40 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1 



this guarantee. In fact, it is just what it is 

 guaranteed to be — viz., " fancy honey." To 

 build up a trade, no other kind should be 

 used. After a trade is estal^lished, poorer 

 grades of honey ruay be sold, but should not 

 be sold for "fancy." After the people be- 

 come interested in honey, and know some- 

 thing about its use, they will readily learn 

 that there are different grades, and will then 

 not be suspicious because some is light, some 

 amber, and some dark. 



A great deal has been said as to whether 

 we should label our product "Pure Honey." 

 This appears inadvisable, because it carries 

 with it the idea of the possibility of finding 

 on the market such material as hninire hon- 

 ey. In stamping on all of my sections the 

 words " Fancy Honey, ■" and "Guaranteed," 

 I am guaranteeing this product to be of the 

 grade known as "Fancy," and since it is 

 tnie that thei'e are diflferent grades of honey, 

 this carries with it no implication of adul- 

 terated or impure honey. In my opinion 

 this solves the problem of labels or brands, 

 and at the same time does the producer jus- 

 tice by an advertisement of good material, 

 and also gives the consumer a feeling of 

 security in purchasing and using material 

 produced by one whose name he knows. 



My advice to every pei'son producing ma- 

 terial of any kind that is to be used by the 

 public is to develop a market near his home, 

 or as near as possible, and, by doing a 

 strictly first-class business with high-grade 

 goods, make a reputation that will at once 

 secure for him prices above the average 

 market price and relieve the product of the 

 suspicion of impurity. A properly sustained 

 reputation, in a region where a person is al- 

 ready known, should become one of a busi- 

 ness man's most important assets. 



Harrisburg, Pa. 



THE VALUE OF ALSIKE CLOVEK FOK BEES. 



On page 330, in regard to the long-tongued 

 bee, if the bee-keepers would sow more al- 

 sike clover they would not need to breed 

 such bees, and they would get more honey. 

 The alsike should be mixed half and half 

 with red clover. The bees will work strong- 

 ly on the alsike, and will carry the pollen 

 from the alsike to the red clover; and if this 

 method is kept up for a few years the red 

 clover will make a good honey-plant. There 

 is no better plant for honey than alsike clo- 

 ver, and the hay will make the best of feed 

 for cows. With'alsike clover the farmer gets 

 three crops a year — two crops of tine hay 

 and a crop of fine white honey. Alsike clo- 



ver will not dry up like red clover. It will 

 stay green. It is a good clover to sow with 

 timothy. It is green when timothy is ready 

 to cut, and will make a better feed for stock, 

 and a fine pasture for summer. 

 Kewanee, 111. W. W. Cain. 



[The scheme you outline has been tried, 

 but, so far as I know, without success. It is 

 doubtful if it ever can be. — Ed.] 



HOW TO combat BEE-BIRDS. 



In some parts of the world bee-eating 

 birds are dreaded by bee-keepers. Luckily 

 the United States is not much troubled with 

 their attentions. California bee-keepers suf- 

 fer from them sometimes, and in Porto Rico 

 there is the liee-martin which loves to hang 

 around an apiary and pick off the bees as 

 they return. In other parts of the tropics 

 various species of birds prey on bees with 

 more or less pertinacity and success. In the 

 southern part of Europe, notably in Spain, 

 the bee-eater {Merops ajnastcr) is a devoted 

 and relentless enemy of the bee-keeper, gath- 

 ering in large numbers to devour the bees. 

 Virgil and other writers allude to this un- 



pleasant pest of the apiary. The foregoing 

 illustrates a very forcible method of dealing 

 with these birds. They have a habit of 

 perching by prefei'ence on a dead limb or 

 wire to see better, probably, and this is their 

 undoing. Wait till several are quietly set- 

 tled, and then shoot. Even a poor shot can 

 make a good job of it. 

 Medina, O. W. K. Morrison. 



ALEXANDER S ARTICLES AFPKECIATED; HIS 

 FLAN FOR BUILDING UP WEAK COLO- 

 NIES A SUCCESS IN THE HANDS 

 OF ANY THINKING MAN. 



As an encouragement to those who intend- 

 ed to try the Alexander plan of uniting weak 

 colonies to strong next spring, but who, aft- 

 er reading the unfavoral)le reports, page 

 1189, are undecided whether the plan will be 

 a success for them or not, I will say that the 

 plan is a success for every thinking bee-keep- 

 er who, before he tries it, reads the instruc- 

 tions carefully, not only once Imt several 

 times, until he knows them by heart. There 

 are some things in the Alexantler treatment 

 that mitM be carefully noted. He says: "As 

 soon as they have some uncapped brood in 

 their hives." Now, it must be observed that 

 there is unsealed brood in both hives or else 

 the plan will be a failure; and, if I under- 

 stand Mr. Stewart, p. 1190, that is the cause 

 of his failure; for if there is unsealed brood 

 the bees will not desert their brood-nest. 



