his experiment is as follows : 

 Five colonies at $10, $50; 7 new 

 hives at $2, $14, or a total of $64 out- 

 lay. He sold 240 pounds of comb honey 

 during the season at 2- r ) cents, $60, and 

 had 7 new colonies of bees at $10, $70. 

 Good as 200 per cent, on his invest- 

 ment. 



Honey Show in San Francisco.— The 



Semi-Tropic, California, remarks as 

 follows : 



The attractive and interesting dis- 

 play, under the auspices of the Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, formed a cen- 

 ter around which the apiarists literally 

 swarmed, intent upon investigating 

 the claims of improved machinery, 

 and testing the contents of the various 

 frames and jars, any one sample of 

 which seemed faultlessly clear and de- 

 licious to the uninitiated. One hun- 

 dred and two varieties of honey pro- 

 ducing flowers, prepared by J. W. 

 Wilson, of Pasadena, formed a novel 

 and interesting feature of this exhibi- 

 tion. The decorations of white sage 

 were tasteful and appropriate, and the 

 nectar itself, in jars arranged in pyra- 

 midal shape, clear as crystal, sup- 

 ported by frame after frame of comb 

 honey, snowy and inviting, made a 

 picture which cannot be photographed 

 except by the artist memory. 



In connection with this department, 

 Mrs. Benedict displayed samples of 

 excellent honey vinegar, almost color- 

 less, and above average in acidity ; 

 several samples of fruit preserved in 

 honey with undeniable success, and 3 

 kinds of honey cake, which elicited 

 the warmest praise from those who 

 were fortunate enough to secure a 

 sample. It is urged, and very plausi- 

 bly, that fruit cake made with honey 

 is richer and retains moisture much 

 longer than that made of sugar. 



Altogether, bee-men have a right to 

 be proud of the honey display in this 

 pavilion. With a product that leads 



Missouri Apiculture.— In the Inde- 

 pendence Sentinel, Mr. C. M. Crandall 

 says: 



In the immediate vicinity of Inde- 

 pendence we find the following gen- 

 tlemen engaged in apiculture : 



L. W. Baldwin has 226 colonies. 



P. Baldwin lias 140 colonies. 



F. J. Farr has 120 colonies. 



C. M. Crandall lias 75 colonies. 



Win. Parker has riOcolonies. 



J. U. Meador has 140 colonies. 



The product of these 781 colonies 

 aggregates each year over 20,000 lbs. 

 of tioney. which yields not less than 

 $4,000. But this is a mere bai/atelle of 

 the real business. Hundreds of our 

 citizens throughout the country have 

 from 10 to 100 colonies of these ener- 

 getic honey gatherers, and the entire 

 crop must approximate 100,000 lbs. Of 

 course, this mostly goes to home con- 

 sumption, still it is beginning to cre- 

 ate quite a handsome revenue. 



The Value of System.— The Marsh 

 field (Mo.) News, gives the following 

 notice in its last issue : 



The American Bee Journal is 

 on our table, and, as usual, is tilled 

 with matter of value to every apiar- 

 ist. Bee-culture is an interest that is 

 of far greater advantage to those who 

 engage therein, if conducted system- 

 atically and with proper knowledge 

 thereof, than is usually supposed, and 

 this knowledge can only- be gained by 

 studying the habits of these indus- 

 trious insects. The Journal is the 

 oldest publication in this specialty in 

 the United States, having been estab- 

 lished 20 years, and we can recom- 

 mend it to our readers, who are inter- 

 ested in bee-culture, with pleasure. 



The News has our thanks for its 

 kind notice. We shall endeavor to al- 

 ways sustain 'the present flattering 

 reputation of the Weekly Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



How to Commence Bee-Keeping.— 



The Northwestern Farmer, published 

 at Portland, Oregon, gives the follow- 

 ing very sensible advice : 



Successful bee-keeping can be ac- 

 complished in no other way than by 

 securing large yields of honey. Large 

 yields of honey can be had only by 

 having everything needed ready for 

 securing it. To begin bee-keep ng 

 with old-fashioned box or stump hives, 

 and expect to make it profitable, is 

 like killing hens to find eggs. Of 

 course the first thing to be looked af- 

 ter is food or honey, for the bees to 

 gather. If, in the vicinity where it 

 is proposed to keep bees, there are 

 plenty of yielding flowers, you are all 

 right and ready to go ahead ; but it is 

 absolutely necessary to go ahead 

 aright. 



Good hives first. Several forms are 

 offered for sale at about $2 each, with 

 movable frame. A honey extractor 

 is as necessary to large yields of honey 

 as good hives. A honey knife for un- 

 capping comb, bee veils, rubbergloves, 

 a smoker, a lot of extra hives, and 

 last, though not least, a paper devoted 

 exclusively to bee-culture. The 

 Americak Bee Journal is one of 

 the best. With these, though there 

 are other conveniences, one may 

 safely procure a few colonies of Ital- 



The Crops of the World.— In a coun- 

 try so extensive as America, with 

 climates varied all the way from the 

 torrid to the frigid, the crop of honey 

 will be as diverse as the climate. 

 Speaking of the crops in Europe, we 

 contrast the crop of one country with 

 that of another of the dozen that go 

 to make up the whole. But Amer- 

 ica comprises as much territory (and 

 diversity of climate) as the whole 

 of the countries of Europe, and crops 

 of all kinds will vary as much, or 

 even more than that of the old world. 

