570 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



main over night to note the loss of the 

 queen. Insert a ripe cell the next 

 morning, and the trouble is avoided 

 that would be required in looking 

 after a vceak colony in the spring. 



With drones flying, the fertilization 

 of the virgin queen, in the absence of 

 the mosquito-hawks, is as certain as 

 in the northern States, and the colony 

 is ready for business in the early 

 spring. This method will be found ad- 

 vantageous when extracting has been 

 practiced and the bees are in excess of 

 what are required to winter over in 

 one colony. 



After properly arranging the colo- 

 nies after the season is passed, an ex- 

 cellent plan is to let each colony se- 

 verely alone, as the chances are more 

 favorable for its wintering than 

 if it is being continually " tinkered 

 with." 



Thus far the yield of honey from 

 the mangrove and palmetto has been 

 satisfactory. Of the former, the bees 

 work industriously morning and even- 

 ing, though many of the buds are yet 

 unopened. The dry weather has its 

 eflect,and as a result.it is feared much 

 that was expected to bloom will be 

 blighted. Of the cabbage palmetto 

 bloom, the bees are still working upon 

 it to a certain extent. The protracted 

 drouth has a teudency to evaporate 

 the secretion, and the result appears 

 to be more of a yield than has been se- 

 cured heretofore. 



There is not the least doubt but 

 what the humid atmosphere of an or- 

 dinary season dilutes the secretion to 

 a great extent in this locality. Under 

 such conditions the value of the cab- 

 bage •palmetto is of secondary con- 

 sideration. 



Swarming has for some reason been 

 omitted from the programme in most 

 apiaries this season. Of course, 

 there have been exceptions of " starv- 

 ing 6ut." Those colonies that have 

 withstood the famine in the spring 

 are amply supplied with stores for 

 wintering. The extractor is in op- 

 eration in a number of apiaries, but a 

 few of our conservative apiarists think 

 best to " tie up " the hives, supply 

 frames, and look to next season for 

 surplus honey. There are parties who 

 keep the colonies destitute of honey 

 by extracting, and the result will be 

 full colonies of bees and starvation 

 before the winter is over, unless feed- 

 ing is resorted to. 



New Smyrna,Oria., July 25, 1887. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



"Bnlk Honey" for Extractea Houey. 



J. D. MANDEVILLE, M. D. 



I see that considerable is being 

 written concerning new names for 

 honey in its different forms ; and as 

 there is some dissatisfaction with the 

 names now in use, 1 am glad that the 

 matter is being discussed. I hope 

 that the subject will be agitated until 

 the next meeting of the North Amer- 

 ican Bee-Keepers' Society, when the 

 apiarists of the country in joint con- 

 vention will adopt names for the dif- 

 ferent forms of honey, and then let us 



all adhere to those names, whatever 

 they be, and use no other. Let those 

 names be used in the bee-papers, 

 price-lists, and especially in market 

 quotations. 1 believe it belongs to 

 us to settle this question, and that we 

 have the same right to name and 

 classify our products, and the goods 

 in which we deal, as the dealer in 

 pork, cattle, grain, oil, iron or gro- 

 ceries, or any other line of goods, for 

 that matter. 



I will quote market reports on pork, 

 viz.: Long ribs, short ribs, side meat, 

 breakfast-bacon, pickled pork, hams, 

 shoulders, etc., and so I might quote 

 from the market reports of other 

 lines of business which are lengthy, 

 and some brief. But let us be brief, 

 yet plain and comprehensive. 



I am not bitterly opposed to the 

 names now in use, viz.: " comb honey" 

 and " extracted honey," and I doubt 

 very much whether we Qnd any better. 

 I think the people generally under- 

 stand what is meant by " extracted 

 honey," and that it does not mean 

 " extract of honey." Most of them 

 know what an extractor is, and have 

 seen it in use, or at the State or 

 county fairs, or have had them ex- 

 plained to them by the honey-dealer 

 or producer. It is but a few years 

 since the extractor was invented, and 

 I believe that in a short time it will 

 be understood b}; all, and probably in 

 less time than it will take to intro- 

 duce and bring into general use any 

 new names. 



