1903 



GLE/\NINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



327 



shipment of Cuban comb honey went to 

 New York. It was beautiful. It was well 

 flavored, well filled out, white, and the 

 buyer had every reason to suppose it would 

 be a g'ood seller, because it arrived just 

 when the market was a little bare of domes- 

 tic comb honey. But a few weeks later he 

 was chagrined to find this honey was 

 candying-, and he came to the conclusion 

 that all Cuban comb honey would candy in 

 like manner. As he was a larg^e buyer, 

 and had promised to take a large amount 

 of such goods, he wrote back to his Cuban 

 customers to " hold off." An investigation 

 revealed the fact that the first lot of Cuban 

 honey that had been received was largely 

 fed-back, and, like all such honey, it should 

 be sold to the consumer at once. Subse- 

 quent shipments of comb honey from Cuba, 

 I understand, to this same buj'er, have 

 been all right. The Cuban bee-keepers 

 had learned in the meantime it would not 

 pay to feed back to fill out their sections, 

 and accordingly they shipped only that 

 which had been filled from the product di- 

 rect from the fields. 



(Juite a number of other facts of like na- 

 ture have come before us at different times; 

 and while one can at times feed extracted 

 hone}' to finish out some of his unfinished 

 comb honey, he must make arrangements 

 to have this honey turned over to the con- 

 sumer as soon as possible. Feeding back 

 does not hurt the flavor in the least; and it 

 is onl\' after the lapse of time that its sell- 

 ing quality is affected, and that almost 

 wholh' through the tendency of extracted 

 hone}' to " leaven the whole mass." 



Two or three years ago, when I attended 

 the Colorado State Bee-keepers' Association 

 convention. Prof. W. P. Headden, of the 

 Agricultural College and Experiment Sta- 

 tion at Fort Collins, Col., gave an interest- 

 ing address on candied honey. Among oth- 

 er things, he stated that agitation caused 

 honey to candy more quickly than it other- 

 wise would. If I remember correctly, he 

 gave it as his opinion that the reason comb 

 honey did not granulate as quickly as ex- 

 tracted was because the latter was subject- 

 ed to the extracting process — aviolent throw- 

 ing and splashing causing it to come in 

 contact with a great amount of air. There 

 were two or three at the convention who 

 testified that, in order to hasten granula- 

 tion, they had actually been stirring the 

 honey in addition to putting it in a cool 

 place. 



It is another well-known fact that maple- 

 sugar syrup may be brought to a granulat- 

 ed condition much more rapidly if it be 

 stirred during cooling than if it is allowed 

 to stand in a quiet condition. Whether there 

 is any chemical or mechanical relation be- 

 tween the honey and syrup I can not say. 



Another fact is that honey subjected to a 

 temperature of 160 or 180 degrees Fahren- 

 heit will remain liquid for perhaps a year 

 or more if it be sealed while hot. What 

 does the heat have to do with it chemically? 



Another interesting and well-known fact 



in connection with this matter is a little pe- 

 culiar. Here are the sage and alfalfa hon- 

 ey that are produced in the same climate, 

 and within a few miles of each other, or 

 perhaps within a mile itself. One will 

 candy very readily, and the other will re- 

 main liq.uid without any particular treat- 

 ment for nearly a year or more, in spite of 

 its previous agitation in the process of ex- 

 tracting. What the chemical difference is 

 between the two honeys that should cause 

 this tendency in one to solidify, no scientist 

 has so far ever pointed out. 



It is still another well-known fact that 

 extracted alfalfa honey will candy more 

 quickly than perhaps any other honey 

 known. Mr. R. C. Aikin, as our readers 

 may remember, takes advantage of this fact 

 when he allows it to run into paper bags to 

 solidify. 



There is a great deal that we do not 

 know about this subject. What we do know 

 can be comprised in a few hundred words. 

 What we do 7iot know might fill a large 

 volume. I wish that we might in some way 

 stimulate an inquiry that will lead to a 

 more exact and scientific knowledge where- 

 by we can hasten it in one case, or retard 

 it in another, just as conditions warrant. I 

 should be glad to hear from any of our sub- 

 scribers who are in possession of facts that 

 will lead to further light. 



QOVERNMENT AID FOR BEE=KEEPERS. 



Comments on Mr. W. K. Morrison's Article ; Apis 

 Uorsata and Otber Races of Bees Considered. 



BY FRANK BENTON, 

 United States Department of Agriculture. 



The general tendency of the suggestions 

 under the above heading in the article by 

 Mr. W. K. Morrison, p. 96, Feb. 1, is cer- 

 tainly good; for any discussion of the sub- 

 ject which calls attention to the various lines 

 of work that might be carried out through 

 governmental aid, and which might result 

 beneficially to the bee-keeping industry in 

 general, and add to the prosperity of the 

 country by increasing the revenues from 

 this branch of agriculture, is commendable. 



Some things, however, are brought for- 

 ward in the article in question as though 

 they were there presented for the first time; 

 whereas in every instance the suggestions 

 are such as I have repeatedly recommended, 

 both in addresses before bee-keepers' associ- 

 ations, in various articles which have ap- 

 peared in the apiarian publications, and 



