THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



695 



" You speak of linden honey. Have 

 you ditt'erent brands of honey accord- 

 ing to the dilferent flowers which the 

 bees frequent V" 



" Certainly. Not of all kinds, but 

 of three— clover honey, linden honey, 

 and thistle or wild weed honey." 



" How can you distinguish between 

 the honey that is collected from 

 clover, and that which is gathered 

 from the linden trees V" 



" It is very simple. Every scientific 

 bee-keeper in Ontario uses the honey- 

 extractor, by which the honey is ex- 

 pelled from the comb without injur- 

 ing the cells. The comb is placed in 

 a rapidly-rotating cylinder. The cen- 

 trifugal force that is generated, forces 

 the liquid honey through the waxen 

 seal at the end of the cell, and the 

 comb thus cleared of honey is re- 

 placed in the hive, and the bees at 

 once begin to refill the emptied cells. 

 The great point in bee-keeping, it 

 must be remembered, is to save the 

 bees trouble. The object of the bee- 

 keeper is to produce honey, not comb. 



We have three honey crops in the 



year, and by ordinary care it is quite 

 possible to keep them quite separate.!' 



" Does the honey differ very much 

 in flavor?" 



" There is all the difference in the 

 honey that there is in the flowers 

 from which it comes. People some- 

 times seem to imagine that a bee is a 

 kind of insect-cow, which browses 

 upon flowers and converts tho nectar 

 into honey by a process somewhat 

 analogous to that by which the cow 

 converts grass into milk. A bee does 

 no such thing. It simply taps the 

 flowers, stores the nectar in its bag, 

 and empties the unchanged nectar 

 into the cells in the hive.". . . . 



" Honey in the comb we retail at 

 Ontario for a shilling a pound. This 

 is the finest white honey, and fully 

 equal to that which is sold in your 

 shops here at 2s. per pound. The ex- 

 tracted honey, which granulates and 

 becomes, as you will see in our ex- 

 hibit, as solid as butter, is sold at 

 about 8d. per pound. There is no 

 glucose or syrup in any of the Ontario 

 honey. Our Association prides itself 

 upon the purity of its produce, and 

 oners a reward for the discovery of 

 any adulteration. We are quite cer- 

 tain that it only needs that our honey 

 be known for an extensive demand to 

 be created, and we look forward with 

 confidence to the result of the display 

 of the products of our honey harvest 

 in the Colonial Exhibition." • 



Nortli American Bee-Keepers' Society, 



REPORTS OF VICE-PRESIDENTS. 



FLORIDA From W. S. Hart. 



Bees hpfp came through tlie winter in 

 fine condition, but, notwithstancling that 

 fact, 188B has, witliout doubt, been the 

 poorest year for lioiipy that lias been 

 known in this State witliin the memory 

 of the present inhabitants. In tliis part 

 of the State (often called tlie bee-helt), 

 where the greater portion of tlie State's 

 crop is usually producefl, there is, this 

 year, no honey to ship; only enough hav- 

 ing been produced to nicely carry the bees 

 through to the harvest time of next season. 



Bees commenced to work a little early 

 in January on the maple; but on Jan. 9 to 

 11 we had the moat severe cold snap that 

 has been known for 51 years, and jiroba- 

 bly for considerable over a hundred, judg- 

 ing by the growth of mangrove killed at 

 that time and still standing. This ruined 

 our prospects for surplus white honey tor 

 the seasBn, by killing the tops of most of 

 the black mangrove trees, and of some the 

 roots also. Many still hoped to get some 

 white honey from the cabbage palmetto, 

 but as some apiarists questioned its honey 

 producing qualities, it was watched with 

 much interest. Tiie bees work upon it 

 and the mangrove at the same time, and as 

 the latter could not give a crop this year, 

 the season was a pretty good test. The 

 cabbage tree bloomed very freely, and the 

 bees gathered little but pollen from it, and 

 stored no surplus honey. A few days after 

 the freeze the bees were at work again 

 upon the maple. Honey and pollen came 

 in slowly the restof the winter and spring. 



The colonies bred up very rapidly, and 

 by March 1 more honey was consumed by 

 the brood than was coming in, so that in 

 April many colonies had to be fed. 

 Swarming commenced early in March, 

 and continued until May, although much 

 of the time honey came in so slowly that 

 all new colonies had to be led imme- 

 diately. March and April are usually dry 

 montlis, but this year proved to be very 

 wet. May and June, usually showery, 

 were so very dry as to ruin the crop from 

 bay, gallberry, saw-palmetto, and those 

 plants and trees that usually give us an 

 early surplus. 



Then came the time for our main crop 

 of the season from mangrove, which 

 usuallly lasts until about Aug. 10, but this 

 year honey was so scarce in June, July, 

 and August that a bee-tent had to be used 

 when working with the bees, to prevent 

 robbing. The fall flow has also been 

 unusuatly small, and the bees unusually 

 inclined to rob. Most of us have doubled 

 back all weak colonies, so as to carry 

 through only the best of our stock. 



