THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



293 



honey extractor, comb foiindatiou, 

 and numerous other appliances to 

 make easy and to facilitate apiarian 

 operations. 



Comiiiinitively few persons, outside 

 of the liusiuess, have any correct idea 

 of the aumunt of the honey productof 

 the United States. From the latest 

 and most authentic records, we find 

 the anuiunt pr'xluced in 1S81 to be 

 lOO.OOU.OUO pounds, worth at the pres- 

 ent average selling ])rice §15,000.000. 

 This estimate falls a little short of the 

 average, owing to the unprecedented 

 drouth that prevailed that year. 



Bee-farming is becoming a special 

 business of no Hiean pretensions in 

 many portions of our country, eclip- 

 sing, in the way of ])rolits, many of 

 your hirge cotton )ilantat,ions. Cali- 

 fornia takes the lead in the production 

 of honey, and probably contains the 

 largest producers in the world. J. S. 

 Harbison, of San Diego county, has 

 0,000 colonies worked by 5 assistants ; 

 total product for tlie year 18S0. 310.000 

 pounds; value, 531,000. The Ilether- 

 ington Bros., of Cherry Valley, N. Y., 

 come in second to Ilarbison. Boot 

 Bros., of Mohawk, same State, took 

 the past season from 160 strong colo- 

 nies in the spring, 32,809 pounds ; 

 while in the same State tliere are 

 dozens of aiiiaries that yield respect- 

 ivel.v from 6,000 to 30.000 pounds. In 

 the ><"orthwesl, there are hundreds of 

 apiaries that run from 3,000 to 20,000 

 pounds. In our Southern country, 

 comparatively little attention has 

 been paid to the small rural indus- 

 tries. The assumed prestige that has 

 always shrouded the little "cotton 

 planter." awed them into l):ickground. 

 There is more attention ])aid to api- 

 culture in Florida and Louisiana than 

 in any other southern States. Many 

 apiaries in those Statf's produce from 

 6.000 to :;0,000 pounds of honey per 

 annum. 



Fully four-lifths of all the honey 

 that goes to market is slung from the 

 combs by a machine called a honey 

 extractor, which consists of a large 

 tin can containing a ;evolviug frame 

 to hold the combs, and which removes 

 the honey from the cells by centrifu- 

 gal force" the sime as water is sl\n)g 

 from a grindstone wlien rapidly 

 turned. Before the comb is put into 

 this machine the cells are all im- 

 capped by a knife made expres.sly for 

 the business. By this arrangement 

 the honey is secured at a great saving 

 of comb, which is put back again into 

 the liive to be again tilled by the bees. 

 The comb or wax the bees make from 

 honey, and it has been determined 

 that in making one pound of comb, 

 they consume from 10 to 15 pounds of 

 honey in its in-oduction. 



The most of American honey finds 

 a ready market in our large cities, 

 where tliere are mercliants who make 

 a specialty of handling it. Hundreds 

 of tons go' to England and to the con- 

 tinent, and large ordei'S for it have 

 recently come from China and Japan. 

 In our Northern and Western nuir- 

 kets, the honey is all graded as to 

 quality. Light shades, such as white 

 clover, connnand the best price, run- 

 ning from 1-5 to 25 cents per pcunid for 

 comb, and from 12 to 15 cents for ex- 



tracted. The dark shades bring a less 

 price, and are mostly consumed by 

 manufacturers. Extracted lioney sold 

 at 10 cents per pound pays you as well 

 as comb honey sold at 15 cents, from 

 the fact that you can get fully one- 

 third more hoiieyfrom your bees when 

 worked for the "use of the extractor 

 than when nuinipulated tor comb. 



In marketing honey it is very nec- 

 essary, if good prices are any consid- 

 eration, to put it up iu convenient 

 packages, observing all tlie conditions 

 to have it neat and inviting in appear- 

 ance. With many persons this latter 

 requisite has more influence than 

 prime quality. We in the South are 

 too far distant from the Northern and 

 Western markets to ship comb honey 

 successfully — breakage and leakage 

 would consume all the protits ; but we 

 can ship extracted honey at paying 

 prices. For this object it slioidd be 

 put up iu tight well made wooden 

 kegs or barrels, of about 20 gallons 

 capacity. This size is the most con- 

 venient to handle. Some shippers, in 

 order to guard against leaking, wax 

 their barrels on the inside by pouring 

 in boiling wax and then rolling them 

 around, by which means the inside is 

 coated. I advise this precaution ; for 

 a barrel that may hold water, will not 

 always hold lioney, as the latter arti- 

 cle has not the property of swelling 

 out the particles of wood like water. 



It is best for small producers to lind 

 a market as near home as possible. 

