214 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of honey to a commission house. Not 

 that I have any ill-feeling toward 

 them, but because I thought I could 

 do better to build up a trade nearer 

 home. I may be mistaken, but my 

 deductions from the present discus- 

 sion in the Bee Journal leads me 

 to think that one of the principal fac- 

 tors in solving the problem is this : 

 Ship less honey to the large cities ; 

 canvass your own neighborhood, keep 

 your country towns well supplied at 

 all times in honey put up in an at- 

 tractive shape. In my experience in 

 selling extracted honey in the coun- 

 try or country towns in small pack- 

 ages, I find that a package that can 

 be utilized after the honey is used is far 

 better than anything else for this 

 purpose. I prefer quart and pint 

 fruit-jars ; also glass jelly-moulds. 

 Duncan,© Ills. 



IToT Qxe American Bee JoumaL 



Honey-JumWes— Bee-Leiislation. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



In part reply to Mr. J. W. Parks' 

 questions on page 139, I would say 

 that I have never seen but one kind 

 of honey-jumbles, and the one from 

 whom 1 got them, I understand, has 

 not been able to obtain from the man- 

 ufacturers the recipe by which they 

 are made. I think they cost about 11 

 cents per pound at wholesale, making 

 about $5 per barrel. The first sample 

 I had last summer. After lying for 

 weeks in the open air, where ordi- 

 nary jumbles or cookies would be 

 dried and stale, these honey-jumbles 

 were as fresh as ever. Not only were 

 they nearly as good, but I could see 

 no possible difference whatever. 



During the past winter I have had 

 some that were frozen. Whether tlie 

 freezing made any difference I cannot 

 say, but when kept in the kitchen 

 cupboard, these have dried somewhat, 

 in which condition they are not so 

 good. Kept open, in a cool pantry, 

 they become more moist, and if left 

 in this condition long enough, they 

 become too wet for pleasant eating. 

 Kept in a covered tin-pail in either 

 place, they undergo no change, or at 

 least the change must be very grad- 

 ual. After they have dried in the 

 kitchen cupboard, if placed in the cool 

 pantry, they become moist and as 

 iresh as ever again. Whether too 

 moist or too dry ihey never appear to 

 have an old taste. There is certainly 

 something remarkable about their 

 keeping qualities, and grocers ac- 

 quainted with them will keep them in 

 preference to other things of the kind, 

 just because they will not grow old on 

 their hands. 



As to their eating qualities, as in 

 everything else, tastes differ. I think, 

 however, that most persons would 

 consider them a very nice article to 

 put on the table for even a company 

 tea. I am very found of them. If 

 warmed in the oven just before being 

 placed on the table, I think no one 

 could tell that they were not fresh 

 baked. If honey is used to any ex- 

 tent in their manufacture, I think it 



would be to the interest of bee-keep- 

 ers to encourage their use. 



LEGISLATION FOB BEE-KEEPERS. 



In my article on page 199, I have 

 given my promise to argue no further 

 the desirability of legislation. Since 

 that article was written, two writers 

 have argued the matter on the oppo- 

 site side in this paper. As I have 

 promised to keep my mouth shut, it is 

 the proper thing for me to shake my 

 fist at them and boastingly tell them 

 how I would have chewed them all up 

 into little bits, if I hadn't promised to 

 let them alone. Seriously, I do not 

 think it would be difficult to con- 

 trovert their views, but I am not very 

 sorry I made the promise, for there is 

 enough of the coward in me to make 

 me glad to get out of a fight, and you 

 know, 



" He that fights and runs away 

 Will live to fls;bt another day ; 

 But be that is in battle slain. 

 Will never live to flgbt again." 



My thanks are due Mr. Heddon for 

 the manly way in which he has sur- 

 rendered. It is no discredit to him as 

 a disputant, for the simple reason that 

 I had the easiest side to work on. 



