THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



595 



THOMAS a. NEWMAN, Editor. 



MIIIIL Sept 21, 1881. No. 38. 



Unite a Queenlets Colony with one 

 having a good queen. Or if a queen is get- 

 ting old or otherwise useless, replace her 

 now. It you have no extra queen, it will 

 pay to procure one to supersede the failing 

 queen, for she may die during the winter 

 and the colony perish in the spring for want 

 of a queen. 



Ancient Honey.— An exchange says 

 that honey was a domestic manufacture of 

 great Importance before the introduction of 

 cane sugar, and in those countries where 

 cane sugar is scarce, the preparation of 

 honey is very extensively carried on. It Is 

 not uncommon for a peasant of the Ukrlne 

 to possess 500 or more hives, and for a 

 parish priest in Spain to have .5,000 hives in 

 his apiary. 



Anions tlie many Uses for honey we 

 may mention the following : 



It is used in the manufacture of Confec- 

 tionery, Cakes and Pastry, Soda-water, Mead 

 and Metheglln, .Jellies and Jams, Honey- 

 Wines and Liquors, Liquorice, Honey Egg- 

 Foam, and Honoy- Vinegar, Medicinal prep- 

 arations, Syrups, Ointments and Salves, 

 Pop-corn Balls and Harvest Drinks. 



it is also used in canning and preserving 

 fruit in its natural state, curing hams and 

 meat of various kinds. 



In making printers'-roUers it forms a 

 principal ingredient, also in the manufac- 

 ture of beer, ale and tobacco, it holds a 

 prominent place. 



In making comb foundation it is used con- 

 siderably. 



In compounding medicines of all kinds, it 

 has for ages held an important place ; while 

 as an article of food it has been esteemed as 

 one of the principal delicacies for many cen- 

 turies. 



It will be well for all honey-producers to 

 see if they cannot And out new avenues for 

 the use of honey. In this way we can pre- 

 vent a decline in prices when the future 

 honey crops will be large. This is worth 

 thinking about. 



Crops in General.— In Vick'a Magazine 

 for September we find this statement of the 

 result of the late drouth : 



The heat and the dry weather the past 

 summer have affected unfavorably most of 

 the cultivated crops of this country. It has 

 been a remarkable season on account of the 

 high temperature which has prevailed, with 

 but few Intermissions, during the three 

 months that have Just passed. Over a large 

 region of territory, from the central part of 

 New York State westward to the Rocky 

 Mountains, there has been for the same 

 period a deficiency of rain, this deficiency 

 being greatest in the States lying on the 

 Mississippi River and westward, Illinois, 

 Wtsconstn. Minnesota, Iowa, Dakota, Ne- 

 braska and Kansas, and the region beyond 

 have suffered most severely, but Michigan, 

 Ind ana, Ohioand the western half of this 

 State have had their crops badly shortened 

 by the same causes. An additional source 

 of loss has resulted from the depredations 

 of insects, favored by heat and dryness, 

 which have bred with great rapidity. A 

 short harvest of wheat, hay, grain and 

 potatoes will be general, except in the Bast- 

 ern and some of the other Atlantic States, 



Concernins the Observation Hives, 



Huber remarks as follows : 



Some persons may imagine, perhaps, that 

 glass hives of four sides, are sufliclently 

 adapted for exposing the construction of 

 combs : but their architecture is always 

 concealed from our view by clusters of 

 bees, amidst which, and in darkness, the 

 work goes on. 



Huber never saw our new uni-comb glass 

 hives tor two reasons— first, because he was 

 blind, and next because they did not then 

 exist. These come nearer to it than did any 

 in his day. 



"Tlie Praclleal Bee-Keeper: Acom- 

 pendium of Rational Bee-Keeping with 

 movable and immovable Honey-Combs," is 

 the title of a German bee-book which we 

 have received from its author, C. J. H. 

 Gravenhorst, of Glowen, Prussia, editor of 

 the Deutsche illustrierte Bienenzeilung. The 

 book contains nearly 300 pages, is beauti- 

 fully printed on excellent paper, and has 

 over 100 illustrations, among them being 

 the faces of many eminent Gorman apiar- 

 ists. As it so thoroughly aud practically 

 covers the whole ground of bee-keeping, it 

 no doubt will receive a hearty welcome by 

 all who read the German language. Its cost 

 is 4 marks (one dollar) per copy. 



