372 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



June 15. 1899. 



some trouble, but I do not believe I would trade good bar- 

 rels for those 60-pound cans when harvesting honey which 

 may have to be put into small receptacles, according to the 

 customers' wishes. For instance, if we have a crop of 

 20,000 pounds of honey, and put it all in 60-pound cans, we 

 maj' have orders for some 10-pound or S-pound, or even 

 smaller cans. You will ask. Why not put it up in different 

 sizes ? We have tried it, but this has to be done during 

 the harvest, when we are busy, and then we do not know 

 how much should be put up of each different size of pack- 

 ages. If it is all in 60-pound cans, when we take it out, to 

 put, say 3, 000 pounds in small sizes, we have SO of those cans 

 to empty. It is a great trouble to wash them, and it is not 

 advisable to leave them sticky with honey for a season. If 

 you wash them, they will not dry inside and will rust. If 

 your honey is in large barrels the putting up of the 3,000 

 pounds will use up the honey of only about six barrels. 

 These are easily emptied, easily cleansed, and ready for 

 another crop without fear of rust or bad taste. 



The demand for honey in 60-pound cans is on the in- 

 crease, and I am glad of it. I should very much like to sell 

 all the honey we produce in that shape, but we must cater 

 to the trade, and I do not think that we will ever cease re- 

 tailing out our goods in all sizes of packages, from 500 

 pounds to a single pound. We expect to use tin cans 

 mainly, but we will always prefer barrels from which to put 

 up different sizes according to orders. 



One word of warning : It is unsafe to melt granulated 

 honey and return it to the barrel while it is hot. Honey 

 has such wonderful hygrometric properties that the hot 

 honey will absorb any moisture that maj' exist in the wood 

 and actually shrink it till it leaks. This does not happen 

 with cold honey. We were caught at this twice before we 

 understood what was the cause of the trouble. So if you 

 have to melt honey do not put it back into the barrel before 

 it is cold. It is always best to use a good, strong can — an 

 extractor can is very good — as it may be used till the honey 

 has all been drawn off. If large tin cans with open top 

 were not so inconvenient, they would make excellent pack- 

 ages to keep honey till the apiarist is readj- to put it up for 

 retailing. 



I spoke of barrels glued for coal-oil or alcohol ; I meant 

 barrels that have not been in use. A barrel that has con- 

 tained alcohol is safe for honey, but a barrel that has con- 

 tained coal-oil is fit for nothing but coal-oil afterwards. 



"EXPERIENCED NOVICE" A MIST.\KE. 



I like Cogitator's friendly criticisms, which are always 

 very much to the point, and pleasantly given, but I cannot 

 pass his last mention of the new phrase coined by myself, 

 as it would appear on page 164 — "experienced novice." By 

 referring- to the quotation on the page mentioned, the reader 

 will readily perceive that I meant " inexperienced novice ;" 

 the mistake was made either by my fault or by a typo- 

 graphical error. Altho I do not have the infallible correct- 

 ness which belongs only to erudite writers like R. L. Tay- 

 lor, I much prefer being guilty of the use of synonyms than 

 contradictory expressions. Hancock Co., 111. 



A Chatty Letter on Various Topics. 



BV W. A. PRYAL. 



THE Weather and Oueen-Rearing. — The weather has 

 been so fine for the past few weeks, and the days 

 seem so long, that I spend very little time within 

 doors. I am glad that I am able to be in the open air 

 so much, tho I like to spend several hours each day in 

 reading or writing. Lately I have been giving what 

 spare time I can command to my bees. I am in hopes that 

 I will be able to attend to the 40 odd colonies I have in such 

 a way that I will secure a good crop of honey. Then I want 

 to rear a lot of queens. I have found queen-rearing a very 

 fascinating occupation. I don't know anything I like bet- 

 ter. I have been reading up all the literature bearing upon 

 the subject I could g-et hold of. I have been very much 

 taken up with " Thirty Years Among the Bees. " I think 

 it is about the most interestingly written book on bees pub- 

 lisht in this country. The title, tho, is badly chosen : it 

 should be changed in future editions. Then it should be 

 re-written and publisht in nice book form and bound in 

 cloth. I believe that if a book is worth printing it should 

 be worthy of a decent cover. Of course, cheap editions 

 could be issued for those who may choose, them in less pre- 

 tentious bindings. My edition is in pamphlet form. It is 

 too much of a bee-classic to send out that way. I have read 



" Scientific Queen-Rearing," but I do not like the plan in 

 it nearly so well as I do those in the other book. Then, the 

 latter gives the reader so many choices of ways that he can't 

 go wrong, if he has had any previous knowledge of the 

 business ; and he is so honest in his expressions that it 

 seems to me that one can't help but admire the man. 



