646 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



When at our State Fair a few years 

 ago, I noticed some ladies viewiDg 

 some hoaey, and heard such expres- 

 sions as, " Isn't it beautiful, splen- 

 did y etc., and I fancied I could see 

 their mouths watering, when a promi- 

 nent bee-keeper of this State, in con- 

 versation with several others who 

 were speaking about their season's 

 success, remarked thus : " My bees 

 did fairly well the forepart of the sea- 

 son, but later they gathered consid- 

 serable bugjuice. I have about a bar- 

 rel and a half on hand." The ladies 

 heard the remark, and turned away 

 apparently disgusted. On page 587 a 

 correspondent sends a sample of what 

 he calls honey, but guesses it to be 

 honey dew. He is told that it is 

 "bugjuice," miscalled honey-dew, 

 and is unfit for winter stores for bees, 

 which, no doubt, is true in a measure, 

 for I do not believe that honey is ever 

 found in any way connected with 

 dew. To call it " aphidse honey " 

 would be equally wrong, as honey is 

 gathered only from flowers. 1 usually 

 call it "dark honey;" some call it 

 black honey, which I think would 

 sound better to a would-be purchaser, 

 than "bug-juice." 



Right here it occurs to me that the 

 extremely dry season just passed (just 

 the kind of weather for the so-called 

 honey-dew), together with the ex- 

 treme shortness of the crop, and the 

 small amount now on the market, that 

 honey dew or bug— (well, call it what 

 you please) should manifest itself in 

 greater quantities than present re- 

 ports would indicate, or forever hide 

 itself along with " artificial comb 

 honey." 



GATHERING DARK HONEY. 



In the last days of September, 1885, 



1 discovered that my bees were gath- 

 ering considerable dark, strong honey, 

 and that they were bringing it from 

 the north. I was determined to know, 

 if possible, what it was, and from 

 where it came. About one half mile 

 north of my apiary is a marsh, which 

 is usually dry the latter part of the 

 season ; it is about 50 rods wide, and 



2 or 3 miles long. 



North of this is about the same 

 width of swamp, and beyond this is 

 hard land covered with timber — 

 beech, maple and basswood. I went 

 over the road across the marsh to the 

 west, and entered the timber north of 

 the swamp, and commenced listening 

 for bees, and looking for bark- lice, 

 climbing up into several small beech 

 and maple trees. I then passed south- 

 ward and examined through the 

 swamp, but I could find neither bark- 

 lice, honey-dew, or any bees at work. 



Passing on I came to the marsh, 

 where I found what I was looking for. 

 East and west of me for nearly a mile 

 the marsh was thickly covered with 

 boneset, and the boneset as thickly 

 covered with bees. On the south side 

 of the marsh was large quantities of 

 goldenrod, but the bees were not 

 working on it. From observations 

 made at that time, and several times 

 since, I have come to the conclusion 

 that bug-juice is a great bug-bear. 



There is such a substance, however, 

 as the excrement of the bark-louse, 



which falls upon the leaves, becomes 

 dried, and is again moistened by the 

 dews, and bees sometimes work on it ; 

 but this usually occursin midsummer, 

 and when there is little or nothing 

 else for them. 



There are also several kinds of 

 plants, and boneset is one of them, 

 that grow in wet places ; and during 

 the early season they attain a vigor- 

 ous growth, and later in the season, 

 as the water dries out of the soil, they 

 furnish much dark, strong honey on 

 which bees will winter comparatively 

 well, especially if wintered out-doors, 

 and the weather will admit of an oc- 

 casional flight. 



I indorse Mr. Theilmann's views as 

 expressed on page 584. If those who 

 buy and eat my honey do not find the 

 foundation in it, 1 certainly am not 

 going to call their attention to it ; and 

 I further think, with Mr. Heddon, 

 that the less there is said in the bee- 

 papers about the adulteration of 

 honey, the better. 



Mendon, P Mich. 



Country Gentleman. 



Hints aliont larl^etiiig Honey. 



