AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



30T 



common hive-bee in England. This 

 variety forms its nest in hollow trees, 

 and in holes in rocks. Another bee, 

 similar in appearance, but not more 

 than half the size, suspends a most deli- 

 cate comb to the twigs of a tree. This 

 nest is no larger than an orange, but the 

 honey of the two latter varieties is of 

 the finest quality, and quite equal in 

 flavor to the famed 'mielvert,' of the 

 Isle de Burbon, although it has not the 

 delicate green tint which is so much 

 esteemed in the latter. 



" The last of the Ceylon bees is the 

 most tiny, although an equally indus- 

 trious worker. It is a little smaller 

 than our common house-fly, and builds 

 its diminutive nest in the hollow of a 

 tree, where the entrance to its mansion 

 is a hole no larger than would be made 

 by a lady's stiletto. 



" It would be a natural supposition 

 that so delicate an insect would produce 

 a honey of corresponding purity, but, 

 instead of the expected treasure, we find 

 a thick, black, and rather pungent mo- 

 lasses." 



Norris, Ills. 



Arranging Honey m Store Windows. 



EMMA WILSON. 



I feel very much aggrieved, and my 

 special grievance is with commission 

 men this time. I wonder why they don't 

 make their honey look a little more at- 

 tractive. In passing down South Water 

 Street, Chicago, I saw very little, if any, 

 honey that looked very tempting. Per- 

 haps I don't know very much about the 

 circumstances, and it may be they were 

 making the very best display they could 

 with what they had on hand. It is very 

 easy to find fault. 



However, I know that one house 

 might have done better, for they had 

 some very nice honey up-stairs, while 

 the display in the window was very 

 poor. The room up-stairs was dark, 

 and the honey could be seen only by 

 scratching a match, or by the use of a 

 lamp. The reason given for not having 

 a better display down-stairs was, that 

 they were expecting a very much nicer 

 lot of honey in a few days, and were 

 waiting for that. 



It may be that it was a very inoppor- 

 tune time to visit. Perhaps they were 

 all waiting, expecting something nicer. 

 I hope so, I am sure. I hope they got 

 it, too, and made their windows look so 



nice with it that people passing felt they 

 wanted some of the honey right away. 



I know that commission men have a 

 great many obstacles to contend with, 

 and not the least of these is a lack of 

 room. With much of the honey seen, 

 the fault was not with the commission 

 men, as no amount of painstaking on 

 their part could have made it look at- 

 tractive. I only wondered if it was the 

 best they had on hand. If so, the 

 trouble was with the producers, and 

 they were to blame for sending it to 

 market in such shape, and ought not to 

 complain if they did not get a good price 

 for it, as much of it could not have gone 

 any higher than fourth grade by either 

 the Chicago or the Albany grading. 



To be sure, some sections in some of 

 the cases might have passed for first 

 grade, if they had not been mixed with 

 the others. Somtj cases shown were 

 mostly nice, white honey, but several 

 sections containing a good deal of pollen 

 had been put in. There were other 

 cases containing sections of beautiful 

 white comb and honey, but a few of the 

 sections were soiled, and a few contain- 

 ing honey-dew had been put in. 



Now, the commission man was not to 

 blame if he did not get a good price for 

 that honey. Putting the bad in with 

 the good did not bring the bad up to a 

 higher grade, but did bring the good 

 down to a lower grade, and the producer 

 has no right to expect the commission 

 man to assort his honey for him, putting 

 it in the grade where it belongs. He 

 must do that for himself, or be willing 

 to take the lower price his honey will 

 bring on account of the shape in which 

 it is put up. 



I must say my fingers fairly ached to 

 have some good honey with which to 

 arrange some of those windows, to make 

 them look attractive. When we get 

 our honey ready for market, we take a 

 great deal of pains to pile it up to look 

 nice just for our own gratification, al- 

 though it is going to stay there only a 

 few days, and its looking nice will make 

 no difference in the price to us. Last 

 year we piled the cases all around the 

 sides of the honey-room, glass side fac- 

 ing us, and, when ready to ship, we had 

 a room completely walled with honey ; 

 and unless you have tried it, you have 

 no idea how nice it looked. Of course, 

 commission men have not the same 

 chance, as they have not sufficient room; 

 but couldn't they do something toward 

 it ? — Gleanings. 

 Marengo, Ills. 



