248 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



markets of our State, and made thor- 

 ough investigations, offered premiums 

 for the best and most attractive 

 honey-labels, and would have offered 

 special inducements for the best and 

 most concise leaflet for general dis- 

 tribution with each package of honey 

 sold. I should have experimented 

 thoroughly in an endeavor to evap- 

 orate honey, until the entire moisture 

 it contained was removed, so that we 

 migtit secure pure evaporated honey 

 in drops of suitable size to be sold as 

 confectionery. 



I believe that the time of one per- 

 son qualified for the work, might, by 

 the united assistance of the bee-keep- 

 ers of the State, be profitably em- 

 ployed during the entire year, in plac- 

 ing honey as an article of food and 

 medicine, before the public as its 

 merits may honestly demand. 



It would require more time than 

 could be well given to one essay, to 

 trace back through the past, the va- 

 rious causes which have combined to 

 produce this depression under which 

 we are at present laboring. Until 

 about the year 1870, honey was pro- 

 duced almost exclusively in boxes 

 holding from 2 to 8 combs, and weigh- 

 ing from 5 to 12 pounds. These boxes 

 were made with wood top and bottom, 

 4 corner posts, and 4 glass sides. 

 When they were well filled and 

 capped, and all made very tight by 

 the bees sealing all openings with 

 propolis, they were in much better 

 shape to pass through the hands of 

 the dealer and into the hands of the 

 consumer, than much of the honey 

 produced by the later methods. But 

 liere arose objections. In removing 

 the first glass and comb, and while 

 using the remainder of the honey, the 

 consumer was much annoyed, and 

 the leaky package was often a great 

 nuisance. 



To do away with these objections 

 as well as to secure other advantages, 

 the single-comb section came into use. 

 Consumers seemed willing to pay for 

 glass on each section, for the sake of 

 the advantages gained. Unquestion- 

 ably this practice has to quite a de- 

 gree diminished the amount of honey 

 consumed, particularly those of mod- 

 erate means. I have been an advo- 

 cate of glassing sections, from the 

 fact that the emergency seemed to 

 demand it, and I do not yet see how 

 honey can be sold in single sections, 

 properly protected, without too great 

 an expense to the producer, unless it 

 is glassed. 



About the time the single-comb 

 section came generally into use, bee- 

 keepers became very enthusiastic 

 over the process of throwing honey 

 from the combs by centrifugal force, 

 and many other new methods, which 

 resulted in great effort to produce 

 large amounts of honey. This was 

 carried to such an extreme, that 

 greater effort was given to the quan- 

 tity to be secured than to the quality. 

 In the great liaste to secure large 

 yields, much of it was hurried from 

 the combs before all the cells were 

 capped. In glassing sections, many 

 combs were started from the side of 

 the boxes, and in many ways it has 

 been put up in packages that have 



leaked and were very disagreeable to 

 handle. All of these things have had 

 a tendency to lessen the demand. 

 The reduction in the price of ex- 

 tracted honey has come largely from 

 the fact that it has been subject to 

 adulteration. This was the case, as 

 might have been expected, when 

 prices ranged high ; but as they are 

 becoming reduced, adulteration is 

 discontinued. 



Unquestionably, the greatest cause 

 of the late depression in the honey 

 market is the general depression of 

 the times. The masses have, from 

 necessity, been compelled to econo- 

 mize ; this would prevent the use of 

 comb honey to a great degree. It is 

 not bee-keepers alone who have been 

 affected by these depressing times. 



That honey has not been more 

 largely used, is not to be attributed to 

 its undesirability as an article of food, 

 for that is established beyond dis- 

 pute. The effort in the future must 

 be to not only lessen the cost of pro- 

 duction, but at the same time furnish 

 it in such perfect shape as to satisfy 

 all the demands of both the dealer 

 and consumer. In connection with 

 this, the point must not be lost sight 

 of that the general public still needs 

 a good deal of enliglitenment as to the 

 intrinsic value of honey for the many 

 purposes for which it may be used. 



