1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



957 



harvest as it is to prepare them in the 

 summer for the long cold winters of the 

 North. 



In the above I have briefly called your at- 

 tention to a few of the many troubles in pro- 

 ducing choice comb honey. With extracted 

 honey it in many ways is so different that it 

 is almost like another business. We have 

 the whole spring season to rear young queens, 

 make increase, and build them up into strong 

 colonies; and although when the harvest 

 comes there may be some still weak in bees, 

 we know that they will give us some surplus, 

 even though the season is a poor one, and 

 the harvest is strung along all summer with 

 only now and then a good honey day. 



As soon as a colony is strong enough in 

 bees, and is full of brood and honey, all that 

 is necessary to do is to put on top a hive of 

 empty combs with a queen-excluder between; 

 and if you want them to commence storing 

 honey above, at once exchange an empty 

 comb from your upper hive for a comb of 

 brood fi'om below. 



Some prefer shallow combs to extract from; 

 others prefer combs of the same size as those 

 below, and use one or two combs less in 

 their extracting-supers. We prefer all combs 

 in the apiary to be of the same size, and use 

 the same number in the extracting-super as 

 in the main hive. This gives more comb 

 surface, so the honey will evaporate much 

 faster than in thick combs. 



Here is one of the principal reasons why we 

 are never troubled with thin honey. A strong 

 full colony that has plenty of room to spread 

 out their honey and keep it hot night and 

 day will thicken it very fast. 



Storage-tanks are very important in pro- 

 ducing extracted honey of fine quality. Aft- 

 er it is strained into them there will be a lit- 

 tle scum i-ise to the top, which can easily be 

 skimmed off, and never should be allowed to 

 go with the honey. Then it is easy to draw 

 oflf the thick honey from the bottom, which 

 gives you the very best quality that can be 

 produced. 



Comb honey is rather unfortunate in many 

 ways. It is used only for table use, and here 

 it has to compete with nearly all kinds of 

 fruit, maple syrup, and a small per cent of 

 extracted honey. But not so with extracted. 

 There is a growing demand at nearly all 

 times of the year for it. This is used mostly 

 for manufacturing purposes. 



As to the amount of comb or extracted 

 honey that an apiary can be made to produce 

 this is well worth considering. Some good 

 bee-keepers estimate 2 lbs. of extracted for one 

 of comb. We are sure we could never se- 

 cure more than one third as much comb as 

 we do extracted, even though it cost far more 

 labor. 



Still another thing I like about producing 

 extracted honey is that, as soon as the har- 

 vest is over, the work in the apiary is near- 

 ly done, except putting the bees in their win- 

 ter quarters. 



In the above I have tried to show both 

 sides of the question to the best of my abili- 

 ty, and I leave you to answer your own 



question as to which is the more profitable 

 to produce — comb or extracted honey. 

 Delanson, N. Y. 



[Our correspondent has quite fairly set 

 forth the advantages and disadvantages in 

 the production of either comb or extracted 

 honey. Very much will depend on the lo- 

 cality and the markets. In the production 

 of dark amber or other mediam-grade hon- 

 eys, extracted should be the object. For the 

 very small bee-keeper who does not care to 

 go beyond the investment of four or live 

 hives, the production of comb honey should 

 be recommended, especially if he is in a 

 white-clover district. It does not ordinarily 

 pay a bee-keeper of four or five colonies to 

 buy an extractor; but he can run as for ex- 

 tracted and sell chunk or bulk honey among 

 his neighbors. — Ed.] 



REPORTING THE HONEY MARKETS 



Some Honest Conimi.s.sion Men. 



BY THOMAS C. KINCADE. 



I notice the article on page 597 on "The 

 Reporting of the Honey Markets. " I do not 

 think any of the writei's improved on your 

 proposed heading; in fact, if you adopted 

 some of their suggestions your heading would 

 be very misleading. Now, Messrs. H. & S., 

 of New York, state that, where sales are 

 made to the merchants direct, freight, com- 

 mission, and cartage charges are eliminated; 

 but such is not the case. Bills of sale here 

 in my desk from The Fred W. Muth Co. 

 show that fi'eight and cartage charges are 

 deducted from sales or proceeds. 



Mr. Pouder thinks the cash buyers could 

 handle all of the honey; but he neglects to 

 add, at their prices. 



The latter part of March, this year, I sent 

 out samples (to the cash buyers or merchants) 

 of new honey, having five or six barrels to 

 dispose of. The best offer I could get was 5 

 cts. per lb. delivered. None of the prices suit- 

 ed me or compared favorably with the market 

 prices, so I shipped to a commission house in 

 Missouri which is no stranger to me and 

 which is perfectly reliable in spite of the fact 

 that they are commission men. They ac- 

 knowledged the receipt of the honey, stating 

 condition (good) immediately on arrival, and 

 promising prompt attention. Within a very 

 short while they sent me account sales and 

 check. The honey was -sold for 6| cts. per 

 lb. The weights were perfect. The cartage 

 was a third or more less than that of the cash 

 buyers. 1, of course, paid 5 per cent com- 

 mission and a slight charge for insurance 

 and freight. You can tell without figures 

 whether the commission man profited me. 



Another commission man with whom I 

 have dealt is a perfect gentleman. I sold him 

 over 20 bbls. of honey last year, of (500 lbs. 

 each, net. 



I never try to influence one man by anoth- 

 er's prices; in fact, he may not know I have 

 another man's piuces. When I have five or 