At Indianapolis, Mr. N. N. Bet- 

 singer made a— I am not sure whether 

 it was a threat or a promise, in either 

 case it was good natured— that he 

 would give in print the hardest blows 

 he knew how to give, against the 

 desirability of legislation. I was sur- 

 prised that he should keep silent so 

 long, but was still more 'surprised 

 when he did speak, to find that he — 

 the only one who said he would tight 

 me— should be the only one to come 

 out and strike some sturdy blows on 

 my side. 



Marengo, 5 His. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Scraper for Cleaning Hiyes, etc, 



I. W. ROLLINS. 



The accompanying illustration rep- 

 resents a "scraper" for cleaning 

 hives, frames, bottom-boards and sec- 



tions. A blacksmith made the one I 

 use, with my directions. The follow- 

 ing description siiows how it is made : 



Take a piece of steel as thick as a 

 heavy butcher-knife, 3J^ inches long, 

 IM or lii inches wide ; punch or drill 

 holes ^ inch from each end, and 14 

 inch from one edge. These holes 

 should be about % inch, or a little 

 less. The handle should be about 6 

 inches long, direct measure, 33^ inches 

 at the end solid, and the part next to 

 the blade split and brought around in 

 a bow, entering the holes in the blade 

 and riveted solid. The handle should 

 be set 80 as to give the blade a little 



pitch, something like a hoe. Now 

 sharpen the wide edge and each end. 

 In use, the fore-finger can be inserted 

 in the bow of the handle. 



For ttie American Bee Joomal. 



Pan-HanflleBee-Keeiiers'ConTention. 



The Pan-Handle Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation held its second meeting on 

 March 3 and 4, 1887, in Wheeling, VV. 

 Va. The officers of the association 

 are as follows : 



President, Henry Leweday, of 

 Wheeling; Vice-Presidents, John A. 

 Buchanan, Phil Tisher, H. J. Shriver, 

 and L. C. Seabright; Secretary, W. 

 L. Kinsey, Blaine, O. ; and Treasurer, 

 August Geotze, Wheeling. 



President Leweday delivered his 

 address, after which the Secretary 

 read a constitution and by-laws, which 

 was adopted. 



The first question discussed was, 



ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. 



J, A, Buchanan said he believed 

 that to become a successful bee-keeper 

 it was necessary that certain qualifi- 

 cations must be inherentin the would- 

 be apiarist ; he must have a great 

 fondness for the pursuit ; such love 

 and appreciation of the beauties of 

 nature as will lead him to become in- 

 terested in the mysteries connected 

 with a colony of bees; he must be 

 naturally patient, persevering and 

 energetic. Order and system go hand 

 in hand in this pursuit. Sloven or 

 laggard persons need not attempt bee- 

 keeping. Promptness to do the right 

 thing at the right time is the key-note 

 to success in bee keeping. 



W. S. Taggart, of Barton, said in 

 regard to the essential qualities of a 

 bee-keeper, that any person of good 

 common-sense could obtain the 

 knowledge of bee-keeping mechani- 

 cally, the same as some learn music, a 

 trade, or any other business. Bee- 

 keeping can be imitated the same as 

 any other business ; all it requires to 

 be a bee-keeper is to read, think, andj 

 then add practical work to thought. 



BEST LOCATION FOR AN APIARY. 



John A. Buchanan said : From myj 

 experience I would prefer a locatioal 

 well upon the sunny side of a hill, as" 

 the higher altitudes give a more even 

 temperature. Cold air, being heavier 

 than warm air, sinks to the valleys 

 where there is apt to be a greater de- 

 gree of dampness, I have an apiary 

 in a valley, and one on a hill ; in the 

 spring of the year when bees are 

 weak and need the most favorable 

 condition to enable them to keep the 

 greatest possible amount of brood 

 warm, it is then that I find my hill 

 apiary rapidly out-stripping the bees 

 in the valley. If bee-keeping alone 

 was the only object in view in select- 

 ing a sight, I would only locate in 

 such places as would show by the 

 flora of the surrounding fields to be 

 specially adapted to the producing of 

 honey. It might be well to look a 

 little after the markets of the place. 

 I should want to have my honey pro- 

 duced within easy marketable dis- 