The practice of sending of products 

 so generally to the city markets, and 

 neglecting our home markets, has re- 

 sulted greatly to our disadvantage, 

 especially as they are at present man- 

 aged, our honey being handled in the 

 large markets by those who are not 

 versed in all of the phases of bee- 

 keeping. It has been impossible for 

 them to build as firm a market as 

 could be done by practical bee-keep- 

 ers themselves. 



One serious lack in our convention 

 work has arisen from the failure to 

 induce the wholesale and retail deal- 

 ers in honey to be present at one ses- 

 sion at least, of our meetings, at 

 which time the subject of marketing 

 our products should be discussed. 

 Inducements should also be offered 

 to secure a larger attendance of those 

 who represent the consumers, which 

 should be of mutual advantage. 

 Dealers and producers should also be 

 induced to present at these meetings 

 samples of honey in the most desir- 

 able form for the best interest of the 

 market. 



I would recommend that all associa- 

 tions be urged to adopt these sugges- 

 tions, and strive to correct this omis- 

 sion. There is greater need of earnest 

 application in this direction than in 

 any other branch of our calling, and 

 too much thorough work cannot be 

 bestowed upon it. 



Bee-keepers must have in mind the 

 fact, that to overcome these preju- 

 dices, and to build up a firm honey 

 market, every effort must be made to 

 have all honey placed upon the mar- 

 ket in such packages as to prevent in 

 every way possible, the honey from 

 escaping and soiling other packages, 

 or to in any way make it disagreeable 

 to handle. Liquid honey should only 

 be placed on the grocers' shelves in 

 sealed packages.. Every precaution 



should be taken to have every comb 

 in the sections perfectly capped, and 

 firmly secured to the sides, so that it 

 may be handled with the least chance 

 of injury. In producing our honey, 

 we must have in mind all of the 

 necessities of the producer, the dealer, 

 and the coiisumer. 

 Stamford, p Conn. 



For the Amencan Bee JoonuL'.. 



Alfalfa as a Honey-Plant. 



A. J. FOSS. 



The following article from the San 

 Francisco Chronicle may be of sqme 

 interest to the readers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. San Diego coun- 

 ty does not produce alfalfa honey, as 

 alfalfa is not raised in sufficient quan- 

 tities, but I have often seen it men- 

 tioned as furnishing honey in the 

 counties north of this. The prospect 

 for honey in this county is very poor 

 indeed just at the present time, but 

 our bees are strong, and with a few 

 good showers we will have part of a 

 crop ; in one week more we will have 

 drones flying. Here is the article re- 

 ferred to : 



" The bee-keepers of Colorado re- 

 cently held a State convention at 

 Denver, in which many valuable 

 points were brought out concerning 

 this industry. Among other things, 

 it seems that the most successful api- 

 piarists of Colorado are women, and 

 the convention was largely composed 

 of them. There was a good exhibit 

 of honey and bee-keeping appliances, 

 and much attention was attracted by 

 a display of comb honey made en- 

 tirely from alfalfa. It was snow white 

 and of remarkably fine flavor. It is 

 said that since the general introduc- 

 tion of alfalfa in Colorado, the keep- 

 ing of bees has become a very profit- 

 able business, that plant furnishing 

 an abundance of forage for the little 

 insects. But it has not reached the 

 development there that it has in Cali- 

 fornia, for an apiary of 150 colonies is 

 said to be the largest in the State, 

 while here they frequently range from 

 200 to 500 colonies on a single ranch. 



" It is evident from the experience 

 of the last four years, that bee-keep- 

 ing in California has received a seri- 

 ous set-back— that is, so far as re- 

 lates to the production of extracted 

 honey. Comb honey still sells at a 

 price which pays a very fair profit ; 

 but it is useless to disguise the fact 

 that at the price obtained for two or 

 three years, the producer of extracted 

 honey has had a balance on the wrong 

 side of his ledger at the close of each 

 season. Owing to the fact that much 

 has been put upon the market in an 

 unripeued condition, it is very diffi- 

 cult to persuade people to adopt it as 

 an every day, staple article of food. 



" The purchaser of extracted honey 

 at retail has no protection against the 

 wiles of the adulterator. But with 

 comb honey it is different. Not all 

 the arts of the sophisticator have yet 

 been equal to the task of producing 

 an imitation of the wonderful work of 

 the bee in the manufacture of comb 



