1272 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. I 



The best remedy for a wet cellar is a steam 

 heater or furnace — not to heat the cellar, but 

 to heat the house above. This heater will 

 draw about fifteen tons of air for every ton 

 of coal burned, and all this air must enter 

 the cellar and finally pass up the chimney. 

 It will enter in spite of closed windows and 

 closed doors, and it will keep the cellar sweet 

 and dry. Note, all who use heaters and fur- 

 naces, how quickly the cellar feels damp aft- 

 er the fire is allowed to go out in spring. 



Do not follow the fool advice that some 

 one, I don't now remember where it was, 

 offered, of setting an oil-stove in your cellar 

 in the hope of drying it. The drying will be 

 but temporary; and after the stove is put 

 out, the air will be damper and more foul 

 than it was in the first place. 



Norwich, Conn. 



SELLING HONEY. 



The Importance of Retaining the Aroma. 



BY K. A. BURNETT. 



It is becoming better understood among 

 the consuming classes that unripe honey is 

 not palatable; therefore the chief thing now 

 in selling honey is to get the aroma as well 

 as the appearance. Especially is this true 

 when Wisconsin dealers, or those in any of 

 the States east of the Missouri River, seek to 

 put their honey in competition with that 

 west of them. The trade is beginning to 

 discriminate more and more each season 

 with regard to flavor of honey. If the pro- 

 ducer is known to manage the product of 

 the bees so as to get this aroma to the ut- 

 most he will stand a better chance of mar- 

 keting at a little higher price than his neigh- 

 bors—certainly it will be taken in prefer- 

 ence; and when there is an abundance of 

 honey this is quite an advantage. People 

 buy honey because it is more than a sweet— 

 they buy it for the relish; therefore the ripen- 

 ing of honey, and not exposing it to the at- 

 mosphere in such a way as to eliminate this 

 delicate aroma, is essential in getting a hon- 

 ey that the market wants. This volatile oil, 

 distilled by the blossoms which secrete the 

 nectar, is, therefore, the chief factor in sell- 

 ing honey produced in the middle States. 

 This fact applies equally to extracted and 

 comb honey. 



We are of the opinion that it is more dif- 

 ficult to retain this aroma in the extracted 

 form than in the comb, perhaps because so 

 many bee-keepers remove the honey from 

 the comb before it has gone through the 

 necessary curing process, and then again ex- 

 posing it to the atmosphere to remove more 

 of the water and thus prevent the honey 

 souring. . . 



It is well to remember that merit m the ar- 

 ticle for sale is the chief factor. When the 

 salesman finds that he has something that 

 pleases the people he becomes enthusiastic, 

 and this causes those seeking for a similar 

 commodity to be influenced by his statement; 

 and, if the goods warrant, he has little dif- 



ficulty in making a second sale to the same 

 party. Honey without the desired flavor 

 has had more to do with its own undoing 

 than any other one thing that it has to con- 

 tend with. We have had many instances of 

 this in our business by people buying a 

 nice-looking case of comb honey for their 

 own use, and, finding it very different from 

 what they had reason to expect, have either 

 returned the greater portion of it or refrain- 

 ed from buying any more, sometimes for 

 years. Let them get pure extracted honey 

 of a tasteless nature and they will not buy 

 any more. It is an easy matter, as a rule, 

 to sell to people what they want, and there 

 are a great many people who desire honey 

 that has that fine old-fashioned flavor that 

 they used to get, but which now they seldom 

 find in the market. 



Chicago, 111. 



[R. A. Burnett & Co. are an old stand- 

 ard commission house that has made a spe- 

 cialty of honey for many years. Producers 

 would do well to follow their suggestion in 

 regard to retaining the aroma of honey.— 

 Ed.] 



. . • #»•♦■»♦♦• * ' ■ 



TARRED PAPER. 



Its Value as a AVinter Protection ; how it 

 Hastens Brood-rearing in Early Spring. 



BY H. E. CROWTHER. 



Last winter I examined a few colonies that 

 were wrapped in tarred paper, and found 

 that they were considerably in advance of 

 those not so protected. I found in every case 

 sealed brood and some young bees, while in 

 colonies not protected by paper there was 

 scarcely any thing beyond the egg. 



I also noticed that comparatively weak 

 colonies were progressing very well with 

 brood — having more, I believe, in proportion 

 t:) their size than the larger and stronger 

 colonies, which is, if I am correct, an unusu- 

 al state of affairs, but by no means an un- 

 fortunate one; and if the extra warmth af- 

 forded always advances them to the extent 

 that it has in this case, a few cents invested 

 in papering them would be well spent. 



Tarred-paper protection is especially adapt- 

 ed to this climate with so many sunny days. 

 My experience with black paper has been en- 

 tirely favorable, for in 1905 we prepared the 

 most of our bees for winter by wrapping 

 around the sides long rye straw and covering 

 over the top with black paper, the south end 

 (entrance) being left uncovered by the straw. 

 That was in Northern Ohio, and every colo- 

 ny so prepared came through well. We win- 

 tered (54 without the loss of one, and the 

 major part of them were fixed in this way. 



It would be interesting to read some re- 

 ports on this subject, for, without regard to 

 expense, 1 believe that there is no better way 

 to winter bees in any reasonably mild cli- 

 mate. 

 Parma, Idaho. 



[We believe that a wrapping of roofing 

 tar or heavy manilla paper, around a hive, 