Seasonable Hints.— J. M. B., in the In- 

 diana Farmer, gives the following as hints 

 to bee-keepers who are apt to become for- 

 getful of the wants of the bees. He says : 



Bee-keepers should begin now, if they 

 have neglected to do so, to prepare their 

 bees for winter. This is the season to guard 

 against robbers. The entrances to all colo- 

 nies, the strong as well as the weak, should 

 be contracted to better enable them to pro- 

 tect their stores. Strong colonies having 

 unsealed stores are In almost as much 

 danger of being attacked by robbers as 

 those weak in numbers. Avoid opening the 

 hives as much as possible except at even- 

 ing after the bees are done flying. 



As the past season has been poor for 

 honey, there will have to be considerable 

 uniting and feeding done this fall, which 

 will require the greatest care to prevent 

 robbing. It is not necessary to open each 

 colony to know if they have honey enough 

 to winter them. My plan is to lift each hive, 

 marking those that need feeding. Should 

 you have more light, weak colonies than 

 you care to feed and risk in wintering, 

 select those that have their hives full of 

 combs, are strongest, and have young pro- 

 lific queens, and commence feeding at once. 



Those that are to be united should if 

 possible be moved gradually up to those 

 that are to receive them, and after their 

 brood has all haiched, be united. Select 

 some cool evening when no bees are flying 

 to do your work, by shaking and brushing 

 the bees down at the entrance, letting them 

 run in. 



If you have any choice of queens, kill the 

 poorer ones of course, otherwise, the bees 

 •will take care of that part of the work by 

 killing one of them. Continue to run them 

 in until the hive is full ; have no fears of 

 getting them too strong. You will find these 

 same colonies to be weak enough next 

 spring. Feed them until judging by their 

 weight, they seem to say as the old German 

 did, when asked to give a receipt for money 

 paid him, " Yah— I ish full. I wants no more." 



The empty hives and combs should be put 

 away under shelter lor next season's use. 



Hold Back tbe Honey.— If you want 

 to maintain the advancing prices for honey 

 —do not ship a pound for 5 or 6 weeks to 

 come. Just read the following from Boston 

 honey merchants : 



Honey being so short, we thought 20 and 

 22 cts. per pound low enough to sell to the 

 jobbing and retail trade, and we have sold 

 none for less than 20 cts., except one lot of 

 odd size comb. 



We wish to second what you say editorially 

 to the producers, in tbe American Bee 

 JotTRNAL, to hold honey back for a month 

 or two ; and in that way good prices can be 

 maintained right through the season. We 

 are receiving a good many letters from all 

 over the country, asking if we can sell their 

 honey at prices quoted in the American 

 Bee Journal, and we write them that at 

 present we cannot advise shipment here, for 

 if we should have it all come here, we could 

 not sell for over 15 cts. per pound. 



The Honey Consumer is the name of 

 a neat 45. page pamphlet on our desk, by 

 Max Pauly, of Zurich, Switzerland. It con- 

 tains many excellent recipes for using 

 honey in cooking, for preserving fruit, and 

 in making honey vinegar, mead, wine, etc. ; 

 also the uses of honey as a tnedicine. Its 

 price is 70 cents per copy. 



Tlie Display at the St. Joseph, Mo., Ex- 

 position, in the Apiarian Department, was 

 one of the finest we ever saw, and speaks 

 well for the energy and perseverance of the 

 Managers of the Fair,who were ably assisted 

 by Mr. J. G. Graham, the Superintendent of 

 the Apiarian Department. 



The principal exhibitors were Messrs. E. 

 T. Abbott, W. Z. Hutchinson, Elvin S. Arm- 

 strong, F. G. Hopkins, Sr., Wm. Kimball, J. 

 G. Grahaii), and F. G. Hopkins, Jr., and in- 

 cluded the finest exhibit of extracted and 

 comb honey we have seen for several years. 



In the line of edibles, two good exhibits 

 were made by Mrs. George Doles and Miss 

 Dora Abbott. These included cakes of 

 many varieties, jams, jellies, cookies, snaps, 

 fruit of various kinds preserved in honey, 

 etc. The premiums amounted to $267.00. 



Of course we had a very pleasant time 

 with the many apiarists attending the Inter- 

 State Exposition. They are generally enter- 

 prising and progressive. 



To Messrs. F. G. Hopkins (father and son) 

 we are indebted tor pleasant drives all over 

 the city, and among the adjacent hills, 

 which are filled with residences— many of 

 them very fine and luxurious. 



Tbe Madison County Fair will be held 

 at Madison, Nebr., on Sept. 22, 23 and 24, 

 1887. Cash premiums for exhibits of bees 

 and honey are offered A premium list may 

 be had by addressing the secretary, A. J. 

 Thatch, Madison, Nebr. 



