1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



667 



find it is impossible to publish more than 

 a small portion of the questions that come 

 in to us; and the rest, in the case of regu- 

 lar patrons or subscribers, are answered 

 privately. Now, I have something- to do 

 besides answering- letters; but I am per- 

 fectly willing to respond to all inquiries. 

 But our friends will save me a great deal 

 of time if they will make their questions 

 brief, write on only one side of the sheet, 

 and number the pages. Long letters are 

 apt to be delayed, and perhaps never an- 

 swered. It takes time and brains to dig a 

 question or two out of a long rambling let- 

 ter. Get down to the meat of j'our inquiry 

 at once, leaving out all unimportant details. 



CUBAN HONEY ON THE AMERICAN MARKETS. 



There have been fears expressed several 

 times that Cuban honey might have a seri- 

 ous effect on the American market for 

 American honey. The great bulk of this 

 "West-Indian product, as I have before stat- 

 ed, goes to Europe, because it is of such 

 poor qualit}', mixed with dirt, dead bees, 

 mashed brood, and comb, that it would 

 hardly pass muster, even for manufactur- 

 ing purposes, in this country. Where the 

 manufacturers ( bake-shops and confection- 

 ers) have had one shipment they want no 

 more of it at an3^ price. But the modern 

 American bee-keepers in Cuba are putting 

 up a better grade of honey, and manj' are 

 working toward comb honev', and are put- 

 ting out a very fine quality of it. 



It is this that has created ?l furore (and 

 needlessly so) among the American bee- 

 keepers; but the fact of it is, it comes to our 

 markets at just the time when they are bare 

 of the American product, and to a certain 

 extent it helps to discourage adulteration ; 

 for it has been noted that, when real honey 

 is scarce, the dealers are inclined to put in 

 honey pieced out with glucose. If Cuban 

 hone}^ produced byAmerican bee-keepers will 

 have a tendency to keep adulteration away, 

 the bee-keepers in this country can and 

 should welcome the product of our brothers 

 who are located on Cuban soil. So far a 

 first quality of Cuban comb honey brings 

 about the same prices as the first quality 

 of American honey; and so long as that 

 condition prevails, no one need fear Cuban 

 competition very much. If the Cuban hon- 

 ey were thrown on our markets at just the 

 time when American honey was being ta- 

 ken from the. hives, the condition would be 

 very different; but because it comes when 

 our markets are bare of first quality, or 

 nearl}' so, and because Cuban comb honey 

 is of fine quality, the price will be main- 

 tained at the American level. 



alive to foreign countries. Desiring to get 

 further particulars on the style of the cage^ 

 and how he was able to accomplish it, we 

 wrote him, and in November of last year,, 

 in response, he sent a sample of the cage, 

 with a letter for publication. We had an 

 illustration made, but held the matter until 

 it would be seasonable, and now present 

 both the cage and the letter to our readers: 



CAGES FOR SENDING QUEENS TO FOREIGN 

 COUNTRIES. 



Along last fall, J. P. Moore, who has 

 been furnishing us breeding-stock, inci- 

 dentally remarked that he was sending 

 about 95 per cent of his queens through 



EXPORT CAGE WITH MOORE'S WATER-BOTTLE. 



Mr. Root:—\ send you a provisioned cage (except 

 the water) such as I use for mailing queens to coun- 

 tries like Jamaica, with good results as reported. Fill 

 the tin tube with water I y means of an oil-can with a 

 very small nozzle and spring bottom, to force the 

 water into the tube, and vour cage is ready for the 

 queen and bees. For mailing queens to England, I 

 have been using two of these cages fastened together 

 face to face without any wire cloth. One tube was 

 filled with honej'. and the other with water. The 

 queens and escorts were reported in the finest of or- 

 der when received. 



The candy is made of powdered sugar and honey, 

 with the addition of a little glycerine, to prevent it 

 from drying out and becoming hard. It is made as 

 follows: 



To seven cups of powdered sugar add one cup of 

 nice well-ripened honey; knead thoroughly, afld make 

 into three or fourballs. Let it stand a few days; then 

 break the balls up and pour a little glycerine over 

 the mass, and work in more powdered sugar. Make 

 into balls as before, and let stand a day or two, when 

 it is ready for use if vou have added enough sugar and 

 not too niuch. If the balls flatten down, the candv is 

 too soft, and must have more sugar; but if they' re- 

 tain their shape, and have a moist appearance' the 

 candy is just right. When just right, it is soft and 

 pliable, and retains its shape when made into balls. 



The cage was made by H. G. Quirin, of Parkertown. 

 O., but the tin tubes are of ray own make. The corks 

 are put in— one in each end— 'and then dipped in melt- 

 ed wax to make them water-tight. To fill with honey, 

 put the cork in one end of the tube and oip in wax; 

 then pour hot honey into the other end (by means of 

 a very small funnel), until nearly full; i'n.sert cork 

 and dip in wax. j. p. Moore. 



Morgan, Ky., Nov. 12. 



The one here shown is a regular Benton 

 six-hole cage. Through the center holes 

 there is a tin tube. Years ago we had 

 something of this kind in our cages that we 

 sent out, and our decision was at the time 

 that it was a good thing, but later experi- 

 ments for short distances, in comparison 

 with cages having no tubes, convinced us, 

 at least, there was no advantage in having 

 the water-bottle. But Mr. Moore's experi- 

 ments would seem to indicate, in view of 

 the success he has attained, that we had 

 better supply the cages with water for ex- 

 port at least. 