O. L. HERSHISER. 



Less than a score of years ago the 

 science of modern bee-keeping was in 

 its infancy. A few energetic bee- 

 keepers saw in their pursuit the pos- 

 sibility of a great industry, and be- 

 gan vigorously to develop it. Then 

 there was no difficulty in disposing of 

 the honey crop at what would now 

 seem fabulous prices, for the demand 

 exceeded the supply. Rough boxes 

 holding from 10 to40poimds of honey, 

 brought from 25 to 30 cents per pound. 



The prices have steadily decreased, 

 as the science developed and produc- 

 tion increased, until last season the 

 beautiful white one-pound boxes sold 

 as low as 10 cents per pound. It has 

 now become as much a study how 

 best to sell, as how to produce honey. 

 If honey can be readily sold, there is 

 still more money in producing it now 

 than formerly, for thousands of 

 pounds can be produced by the new 

 methods, where hundreds were by the 

 old. 



On account of the failure of the 

 small fruit crop in many sections, as 

 well as the shortness of the honey 

 crop, prices for the latter promise to 

 be better than for several years past. 

 In order to secure the best prices, and 

 the quickest sales, great care should 

 be taken in preparing the honey so 

 that it will present the most attractive 

 appearance in the market. 



Comb honey should be taken from 

 the hive as soon as capped, as it is 

 much whiter then, than if allowed to 

 remain with the bees until the close 

 of the season. The propolis should 

 be scraped from the sections to give 

 them a nice, white appearance. 



The style of package has often as 

 much to do with securing good prices 

 and quick sales as the honey itself. 

 Small packages, holding from 8 to 24 

 are preferred. Such packages are 

 best suited to a small market or re- 



tail trade. The case should be made 

 of white basswood with a strip of 

 glass 2 inches wide running the full 

 length of each side. This gives the 

 case an attractive appearance, and 

 customers can usually judge of the 

 quality of the honey without opening 

 the package. Cases should be manu- 

 factured so cheaply that they may be 

 sold with the honey, without expect- 

 ing to have them returned. An old, 

 soiled case hurts the sale of nice 

 honey more than enough to purchase 

 a new case. 



EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Extracted honey should be sold in 

 vessels which will be of use to the 

 housewife after the honey has been 

 used. Glass fruit-jars are found to 

 be very good. Jelly-cups also meet 

 with a ready market. A tin-pail hold- 

 ing from 1 to 12 pounds with bail and 

 cover, sometimes sells well, but not as 

 well as glass vessels, as they do not 

 present so attractive an appearance. 

 It is not advisable to use bottles or 

 tin fruit-cans in marketing extracted 

 honey. 



The style of packing best suited for 

 marketing extracted honey in jelly- 

 cups is a crate holding 18 cups, ar- 

 ranged in three rows of six cups each. 

 The crates should be constructed of 

 white basswood or pine, with solid 

 ends of half-inch stuff, and two thin 

 strips on each side, and three strips 

 on top and bottom. The bottom strips 

 should be heavy enough to support 

 the weight of the honey, and 2 inches 

 wide. This style of package is quite 

 attractive, and meets with a ready 

 sale. 



The best time to market honey is 

 during the fall and winter, after the 

 season of perishable fruits and vege- 

 tables is over. There is usually a 

 limited demand at all seasons, but 

 care must be exercised during sum- 

 mer and early autumn, or the market 

 and prices will be injured forthefaU 

 and winter. 



HONEY CONSUMPTION. 



The honey consumption in nearly 

 every community can be greatly in- 

 creased if one only sets about it in 

 the right way. The bee-keeper should 

 aim to have his honey on sale at every 

 grocery store in his community. Oft- 

 times grocerymen of small experience 

 will not care to buy the " stuff " at 

 first, especially if none has been sold 

 in the place before. The bee-keeper 

 should leave a case both of comb and 

 extracted honey with these inexperi- 

 enced grocerymen, and collect the 

 money after the honey has been sold, 

 allowing the salesman a liberal com- 

 mission. 



Leave a spoon and an extra jelly- 

 cup of honey with the groceryman, to 

 allow customers an opportunity to 

 sample it If they choose. Request 

 that your honey be exhibited in a con- 

 spicuous place, and if properly pre- 

 pared for market, it will not fail to 

 attract notice. If proper care and 

 thought be given the preparation and 

 marketing of honey, the demand wiU 

 in a short time be greatly increased. 

 Usually the groceryman will be will- 

 ing to pay cash for the second lot. 



