502 



THE AMERICAI^ BEE JOURNAL. 



possible to devote even a limited time 

 to its cultivation, the ground may be 

 plowed and the seed lightly harrowed 

 under in the fall with winter wheat, 

 or planted with barley ; or in early 

 spring it can be sown with wheat, 

 oats or rye, without detriment to the 

 grain. If wanted, however, in its 

 greatest perfection, it should be 

 planted in drills 4 feet apart, and once 

 hilled up with the cultivator. Sweet 

 clover blooms and yields nectar con- 

 tinuously in this latitude from about 

 June 10 till Aug. 1, when the first 

 seed crop matures, which is succeeded 

 with a new foliage and profuse second 

 bloom about Aug. 15, and this con- 

 tinues till winter sets in. If a part of 

 the field be mown about July, it will 

 bloom and yield nectar, except when 

 rains are falling, or during the preva- 

 lence of strong, adverse winds from 

 the middle of June till past the mid- 

 dle of October— certainly as long a 

 period as our impatient little workers 

 can utilize it ; nor will it then cease 

 to " waste its sweetness on the desert 

 air," but after the advent of winter, 

 when all else has passed into " the 

 sere and yellow leaf," its modest 

 flowers will waft a fragrant good-bye 

 to the bees when on their last flight, 

 and leave pleasant memories for their 

 long winter dreams.— Ed.] 



For tne American Bee Journal, 



Interestini Facts aliont Honey. 



SASnjEL CUSHMAN. 



The following is in my circular 

 which is given free to purchasers of 

 my honey : 



Honey is the only purely natural 

 sweet in a commercial form. It is 

 the nectar of flowers gathered and 

 stored by the bees, and changed by 

 them to the smooth, mellow sweet 

 known as honey. It furnishes the 

 same element of nutrition as sugar 

 and starch— gives warmth and energy. 

 Starch and sugar when eaten, undergo 

 a digestive change before they are 

 assimilated. In honey this change 

 has been made to a considerable ex- 

 tent by the bees. It is partly digested, 

 easy of assimilation, and concen- 

 trated. 



The longer honey is on the hive, the 

 more complete is this change. It 

 derives its flavor from the blossoms 

 from which it was gathered. There 

 is as much difference in honey as in 

 milk or butter, and the same liability 

 of adulteration. Owing to low prices, 

 caused by improved methods and in- 

 creased production, it is less adul- 

 terated than formerly ; probably no 

 more than other food products. When 

 every producer's name is on each 

 package, he thinks as much of his 

 reputation for producing a good arti- 



cle as does the producer of choice 

 fruit or butter. 



As a medicine, honey has great 

 value and many uses. It is excellent 

 iu most throat and lung affections, 

 and is often used in place of cod liver 

 oil with great benefit. Occasionally 

 there are found people with whom it 

 does not agree, as is the case with 

 other articles of food, but the ma- 

 jority can learn to use it with benefi- 

 cial results. Children, who have 

 more natural appetites, generally pre- 

 fer it to butter with their bread. 

 Honey is a laxative and sedative, and 

 in disease of bladder and kidneys it is 

 an excellent remedy. It also partakes 

 of the .medicinal properties of the 

 plant from which it was gathered. It 

 has much the same effect as wine or 

 stimulants, without their injurious 

 effects, and is unequaled in mead and 

 harvest drinks. As an external ap- 

 plication it is irritating when clear, 

 and soothing if diluted. In most 

 country places the qualities of honey 

 are appreciated, and it is much used 

 for croup and colds. 



In preserving fruit in a natural 

 state, the formic acid it contains 

 makes it a better preservative than 

 sugar syrup. In cooking and confec- 

 tions it is also used, 



Pawtucket,6 R- 1- 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Season in Missouri-Sweet Cloyer. 



JOHN NEBEL & SON. 



We began the season with 308 colo- 

 nies ; all had an abundance of stores 

 for brood-rearing, and they bred up 

 very strong the forepart of the season, 

 and consumed what little honey they 

 stored as fast as they gathered it. It 

 would have been hard at times to 

 have found one-lourth of a pound of 

 honey iu some colonies. 