But if we are to have new names, I 

 would suggest " comb honey " or 

 " honey in the comb," for honey in 

 sections ; and " bulk honey " or 

 " honey in bulk," for extracted honey; 

 and in the following is where I got 

 the idea : 



If I ask my grocer for a pound or 

 two, or Ave pounds, of coffee, tea, 

 soda, starch, canned fruit, soap, lye, 

 potash, or for an ounce of spice, pep- 

 per, indigo, etc., he hands it to me 

 already put up in paper, can, or box. 

 But I say to him that I do not want 

 this ; havn't you got it by the quanti- 

 ty? and he at once replies, " Oh yes, 

 I have it in bulk," and at once shows 

 me the barrel, box, or bag, and says : 

 " I have it already put up, or in bulk, 

 but the bulk generally comes the 

 cheapest. Which will you have?" and 

 so it is with honey that is put into 

 nice white cells of comb, and the 

 comb put into sections, it will always 

 command a better price than extract- 

 ed or " bulk honey," the " Wiley 

 lie" to the contrary notwithstanding. 



It may be that this is one reason 

 why sooQe are asking for a new name 

 for extracted honey— because it does 

 not command the price that comb 

 honey does ; but a new name will not 

 improve it in quality or price, for it 

 must always take the second place 

 when it comes to this. It might be 

 well to have one, two or three grades 

 of comb honey, and the same of 

 " bulk honey." 



Philo.ollls. 



[" Bulk honey " as a name for honey 

 out of the comb is both inappropriate 

 and indefinite. Honey in the comb 



can be purchased " in bulk " (that is 

 in quantity) just as well as that " out 

 of the comb." Webster says that 

 "sale by bulk" means "a sale of 

 goods as they are, without weight or 

 measure." It is not applicable to 

 " honey out of the comb," for that is 

 always sold by weight, and never by 

 " bulk."-ED.] 



Rural New Yorker. 



THe Honey Crop of 1881. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The season opened warm and pleas- 

 ant, and colonies having abundant 

 stores boomed right along; but the 

 dry weather, especially in the North- 

 west, "boomed right along" too. 

 Here in Michigan there came a week 

 of rain, but it was just after white 

 clover had opened its blossoms, and 

 no honey can be gathered from this 

 grand honey-plant during rainy 

 weather. ■ 



It finally cleared off, and bees began 

 work in the sections, when there came 

 a week of weather so cool that scarce- 

 ly a bee left the hive. 



The next week it warmed up and 

 the bees again began work on white 

 clover, but before a section of honey 

 was sealed over and ready to come off, 

 basswood blossomed a full week earli- 

 er than usual, and the clover was 

 deserted for the basswood. Basswood 

 yielded fairly for about a week, and 

 then the white honey harvest for 1887 

 was past and gone. One-fourth of a 

 crop here would be a fair average, 

 while in the drouth-parched regions 

 west of Lake Michigan there is almost 

 no surplus at all. California, that 

 often loads down our markets with 

 car-load after car-load of honey, has 

 none to send this year, and, even if 

 she had, it is doubtful if it would be 

 sent, on account of the new freight 

 rates. 



Already prices are creeping up. 

 First-class honey has already been 

 sold in Chicago at 17 cents, wholesale. 

 The dealers are awaking to the situa- 

 tion. The leading wholesale grocery 

 house of New York city wrote me a 

 short time ago, making inquiries in 

 regard to the honey crop, and asking : 

 " What is the outlook?" Taking the 

 whole country over, there has not 

 been more than quarter of a crop, and 

 there should be no haste to sell. 

 There is but little demand for honey 

 until cool weather sharpens the appe- 

 tite for sweets, and November is 

 amply soon enough to pnt honey on 

 the market. 



There are probably some localities 

 where not enough honey has been 

 gathered for winter stores ; or, if 

 there has, it has been taken away, in 

 the hopes that more would be gather- 

 ed. Some will become discouraged 

 on account of the poor season, and 

 neglect the bees. It is quite likely 

 that many bees will be allowed to 

 starve the coming winter, their own- 

 ers having iDCCome too discouraged or 

 too disgusted with the business to 



