THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Januar 



combs, to tiiid room to store the 

 honey. 



Mr. Poppleton says that "nearly or 

 quite nine-tenths of all loss of weight 

 caused by curing of newly gathered 

 honey in the hive occurs during the 

 first twelve or fifteen hours after it 

 is first deposited in the hives." This 

 ■being true, I see no reason in leav- 

 ing the honey on the hives several 

 days longer, thus limitin-r the stor- 

 age capacity of the hive, just to al- 

 low the honey to lose the one-tenth 

 in weight necessary to thoroughly 

 ripen. Why not extract it and allow 

 the honey to ripen in the tank, thus 

 giving the bees room to work? I am 

 not arguing for the extraction of hon- 

 ey before it is all sealed in localities 

 with which I am unfamiliar, but I 

 maintain that in northern Santa Bar- 

 bara county, Cal., a bee-keeper would 

 lose one-third of his yield and have 

 no better or more salable honey by 

 waiting until all the honey is sealed. 

 I make it a practice to case no honey 

 that weighs less than twelve pounds 

 to the gallon, and so far as I know, 

 no customer has ever complained of 

 the quality, but many have been the 

 compliments I received regarding the 

 color, body and flavor of my honey. 

 I had some experience this year help- 

 ing extract honey in the apiary of Mr. 

 J. F. Aitken, an extensive bee-keeper 

 of Reno, Nevada. Owing to a rush in 

 the comb honey business, this honey 

 was left on the hives until it was en- 

 tirely sealed and ripened. The result 

 was that about one-tenth of the new 

 combs were destroyed in the extrac- 

 tor, and we were very careful, 

 often not throwing out two-thirds of 

 the honey. The frames were the 

 Langstroth, and were fully wired. 

 Alfalfa honey is very heavy-bodied, 

 and in a warm, dry climate, like Ivan- 

 hoe county, Nev., one should start 

 extracting when one-third of the hon- 

 ey is sealed, and allow it to finish 

 ripening in the tank. 



This extracting of honey before it 

 is entirely sealed is a common prac- 

 tice in portions of the West, and the 

 fact that our honey is always in de- 

 mand and commands a good price is 

 evidence that it is a good article. The 

 extracting and sale of unripe honey is 

 not to be defended, and will react, 

 boomerang-like, against the man 

 practicing it; for he is not likely to 



sell this quality of honey twice to tt 

 same purchaser. But the extractin 

 of partially sealed honey, allowing 

 to ripen in a tank, is another propc 

 sition. That is a scientific proces 

 and I would not encourage the novic 

 to attempt it; but the expert who use 

 this method and thus increases h 

 j'ield is to be commended. He is nc 

 an "unscrupulous person," but a lei 

 el-headed business man. 



A man should study the conditior 

 of his own locality and practic 

 methods that will bring him t\ 

 largest yield of good honey, but 1: 

 should not make the mistake of a; 

 suming that his plan is a general prii 

 ciple applicable to all localities alik 



Wadsworth, Nev., Oct. i8, 1904. 



Our correspondent is correct, i 

 that the "extracting of honey befoj 

 it is sealed is to some extent a ma 

 ter of locality." However, we thir 

 that Mr. Poppleton has never rc' 

 ommended the practice of .leaviri 

 honey upon the hive until sealed. Ui 

 der certain conditions honey may 1 

 in excellent condition to extract whc 

 but slightly sealed, while under othi 

 circumstances certain kinds of hone 

 that is entirely sealed will not kee 

 M-ell. These are points with whi( 

 the expert is familiar, but not unde 

 stood by the inexperienced. Expe 

 skill in handling extracted honey 

 not so important in the arid West : 

 it is in most other localities. Cond 

 tions there naturally take care of tl 

 honey under almost any and all ci 

 cumstances. Not so, however, i 

 many other places. — Editor. 



SWARTHMORE DEMONSTRA- 

 TION 



Before the Pennsylvania Conventioi 



By our own Special Correspondent. 



IN HIS REMARKS before the Pent 

 sylvania State Bee-Keepers' Assc 

 ciation, at its annual meeting hel 

 in Harrisburg, December 6 to 7, E. I 

 Pratt, of Swarthmore, said: 



"I have been asked to prepare 

 paper on some queen-rearing subjet 

 for this convention, and I think I ca 

 not do better than to give a brief e? 

 planation and demonstration of tb 



