R80 



THK mimmmicMM ®e® jQiiaiRifMiL-. 



>^>i>«^^fcj 



Honey Candy.— A correspondent in 

 the Caiiadian Bee Jownal gives the fol- 

 lowing concerning sugar-ripened honey, 

 which may interest our readers : 



At our home we have had a coal-stove 

 burning for over two months without in- 

 terruption, keeping the temperature high, 

 consequently very dry. Near the stove is a 

 pantry with only a lath and plastered wall 

 between. ^ -^ ^. ^ 



In the pantry was a large fruit dish con- 

 taining several pounds of very tine, well- 

 ripened honey. The dish had heen setting 

 on the shelf next to the wall for about a 

 week, and when it was brought out the 

 spoon was resting on the top, which was 

 tough, and had a glassy appearance. When 

 pressed with a spoon it seemed like a paper 

 covering. We scratched a hole in it to as- 

 certain the depth, and found it to be be- 

 tween 3'4 and 3,' of an inch. When placed 

 on paper it looked like soft wax, and one 

 would hardly believe that honey, by a hot, 

 dry atmosphere, would evaporate its mois- 

 ture and become so thick. We thought this 

 a good opportunity to test the difference in 

 quality and tiavor ; taking some of the 

 honey from a 60-pound tin and comparing it 

 in texture, color, and flavor with this beiter 

 ripened, it did not seem the same. The con- 

 tents of the tin was specially selected, and 

 we considered it as good as could be pro- 

 duced ; but tests go to prove that the honey 

 in the dish was so much superior that any 

 one comparing them would not hesitate to 

 give 2 or 3 cents a pound more for it. 



We do not know how much loss there 

 would be in evaporating honey to that ex- 

 tent ; but we suppose the loss to be from 10 

 to 20 per cent. We believe this class of 

 honey would find a market at a price sufll- 

 cent to warrant the experiment. It would 

 be necessary to place it on very shallow 

 vessels, and subject it to a very low tem- 

 perature, that the color might not be 

 changed. 



We fancy a room properly arranged, with 

 coils of steam-pipes to raise the tempera- 

 ture to a desirable height, at the same time 

 allowing a current of air to pass through, 

 would soon reduce our ordinary honey to 

 the consistency o( jelly. It could then be 

 placed in tumblers, or any kind of vessel ; 

 in fact, paper bags could be manufactured 

 of a size and shape suitable to liold it, and 

 sold in 5, 10, 15 and 30 cent packages. It 

 might even be sold by the penny worth, 

 which would increase its consumption. 



fVhat is It?— The Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view for Aug. 10, came duly to hand, and as 

 usual is very interesting. On Wiley's con- 

 fession, the editor remarks thus : 



Prof. W. A. Wiley has received so vigor- 

 ous a trouncing from the bee-journals, par- 

 ticularly from the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, that he has at last forsaken his dig- 

 nified silence, and attempted— well, it is 

 hard to say what. It is a mixture of de- 

 fense, explanation and confession, in which 

 the contradictions and inconsistencies are 

 pitiably ludicrous. It seems that he lacks 

 the manhood to come riiiht out and own up 

 without any quibble, and do what he can 

 to repair the damage he has done. Such 

 confessions as he has already made awaken 

 only contempt and disgust. 



And it may be also stated that he would 

 never have departed from his rule of " dig- 

 nified silence" but for the editorial rocks 

 hurled at him by the American Bee Jour- 

 nal 1 



" Wortliless Urones in the hive of 

 Nature !" How often we hear that sen- 

 tence applied to lazy men. We are usually 

 inclined to dispute the matter because the 

 drone bees are not a worthless set— they 

 have duties to perform, and are useful in 

 the line designed by Nature. But here is a 

 little story, told by Anna B. Quillin, of 

 Ipara, Wis., in Oleanings, which will be 

 read with interest : 



One morning, a year or more ago, my 

 little friend Max came in to see me ; and as 

 he walked across the room I noticed that he 

 held both his hands behind him. As he 

 approached my couch he explained, "I've 

 got something for you— just hear them 

 sing !" and suddenly, before I realized what 

 he was going to do, he was holding his 

 hands up by my ears. And, oh such a buzz, 

 b-u-z-z, b-uzz-i-n-g as 1 heard ! I felt as 

 though a whole swarm of bees had sur- 

 rounded rae. Glancing up at him I saw his 

 eyes were twinkling, and he was shaking 

 with suppressed laughter as he watched my 

 astonished countenance. 



"OMax!" 1 said, "are your hands full 

 of bees, or what have you got in there ? It 

 sounds like a swarm of bees." 



"Just five bumble-bees," he replied, "but 

 they can't hurt you, for they are nothing but 

 drones." 



"But, where did you get them, and how 

 did you know they were ' nothing but 

 drones ?' " 1 questioned. 



" Why, 'cause I found them on that old 

 dead tree in the lane !" he replied. 



"But, Max," said I, " how could that tell 

 you they were drones ?" 