 It is, therefore, not strange to have one 

 pronounce the " crop of honey as un- 

 usually large"— that it seems to "rain 

 honey," etc., and another to complain 

 of wet, heat, drouth, and " scarcity of 

 honey"— all are true, and are to be ac- 

 counted for by the magnificence of 

 the North American Continent. 



Of the other crops of the world, the 

 following, from the Chicago Tinas, 

 will be read with interest : 



The world seems destined to reap 

 but sparingly this year. The reports 

 from different portions of this coun- 

 try are so uniformly unfavorable that 

 we cannot expect any such harvests 

 as those of the last 2 or 3 years. From 

 Europe the reports were rose-colored 

 a few days ago, but one country after 

 another of the old world is coming 

 forward with doleful accounts of the 

 condition of the crops. The French 

 anticipations of a few weeks ago of 

 being for the tirst time for some years 

 independent of foreign supplies of 

 wheat, seem to have been dashed by 

 an unfavorable change in the condi- 

 tions, for the last reports gave prom- 

 ise of only an average crop, but little 

 or nothing beyond that. A Berlin 

 dispatch says that the prospect is that 

 the harvest in Germany will be much 

 worse than it was last year, and that 

 the yield will be only M or % of the 

 average. Taking all kinds of grain, 

 and averaging the crops and con- 

 sumption for the past 10 years, Aus- 

 tria produces 560,000,000 bushels a 

 year, and consumes 530,000,000 bushels, 

 leaving a surplus of 30,000,000 bushels. 

 Germany produces 050,000,000 bushels, 

 consumes 1,005,000.000, and has to im- 

 port 115,000,000 bushels. France is 



pretty certain to need forty or fifty 

 million bushels of wheat alone, and 

 England is always a large importer. 

 \ particularly copious yield in Russia 

 would supply western Europe without 

 creating any exceptional demand from 

 the United Slates, but as the average 

 surplus of all grains in Russia is 180,- 

 00(1,(11)0 bushels, while the average net 



deficiency of Europe is880,000,000 bush- 

 els, the demand for American grain of 

 all kinds must be considerable. If 

 we have less to export than usual this 

 year, we shall at least get betterprices 

 for what we do export, unless there is 

 a great change for the better in the 

 grain-fields of Europe. 



Old Comb Honey, Candied.— Inqui- 

 ries are often made as to what to do 

 with old comb honey that has granu- 

 lated. Mrs. L. Harrison, in the Prai- 



rie Farmer, some time ago, gave the 

 followihg plan : 



When the honey is marketed all un- 

 sightly and unfilled combs are re- 

 moved, and we find much of it gran- 

 lated, so that extracting is out of the 

 question. A bee-sister once told the 

 writer that she put all such comb 

 honey into a pan and melted them in 

 the oven, and that when it was cooled 

 the wax would be in a solid cake on 

 the surface, when it could be removed 

 and the clear honey would be under- 

 neath. We tried this plan, but the 

 honey was injured by being heated too 

 much. We then tried this way, and 

 succeeded much better : The honey 

 was mashed up in a pan, and set over 

 a kettle of boiling water, and stirred 

 frequently. Before the honey was 

 very hot, the wax had risen to the sur- 

 face, and being set out in the cold, 

 quickly congealed, so that the warm 

 honey could be poured from under it, 

 through a coffee strainer into another 

 vessel, leaving the wak in the pan. 

 After the honey was melted, the wax 

 was all melted up together, and con- 

 siderable honey of inferior quality 

 was under it, which can be kept sepa- 

 rate and be used for cooking, making 

 gingerbread, etc. The rinsings of 

 vessels used in manipulating the honey 

 will make excellent vinegar. The 

 wax can be melted in a pan over boil- 

 ing water, and should be poured, when 

 melted, through a hot coffee strainer, 

 and when cool will be of a light straw 

 color. 



Management of Section Boxes. —The 



Indiana Farmer says : 



As the flow of honey slackens off, 

 take from colonies with more sections 

 than they are likely to finish, and put 

 them in place of full sections re- 

 moved, contracting the room for sur- 

 plus honey, if necessary, so as to have 

 all the sections finished as soon as pos- 

 sible. Beginners are apt to add boxes 

 as long as the How continues, and at 

 the end of the season have a large 

 number only partially filled, which 

 must be kept over or extracted. 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



BUYERS' QUOTATIONS. 



CHICAGO. 



HONEY-But little comb honey is yet upon the 

 market, und the quotations are rather premature. 

 New extracted honey isquite plentiful, and in good 

 demand. 



We quote light comb honey, in single comb 

 boxes, 19@21C ; in larger boxes 2c. less. Extracted 

 7@0C. 



BEESWAX— Prime quality, 18@20c. 



NEW YORK. 



HONEY— New honey in I or 2 lb. boxes will bring 

 good prices, but as yet there is none on the market. 

 though it is dailv expected. 



White extracted. 9®1UC.; dark. 7(§)Sc. 



BEESWAX.— Prime quality, ls<S22c. 



CINCINNATI. 

 HONEY.— The market lor extracted clover 

 hotiev is Rood, at 8®10c. 

 BKESWAX-18@22c. 



C. F. MllTB. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



HONEY— Market quiet and firm. Stocks very 

 liiiht. Holders not disposed to grant concessions. 

 A sale of loo cases choice extracted is reported 

 at HJ^e. 



We quote white comb, 12'.' 14c. ; dark to t-'O d, 9@ 

 lie. Extracted, choice to extra white. *--. si„e. ; dark 

 and candied, 7^c. BEESWAX— 23tet25b. 



STEARNS & Smith. 423 Front Street. 



San Francisco, Cal.. July 0, 1881. 