Fruit bloom did not yield well ; 

 white clover and raspberries were 

 full of bloom, but clover did not yield 

 any nectar ; the long continued drouth 

 dried up the bloom very suddenly. 

 Basswood looked promising, was full 

 of bloom, but it did not secrete any 

 nectar. It bloomed hut 4 or 5 days, 

 and since basswood there has been no 

 bloom but sweet clover, of which we 

 have an acre, that was full of bloom. 

 Bees worked on this from morning to 

 night. Sweet clover is the only 

 flower that has secreted nectar in any 

 quantity this season. 



At this date there is no honey com- 

 ing in at all ; bees are in a starving 

 condition. We have been feeding 

 them for a week to keep up brood- 

 rearing to get colonies strong enough, 

 so that if there is any fall honey they 

 will be able to store enough for win- 

 ter use. The prospects for a fall crop 

 are slim. The few showers we get 

 occasionally are not suflicient to keep 

 fall flowers growing, but they are 

 drying up. Today the mercury was 

 at 106'-'. Our bees did not increase 

 any ; we have not had a single swarm, 

 and have heard of but 3 or 4 iu the 

 county. There are a good many ab- 

 sconding swarms passing over and 



settling iu our apiaries, day after day. 

 Bees iu the trees in the woods will 

 surely all starve. 



Having disposed of a number of 

 colonies this season, we now have 250 

 colonies left, and expect to double 

 these up to 200, and will try to winter 

 that many, although it will take con- 

 siderable sugar to feed them. We 

 live in hopes that we will have a good 

 yield next year. 



High Hill,o» Mo., July 30, 1887. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



A Plea for "Extracted." 



OLIVER FOSTER. 



I notice that it is urged by some 

 that the word " extracted," as applied 

 to honey taken from the comb, is a 

 " misnomer," and should be changed 

 for a better name. It is also argued 

 that we do not wish to be obliged to 

 explain to our customers what we 

 mean by "extracted honey." The 

 demand seems to be for a name that 

 will explain itself, or rather, that will 

 explain the article in question. Let 

 me suggest that it would take a name 

 long enough to fill a column in the 

 Bee Journal, more of less, to do 

 that. Ko one will ever know what 

 " extracted honey " is, until it is ex- 

 plained more fully than any name can 

 explain it. 



A few years ago, extracted honey 

 was a new article, hence the coinage 

 ot a new name was demanded. The 

 name "extracted" was coined and 

 has been " legal tender " until re- 

 cently. Let us see if it is a misnomer. 



Webster says that the verb " ex- 

 tract "means: 1. To draw out. 2. To 

 remove forcibly. 3. To withdraw by 

 distillation, etc. 4. To take by selec- 

 tion. Kow, according to definitions 

 No. 1 and No. 2, is there a word in 

 the English language that will more 

 perfectly explain the source and na- 

 ture of the article than the word ex- 

 tracted ? 



It is objected that there are so many 

 article of commerce called "extracts," 

 the very name of which signifies that 

 they have been changed from their 

 original crude nature by some special 

 process. The answer is that the 

 word extracted is not used in connec- 

 tion with any common article of com- 

 merce excepting honey. The noun 

 '• extract " is not the word with which 

 we are dealing, at all. 



When we hear of extracting a tooth, 

 or of taking an extract from a book, 

 the thought of drugs or culinary sup- 

 plies is not suggested, because we 

 know something of these things. So 

 when people know something about 

 extracted honey, I think the name 

 will not be very objectionable. Mean- 

 time, if we cannot spare the time to 

 explain what extracted honey is, we 

 might just refer our inquiring custo- 

 mers to their dictionaries (V). Much 

 would be gained if each bee-keeper 

 would write or select for his local 

 paper, such articles as will enlighten 

 the people on this and kindred sub- 

 jects. Such a course would help 



