cyj^' 



tt Journal 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO. ILL., JULY 16, 1884. 



No. 29. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editof ^ni> Proprietor. 



Comb Honey Without Separators. 



We must say that we have never 

 been favorable to the plan of dis- 

 pensing with the use of separators, 

 when getting comb honey ready for 

 the metropolitan markets. We have 

 seen so many ill-eflfects of the non- 

 use of separators, that we have about 

 concluded that it was detrimental to 

 the best interests of honey producers 

 to favor the plan. 



We have just now received the fol- 

 lowing letter and the box of honey 

 therein mentioned : 



Dear Editor :— I .send you to-day, 

 by express, 2 of my two-pound section 

 boxes with honey produced without 

 separators, by my new strain of bees. 

 I got 54 sections like the ones sent, 

 every one of which could be glassed 

 like the ones sent. So much for comb 

 honey without separators. The quality 

 of the honey, also, is the finest I have 

 ever obtained. None of my Italians 

 ever produced honey so fine and clear. 

 Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



New Philadelphia, O., July 7, 1S84. 



The honey is elegant in appearance, 

 superb in quality, and though the sec- 

 tions are only one and three- six- 

 teenths of an inch thick inside the 

 glass, the honey is as straight as a 

 board, and the glass (though it al- 

 most touches the honey all over) 

 seems to be equi-distant from the cap- 

 ping of every cell-. The glass is held 

 to the section by two elastic bands. 



The Doctor should feel highly grati- 

 fied at the production of such elegant 

 specimens of comb honey. 



If this can be done, without separa- 

 tors, in large quantities, it is all that 

 can be desired, and its accomplish- 

 ment will be hailed with delight by 

 thousands who have hitherto con.sid- 

 ered separators a necessity. 



It is true that neither one flower 

 nor one bird will make summer— we 

 need the full chorus of myriads of 

 birds of every hue, the universal 

 bloom of nature's loveliest gorgeous- 

 ness, the genial and refreshing show- 

 ers, and the light and heat of the 

 glorious " orb of day " to complete the 

 indispensable features of summer. It 

 is just the same with this important 

 matter of the use of separators — we 

 need the test applied to large pro- 

 ducts, in order to demonstrate the 

 possibility of the successful produc- 

 tion of comb honey without separa- 

 tors, so that we may be assured that 

 it will alike answer all the require- 

 ments of the producer, the wholesaler, 

 the retailer, and the consumer. 



Let us hope that the present ex- 

 periments, and the many individual 

 successes which have been reported, 

 may prove to be the first-fruits of the 

 great harvest of such experiences 

 which shall fully and unequivocally 

 demonstrate the successful produc- 

 tion of comb honey without separa- 

 tors. If not, then we cannot afford to 

 dispense with their use. 



W Mr. .J. Stewart, Rock City, 

 Stephenson County, 111., Secretary of 

 the " Northwestern Illinois and South- 

 western Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation " makes the following re- 

 quest : 



At our last meeting in Rockton, the 

 Association passed a resolution order- 

 ing me to correspond with all bee- 

 keepers' associations in the State, in 

 order to endeavor to have a law 

 passed by the State Legislature for 

 the prevention and destruction of 

 foul brood. As I do not know the 

 names of the associations in tlie 

 State, or the addresses of the secre- 

 taries, I would request the secretaries 

 to furnish me with their addresses 

 and the names of their associations, 

 as required, so that we may act in 

 concert. 



igp This is " convention year," and 

 there Is to be an International Conven- 

 tion of bee-keepers at South Kensing- 

 ton , London, England, on Aug. 7. 



Cyprians, Syrians, etc. 



Mr. L. C. Root, author of "New 

 Bee-Keeping," in the July American 

 Agriculturist, gives his views of some 

 of the new varieties of bees which 

 have been introduced into the United 

 States with considerable expenditure 

 of time and money. 



The Cyprians have some marked 

 characteristics. They have been quite 

 thoroughly tested, but do not grow in 

 favor with the majority. They are 

 far too irritable to be agreeable to 

 handle. Some consider them superior 

 honey gatherers. I have given them 

 quite a thorough trial, and the only 

 point I could find in their favor, was 

 a tendency to breed late in the fall, 

 which is desirable as affording a good 

 force of young bees when going into 

 winter quarters. I have not tested 

 the Syrians. Mr. Benton pronounces 

 them among the very best. The 

 Carniolans are said to possess some 

 very desirable qualities, and a cross 

 between them and the Italians has a 

 good reputation. Much has been said 

 of the Holy Land or Palestine bees, 

 but my own experience does not cor- 

 roborate all that is claimed for them. 



Mr. Julius Hoffman received an im- 

 portation of C'aucasian bees in 1880. 

 He has experimented quite extensively 

 with them, and is of the opinion they 

 are superior in many respects. In 

 fact, I nave never heard more desir- 

 able points claimed for any one 

 variety than Mr. Hoffman claims for 

 these. He is one of our most practi- 

 cal bee-keepers, and his conclusions 

 should be receivid with confidence. 

 Much credit is due those who have 

 been so persevering in securing to us 

 these new varieties. The ultimate 

 results must be of great good, as the 

 future crossing of these strains will, 

 no doubt, give us one with a combi- 

 nation of very superior traits. 



^ Tlie article on page 420, entitled 

 " Expose your Hives to the Morning 

 Sun," should have been credited to-' 

 the British Quarterly Review for De- 

 cember, 1842. It was intended to 

 show rather a line specimen of maga- 

 zine bee- writing of 42 years ago, but 

 the date there given, by an oversight, 

 made it quite a recent matter. 



1^ Letters for publication must be 

 written on a separate piece of paper 

 from items of business. 