Only a few reports have come in from 

 other portions of the State in response to 

 my inquiries, but those received all speak 

 of small crops. Southwest Florida makes 

 tlie best report, a small crop having been 

 gathered from the wild pennyroyal early 

 in the season. A fair increase ot colonies 

 is also reported from there. 



In conclusion I will say that much of 

 the black mangrove is putting out finely 

 and even showed considerable late bloom. 



GEORGIA— From Dr. J.P.H.Brown. 



The honey crop for the State of Georgia 

 has been about an average. While the 

 Georgia honey will compare in body and 

 flavor with any produced in the United 

 States, it is much darker color than the 

 average of the Northern product. Honey 

 here is more difficult to classify as to its 

 source, aa we have such a multitudinous 

 variety of honey-producing plants. 



Those bee-keepers who work their bees 

 to the best advantage in frame hives, re- 

 ceive remunerative returns for the labor 

 and capital invested. The bulk of the 

 crop is sold at home, and near markets, 

 and I am not aware of any shipments to 

 Northern or Western markets being made. 

 Most of the honey is taken to market in 

 the comb, and that which is in nice one 

 and two pound sections sells for fully 50 

 per cent, more than the ordinary comb 

 honey offered Oy the old box-hive bee- 

 keepers in buckets and tubs. 



During the past year the bee-keeping 

 industry has about held its own in the 

 State— if any move has been made, it has 

 been on the side of progress and improve- 

 ment in hives, appliances, and bees. 



ILLINOIS— From Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 Bees passed the winter of 188,5-86 with 

 very little loss, and the spring will long ' 



be remembered for its many genial and 

 sunshiny days, so favorable for the devel- 

 opment of young bees, and for the secre- 

 tion of nectar. 



Under these conditions, bees increased 

 very rapidly, and hives were running over 

 with bees when white clover bloomed. 

 There were many cool nights during its 

 blooming; yet the crop is a very fair 

 average. As far as I have been able to 

 ascertain, hasswood never yields much in 

 Illinois. The white clover bloom, with 

 few exceptions, was followed by a severe 

 and prolonged drouth, which cut short 

 fall flowers, and only hall a crop will be 

 the result. 



The intelligent management of bees is 

 on the increase, and honey of good quality 

 is abundant and cheap. The prayer of 

 Father Langstroth, that every poor man 

 might be able to have it on his table, is 

 about to be answered. 



INDIANA— From Jonas Schou^. 



Bees wintered well in this State, and 

 early spring found nearly all of our wide- 

 awake bee-keepers with their lull quota 

 of colonies, and those colonies full to 

 overflowing with bees ready to take advan- 

 tage of the early flow of honey. The elm, 

 willow, maple and sugar-tree gave more 

 than the usual supply ol honey and pol- 

 len, in short, the spring was very lavor- 

 able for rapid building up ol colonies, and 

 bee-keepers were jubilant over the pros- 

 pect of once more securing a full crop ol 

 honey. But in this they were again dis- 

 appointed, lor, as the season advanced, 

 the weather was less favorable for the 

 secretion of honey. Repeated heavy rains 

 coming at the time when the flow ol honey 

 is usually best through the central partol 

 the State, and drouth in the northern sec- 

 tions, cut short the honey crop, on a gen- 

 eral average, fully one-half. Yet this hall 

 crop will amount to 600,000 pounds in our 

 State. The quality is excellent, and the 

 bulk of our honey finds a market within 

 the State, as ourbee-keeping friends have 

 learned, years ago, to IJuild up a home 

 demand for their surplus. 



Our main source of honey is white 

 clover, with hasswood north of the centre 

 of the State. The yellow poplar, or tulip 

 timber, was once valuable as a source of 

 hoiiev, butit is now becoming so scarce 

 that "but little surplus can be obtained 

 Irom it. 



Indiana compares lavorably with other 

 States in the industry ot bee-keeping and 

 the production ol honey. Her varied and 

 fertile soil can perhaps be depended upon 

 to produce the different kinds of clover, 

 equal to if not better than that of any of 

 the Central States; and while no particular 

 locality can be said to produce enormous 

 yields, yet through the entire length of 

 the State, from Lake Michigan to the 

 Ohio river, everywhere, with but lew ex- 

 ceptions, can bees be kept with profit. In 

 the very important matter ol wintering, 

 Indiana bee-keepers can report as good 

 results, generally, as others in the same 

 latitude. In fact many ol them are com- 

 pletely successful in carrying their bees 

 through the winter. Statistics give the 

 number of colonies within the State at 

 about 80,000. ' 



MICHIGAN— From Prof. Cook. 

 The season in most ol Michigan has 

 been characterized by a very severe and 

 long continued drouth. Notwithstanding 

 this I think the honey product ol the 

 State is fully 75 per cent, of an average. 

 With us here it is fully an average. We 

 find drouth and nectar may he compan- 

 ions. With almost no rain in May and 

 June, we had a fine white clover harvest, 

 and quite an amount ot hasswood honey. 

 The latter yield was cut short. Autumn 

 rains have given us a fine crop ol golden- 

 rod honey. Two points I wish to em- 

 phasize : 1. The importance ol Alsike 

 clover, which, even with an abundance ol 



