1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



225 



one side is left entirely open, or a 

 sheet of burlap or cheesecloth is 

 hung over it. Of the hundred or 

 more hives, perhaps one-third had a 

 cloth hung across the front, the rest 

 were entirely open, as shown in fig- 

 ure 5. 



About twice each year the combs 

 are all cut out and the bees thrown 

 back into the empty boxes. There 

 is, of course, much loss from the 

 melting of combs filled with brood, 

 but the peon is indifferent to that. 

 The wax is a saleable commodity 

 and the bees will soon re-establish 

 themselves. The wax is sold, for the 

 most part, to the Catholic priests for 

 the making of wax candles for cere- 

 monial purposes. 



This system has one great advan- 

 tage over the box hive beekeeping of 

 other sections; it automatically elim- 

 inates American foulbrood. With all 

 the combs melted up at such frequent 

 intervals, this disease can never get 

 much of a start among the bees, and 

 the nearby beekeeper, following prac- 

 tical methods, needs have but little 

 fear of the harboring of American 

 foulbrood by his Mexican neighbors. 



is high. The consumer pays for the 

 bottle, for the handling, overhead 

 charges, cost of selling, etc. Unfor- 

 tunately, too, few markets offer 

 honey in more than two-pound pack- 

 ages. It is seldom that a five-pound 

 pail or a ten-pound pail can be pro- 

 cured other than from some bee- 

 beekeeper. On the other hand, maple 

 syrup is to be had by the gallon. 

 The question may be raised, there- 

 fore, are the beekeeper and packer at 

 fault in supplying the small package 

 of honey and not offering a larger 

 package? There is every indication 

 that the jobber and retailer will han- 

 dle it if it is available. The public 

 is in a receptive mood, ready to learn 

 how to liquefy candied honey, how 

 to properly keep it and use it, if ob- 

 tainable in bulk. But if sold in large 

 packages it would seem that the 

 prices should be consistent with the 



lessened cost of packing and hand- 

 ling. 



Since the expression "Honey for 

 Cooking" is so commonly met with, 

 why not use it as a catch word in 

 introducing perhaps, first, the live- 

 pound package, and later die ten- 

 pound? Let the package bear these 

 words and with them a brief expla- 

 nation of liquefying the candied 

 honey and of properly keeping it 

 after liquefied. Brief suggestions for 

 utilizing honey in the preparation of 

 foods and preserves could also lie in- 

 cluded. 



There is another feature. The east- 

 ern producer who is in the midst of 

 large and dense populations finds a 

 ready sale locally for all the honey 

 which he produces: moreover, he 

 finds that the pound package is his 

 best selling size. Probably his best 

 profits are on this size. Therefore, 

 there is little inducement for him to 

 pack in larger containers, thereby re- 

 ducing the price and his profits. How- 

 ever, low grade honey produced in 

 the commercial apiaries of the west 

 might well be packed and graded 

 ready for eastern retail trade and 

 known on the eastern market as 

 "Honey for Cooking." Perhaps it 

 would help the producer to dispose 

 of his darker honey. The question, 

 therefore, may be raised: is there 

 not an opportunity to wholesale, 

 properly labeled, five, and possibly 

 ten-pound containers, crated in lots 

 of six and shipped in a wholesale 

 way ready to be disposed of directly 

 to the jobbing grocers? It would 

 cost the producer slightly more to 

 prepare his honey for market in this 

 form, rather than in the sixty-pound 

 cans, but it is the writer's opinion 

 that a satisfactory profit could be 

 obtained and yet the honey made 

 available for cooking purposes at a 

 cost attractive to the public. 



There would be needed a little edu- 

 cational work among the jobbers. 

 Perhaps, too, the retailers would 

 need to be informed. The public, 

 however, is ready 



"Honey for Cooking" 



By Dr. Burton N. Gates, Associate 

 Professor of Beekeeping, Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College 

 ii ~f "f ONEY for Cooking" is an ex- 

 pression commonly met with 

 in talking to the public who 

 are eager to supplement and to save 

 the sugar supply, but who at the same 

 time are anxious to make a portion 

 of their usual preserves, jellies and 

 jams and to prepare their household 

 foods. The public is ready to use 

 honey in the various ways but they 

 say "Honey for Cooking" is so ex- 

 pensive. The only remark in reply 

 is, in Yankee fashion, a question, 

 "Are urn sure that it is so much more 

 expensive than sugar?" 



.When purchased in jelly tumblers 

 or less than pound packages, the rate 



*W^ ^L 



m* 



Fig. 5. The hive is entirely open in front. 



