310 



T'mm MBdi^KicMPf mmm j@wKifMi*. 



tracting and queen-rearing. For comb 

 honey it is not necessary to manipulate 

 the frames every week. 3. Let us 

 figure a little : One. authority gives 

 about 125 square inches on each side 

 of a Gallup frame. At 25 cells to the 

 square inch, would tfive 3,125 worker 

 cells ; 24x3125=75,000 cells in the 

 hive. A queen would have to lay 

 more than 3,500 a day to fill the hive 

 in 21 days. Allowing one-third of the 

 above frame-pace for honey and pol- 

 len she would still have to average 

 more than 2,500 eggs a day to keep it 

 full. — EOGENE Secor. 



1. Yes ; we used them almost ex- 

 clusively for several years. Their 

 chief advantage is in not allowing the 

 bees to stick them down with propolis. 

 3. No ; not in ordinary cases. — The 

 Editor. 



:»i»»iii«»««i»T«««««Kii»ii»g»iirn 



EATINa HONEY. 



Educating the People to the Use 

 of Extracted Honey. 



Written for the Amerimn Bee Journal 

 BY W. J. CULLINAN. 



Four years ago last June I began the 

 keeping of bees, and since that time 

 myself and family have not known 

 what it is to be without honey in the 

 house, and on the table — eating it al- 

 most three times daily during that 

 period. We always ate and preferred 

 it separated from the comb, and what^ 

 ever I produced iu the comb was sold 

 to those who preferred it in that shape. 

 I always considered them, however, 

 more nice and particular in selection 

 than sound and experienced in judg- 

 ment, as to that which was best ; for if 

 comb honey is good, extracted honey 

 is certainly better, and it requires but 

 a brief trial in the case of the unpreju- 

 diced, to demonstrate the fact. 



Let those who have been " wedded 

 to their idols" so strongly as to eat 

 nothing but comb honey, and who 

 have been swallowing large quantities 

 of the unpalatable and indigestible 

 stuff called "wax" — which, by the 

 way, is only a receptacle for the pure 

 nectar which is secreted in the flowers 

 — discard it for a time and resort to 

 the use of the pure, clear and clean 

 article, known to the bee-fraternity as 

 extracted honeij ; and after using it 

 three months, if they do not admit that 

 their digestive organs have improved, 

 and they feel better, and it was the 

 honey tliey were after, after all, I shall 

 have missed my guess, and still be in- 

 clined to doubt their judgment as to 



that which is good. Let them try it 

 and report. 



It has been said before, and said so 

 often that it scarcely needs repeating, 

 that the leading objection to extracted 

 honej', by those uneducated in the 

 mysteries of the art of bee-keeping, is 

 the fear and suspicion of adulteration. 



" 'Tis pity ; pity 'tis ; 

 And pity 'tis, 'tis true." 



Now if the consumers of the coun- 

 try (ignorant through no fault of 

 theirs) were educated to the fact that 

 there is no such thing as adulteration 

 at the present time ; that glucose, sugar 

 and other saccharine substances form- 

 erly used to adulterate honey, cost 

 almost as much as the pure nectar it- 

 self, and that those unscrupulous 

 enough to do the mixing, could not 

 make it a success from a dollar-and- 

 cent stand-point (which is about the 

 only thing that would induce them to 

 engage in it), they would soon begin 

 to think difterently, and this blight — 

 or curse — which has hung like a black- 

 winged messenger of despair over an 

 innocent fraternity for so long a 

 period, would be at once dispelled, and 

 in its stead a new era be inaugui-ated 

 in which that much-maligned, but 

 ever - to - be - praised article, extracted 

 honey, would occupy its proper niche 

 among the products of the hive. 



The difference in the price of comb 

 and extracted honey at the present 

 time is too great, and it is due to no 

 other cause than the suspicion of adul- 

 teration. Here in Kansas City comb 

 honey is retailing for 25 cents per 

 pound, while they retail just as good 

 an article of extracted for 12J cents. 

 To come down to the real merit of the 

 two — and it is by merit that we arrive 

 at value — the extracted honey is worth 

 the most, pound for pound ; and when 

 j'OU buy a pound of extracted honey 

 you get 16 ounces ; but it is different 

 when you buy a section of coml) honey 

 (it is sold by sections here). The re- 

 tail dealer would always rather have a 

 24-pound crate that weighed only 22 

 pounds, than one of full weiglit, be- 

 cause in that case he makes 2 pounds 

 of honey to the crate clear, besides his 

 profit ; so that when you buy a pound 

 of comb honey you get about 1 ounce 

 of wood, 1 ounce of comb, and full 1 

 ounce short weight, leaving you only 

 13 ounces of honey. 



Now why should 13 ounces of honey, 

 because it is encased in comb and 

 wood, bring as much in the market as 

 32 ounces of the pure nectar, thrown 

 from the comb ? Surely there is some- 

 thing wrong. And I cannot help 

 thinking tliat most, if not all of the 

 trouble is due to the name — " extracted 

 honey." The name is so closely allied 

 with extracts, essences and various 

 artificial compounds, that it is scarcely 



to be wondered at — though much to be 

 deplored — that nearl)- nine-tenths of 

 the people outside of the bee-keeping 

 fraternity themselves, look with a sus- 

 picious eye upon the transparent nec- 

 tar displayed, for sale in large quanti- 

 ties, and labeled " extracted honey." 



After an experience of about five 

 years in producing and selling honey, 

 I cannot help entertaining the belief 

 that the woi'd " extracted," as used in 

 connection with lioney, has worked an 

 injury to the honey-trade that it will 

 take long years to repair, and created 

 a doubt in the minds of the majority 

 of consumers, that will require much 

 time and patience on the part of the 

 honey-vender to explain away. 



I can well remember when a boy, 

 that jars of clear " strained " honey 

 were looked upon with an eye of pride, 

 and their contents prized as a tooth- 

 some article iu many a farm-house. 

 More value was attached to it than to 

 that much comb honey. 



I have not written this article for the 

 purpose of calling out any discussion 

 upon the subject, but simply from a 

 humanitarian stand-point. Should it 

 set some genius to thinking, who might 

 be able to hit upon a plan by which my 

 favorite article of diet could be lifted 

 from the mystery and doubt which at 

 present surrounds it, I shall feel highly 

 recompensed. 



Kansas City, Mo. 



SPRINa TALK. 



Some Seasonable Hints to the 

 Beginners. 



Written for the Prairie Farmer 

 BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



In some localities it may pay to feed 

 meal or unbolted wheat flour or ground 

 oats ; but here, along the Illinois river, 

 there is generally natural pollen to be 

 gathered as soon as it is warm enough 

 for bees to fly. The overflow from the 

 river draws out the frost and causes 

 earlier bloom. 



Ash-leaved maple {Neyundo aceroi- 

 des), which is commonly known as 

 box-elder, is a great favorite with bees, 

 yielding both honey and pollen. One 

 year a neighbor came in, saying, 

 " Your bees are swarming in my trees." 

 On going to them I saw at once why 

 they were there ; the trees were alive 

 with bees, and the happy hum of in- 

 dustry prevailed, and not that peculiar 

 note which is heard when bees swarm. 



Ash-leaved maples are planted 

 largely as a shade tree throughout the 

 city, and some years are a source of 

 much honey and pollen, which imparts 

 new life to the bees, and stimulates 

 brood-rearing. We drove through the 

 streets yesterday to look at these trees, 