"Ho! he said, "don't you know how to 

 tell a drone ? Why, I'll tell you how you 

 can tell them every time ! The workers 

 are too busy to lounge around and do noth- 

 ing ; and when they alight it is always on 

 something they can work on ; and when 

 you see bees sitting around on dead wood, 

 with nothing to do, you may be sure they 

 are old lazy drones. Why, I have caught 

 dozens of them, and they are (dways drones. 

 1 never caught a worker that wasn't at work, 

 or else looking out for a job." 



" Well, Max, that is a new idea to me," I 

 said ; "but if that is the case, the bees are 

 very much like people, aren't they ? For a 

 man who spends his time sitting around on 

 old store-boxes, and lounging about saloons 

 is generally a drone in the human hive. 

 Our workers in the world haven't much 

 time to waste, for they can always find 

 plenty to do, and take pleasure in being 

 useful." 



Sometime Ago items were going the 

 rounds of the press, showing that bees were 

 storm Warners. Now, they are barometers 

 which warn the denizens of Australia of 

 coming hot weather. A Melbourne corres- 

 pondent of the Dundas Advertiser narrates 

 what he considers an interesting proof of 

 this provident and far-seeing instinct of 

 bees ! 



Turning from men to insects, a singular 

 circumstance is reported from a hot, dry 

 valley in New South Wales. Last year the 

 drouth there was of long duration, and the 

 denizens of the apiaries suffered much from 

 it. This year the bees have made provision 

 against a similar emergency. They have 

 filled a large number of external cells in 

 every hive with pure water instead of 

 honey. It is thought that instinct leads 

 them to anticipate a hot summer. 



Me'w Subscribers can obtain the full 

 numbers for 18S7 and 1888, for«1.75. wliile 

 there are any sets of 1887 left- 



Seasonable Hints. — The following 

 remarks about seasonable apiarian opera- 

 tions, is from the American Agriculturist 

 for September. It is time now to be making 

 calculations on the necessary work before 

 us : 



It is of vital Importance that every colony 

 of bees should have a thorough inspection 

 at the end of the honey season. It would 

 be very exceptional if some colonies were 

 not found queeuless, and robbing is sure to 

 follow. Parent colonies that have cast 

 swarms are generally the ones found want- 

 ing in this respect, and if attention is not 

 given at the close of the honey-flow, the 

 bees will get the start. 



When the flow ceases, the bees with their 

 powerful force of idlers hunt up and rot> 

 such defective colonies. It matters little 

 whether such queeuless colonies are weak 

 or strong, they will not defend their stores. 

 The mischief does not stop here ; when rob- 

 bing bees become aroused they will over- 

 power and destroy colonies that may be in 

 proper condition. It is of the utmost im- 

 portance to see that every colony has a good 

 fertile queen at this season. 



The reason why colonies having cast 

 swarms are often found queenless is, that at 

 the time of maturing, they have but the one 

 young queen ; they have no brood to fall 

 back upon, if the young queen becomes lost, 

 when sne issues alone into the open world 

 to receive fertilization, surrounded by myr- 

 iads of enemies. In returning she some- 

 times enters the wrong colony. 



September is the proper month to feed all 

 colonies that may lack in fond, for winter 

 bees cannot be fed successfully during 

 freezing weather, and it fed early, they s -al 

 the honey over. Unsealed honey in the 

 combs near the bees during cold weather 

 becomes diluted with the moisture from 

 them, and is unhealthful. 



Caring for, handling and disposing of the 

 honey crop also demand our attention dur; 

 ing the latter part of the season. It has 

 been too common to ship honey to distant 

 markets at a low figure. No one can as suc- 

 cessfully build up a demand for honey as 

 the apiarist himself, and the business is far 

 safer in his hands than in any other. The 

 place to commence operations is at home, 

 where w.e have the entire care and control 

 of the matter. Several thousands of pounds 

 of honey may be disposed of in almost anv 

 locality with much greater profits than by 

 shipping. Build up a home market, and 

 never drive business away that can be trans- 

 acted at home. 



A L.ady, writing about small fruit and 

 flowers in the Indiana Farmer, concludes 

 thus : 



We are largely creatures of education, and 

 if we were educated to look upon the honey- 

 producing weeds as something uselui, 

 would they not cease to be such an eye-soie 

 to the farmer as well as the passerby ? Sup- 

 pose the seeds from the fence-corners do 

 get scattered over the field ; it will only take 

 more culture to keep out of growing crop-', 

 and most people will admit that they can 

 hardly have too much culture. Ithinkti.e 

 beautiful asters and golden -rods are an 

 ornament to the fence corners. But, ad- 

 vancement in knowledge usually makes ns 

 equal to any emergency, and what we have 

 lost in the destruction of weeds and lore-t 

 trees, may be regained in the cultivation of 

 plants, etc., which will not only furnish our 

 tables with delicious fruits, but also t.ie 

 where-withal to sweeten them. 



The culture of small fruits furnishes an 

 abundant supply of bee-food, and where 

 there are small truits there ought to be he^s 

 to help fertilize the flowers, and so make 

 them more productive. 