 As a general thing home markets are 

 the best, as they save freights and 

 often commissions. I believe there 

 ai-e very few places where honey can- 

 not be sold. A friend, both a physi- 

 cian and planter, located iu a suiall 

 village ill middle Georgia, had been 

 keeping bees for several years more 

 for pleasure than profit, but last sea- 

 son he concluded to run them with a 

 view to make them pay, and he found 

 his dozen colonies of bees brought 

 liim more money than any two acres 

 he had in cotton. Before- this, he 

 thought he could find no one to buy 

 his honey, but after he put it up in 

 nice shape and offered it for sale, he 

 had no trouble to sell all he bad at a 

 fair price. Hence it is possible, with 

 proper exertion and management, to 

 build up home markets for honey. 

 Thousands ot pounds could be sold 

 where now a few pounds are consid- 

 ered a great luxury. 



Honey, instead of being regarded as 

 a luxury by many persons, is becom- 

 ing every year more of a staple arti- 

 cle. One reason of this is, a waking 

 up of the people to a realization of the 

 fearful consequences of the adultera- 

 tion of our syrups and sugars, by glu- 

 cose and unwholesome articles, made 

 by tlie action of acids upon starch. 

 It can also be made by chemical pro- 

 cess of old rags an"d woody fibre. 

 Chemists tell us that fully 75 percent, 

 of glucose syrup can be added to cane 

 syrup and 25 per cent, of crushed or 

 pulverized glucose can be added to 

 cane sugar with no risk of detection, 

 by the ordinary consumer. It is easy, 

 then, to imagine what becomes of a 

 large portion of the thousands of tons 

 of glucose that are manufactured 

 every 24 hours by the glucose factories 



in the United States. Would it not 

 be infinitely better, instead of eating 

 commercial syrups of fancy brands 

 that contribute to disease and death, 

 to supply your families with pure ex- 

 tracted honey, the syrup that God 

 distills in the laboratory of the tlowerV 



Bee-keeping is like any other sort 

 of business that is subject to failure 

 and success. It does not follow, 

 neither can it be supposed, that every 

 one who takes hold of it is going to 

 make it a success. In this business 

 there is no such thing as that abstract 

 something called " luck." Luck in 

 bee-cultuie is always measured by 

 " pluck," and by an observance of all 

 those conditions upon which its suc- 

 cessful pro.secution depends. 



First, it is all important for an 

 apiarist to have a taste for the busi- 

 ness, combined with the necessary 

 knowledge or experience. He must 

 possess a large share of that faculty 

 that promjits to do things at the right 

 time. Many persons will invest dol- 

 lars in hives and fixtures, but not a 

 cent in bee books and periodicals that 

 impart information upon the instincts 

 of the bee, and upon its most success- 

 fut mode of management. 



Secondly, the apiary should be loca- 

 ted in a locality where there is an 

 abundance of honey-producing plants. 

 Honey is a natural secretion of the 

 flower, and not a manufactured pro- 

 duct of tlie bee as is usually supposed. 

 Therefore, suitable flora is required, 

 otherwise no yield of honey can be 

 expected. In our Southern country, 

 the best pasturage is usually found 

 along our water-courses, where abound 

 alder, maple, poplar, holly, sourwood, 

 persimmon, black-gum, bay, etc., and 

 many species of flowering shrubs and 

 plants. All fruit blossoms yield more 

 or less honey. In some seasons the 

 cotton bloom secrets honey abund- 

 antly, which is of a light color and of 

 good flavor. The flow of honey is al- 

 ways influenced by the sort of weather 

 prevailing at the time. Too much 

 rain will wash away the nectar, while 

 during a protracted drouth the flow 

 will slop. A very hot sun will evapo- 

 rate the honey asfast as the nectaries 

 secrete it. Ilence, on siicli days, bees 

 only go to the pasture very early in 

 tlie morning and late in the evening. 

 Bee-keepers should pay more atten- 

 tion to the preservation of their pas- 

 tures, guard against its wanton de- 

 struction, and encourage its planting 

 and growth. Much can be planted 

 and sown that will have value besides 

 the yield of honey. Prominent among 

 tliis class, I may name fruit trees, 

 cow peas, rape, mustard and the clo- 

 vers. The latter can be grown on 

 moderately rich clay soil, but will not 

 thrive on sandy. The finest grade of 

 honey is gathered from clover. Ital- 

 ian bees will work on red clover, while 

 the common black b'ees will not. 

 Buckvi'heat is very unreliable as a 

 honey plant in our climate. Many ex- 

 tensive bee-keepers in the west find 

 that it pays them to cultivate forage 

 expressly for their bees. 



Thirdly, the bee-keeper must avail 

 himself of those appliances required 

 to facilitate his business. No one can 

 successfully manipulate his bees, and 