We have had no rain since the middle of April to speak 

 of ; there has been none this month, tho the weather has 

 been threatening showers the past couple of days. Since I 

 started this letter it has begun to rain some, and I should 

 not wonder but we ma3- get enough to lay the dust. While 

 a good rain would be a benefit to the bee-pasturage, still, it 

 would do great damag-e to the haj- crop, much of which is 

 now cut, and to the cherry crop, the earlier varieties of 

 which are ripe. This fruit is much earlier than usual. Our 

 black Tartarians are seldom ripe before the end of the first 

 week in June. This year they are now readj- to harvest. 

 Cherries and most other fruit is not going to be a heavy 

 crop in California this season, yet the fruit will be of large 

 size and fine flavor. The trees are making a fine growth, 

 which may indicate that there will be a heavy crop next 

 year, provided there is not a dry season. The grain and 

 hay crop in this portion of the State will be heavy ; it will 

 be above the average. In the lower part of the State I have 

 been told by those who have been there recently, there will 

 be no crops to speak of. Grass only five inches high is 

 being cut for hay ; here it is three and four feet hig-h, and 

 in some places more. I notice that Prof. Cook, in the last 

 American Bee Journal, says that they have had but 7 inches 

 of rain in his section ; here we have had 23, I believe. 



Mr. Pender and the University. — When Mr. W. S. 

 Pender was with me a week ago Sunday, I drove him thru 

 the State University grounds, and showed him the several 

 varieties of eucalypti we have introduced here. All the 

 varieties grown in California are not to be seen in these 

 grounds ; neither was I able to show the gentleman all that 

 are scattered over the place. I showed him some that are 

 in other places hereabouts. I find that our names do not 

 agree with manj- he calls by the same name. There is noth- 

 ing like knowing the botanical name of a plant. 



Mr. Pender was quite an observer of our styles of 

 architecture ; he said that we build verj' pretty residences. 

 He wondered why the University did not have one or two 

 large buildings rather than so many of various sizes. I 

 told him that we were to have even more, and that some of 

 the very fine and handsome buildings he saw were to be 

 torn down along with all the smaller ones, and a grand sys- 

 tem of building inaugurated, the plans of which are being 

 prepared by the best architects in the world (there being an 

 open competition and large premiums being held out for the 

 best plans), and when everything is in readiness work will 

 be begun. The plan is to make our State University the 

 grandest in the world. The site is the finest possible, be- 

 ing about 200 feet above the bay, and opposite the Golden 

 Gate. Our deaf, dumb and blind asylums, at Berkeley, 

 have the name of being the finest of the kind anywhere, 

 tho I hardly think the buildings are the best. 



Quite a heavy shower fell while I was writing this 

 page": it may rain all night. (Later.— It did in showers, 

 and neither did g-ood nor harm — 'twas too light.) 



The indications are that honey is not going to be plen- 

 tiful ; the flowers do not yield much nectar. Perhaps later 

 the flow maj' be better. 



Exit Adui,teraTEd Honey. — To-day I called upon the 

 grocer in Oakland where I deal, and where I sold some 

 honey early this month, with the purpose of telling him 

 that i was prepared to sell him some of this year's honey — 

 extracted and comb— as I had commenced to harvest it. I 

 was more than pleased to find out that my prospect of sup- 

 plying the home market with extracted honey had increast 

 very encouragingly recently. It came about in this way : 



The city of Oakland has a health department that is up 

 with the times ; it has its health officer, sanitary inspector, 

 food inspector, chemist, etc. It has a well equipt labora- 

 tory. Well, my grocer told me that the food inspector had 

 called upon him a few days ago and askt to see what kinds, 

 of honey he was selling. He was shown some put up in 

 glass jars or bottles — a piece of comb honey surrounded 

 With what purported to be extracted honey. The markets 

 here are flooded with honey put up in this shape, most of 

 which bear the label of some one of the " syrup companies " 

 of San Francisco. This particular sort that the grocer 

 brought- forth did not bear any label ; it was a fair brand 

 of the usual " honey " that has been so sold in the markets 

 about the bay, and I suppose on the coast for many years. 



