570 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 23, 1866. 
I believe that this idea will not b9 borne out in practice, 
but rather the contrary, for although on account of the 
demand for section honey in my locality I produce honey in 
sections to meet this demand, it has for some time been 
evident to me that a less weight of honey is taken from a 
stock upon which sections are used for supering purposes 
than from a stock upon which a large indivisible super is 
placed, or a super which, though divisional, is still in larger 
sections, as an example of which we may take the Stewarton 
honey boxes. If this loss is not merely fanciful greater loss 
still must ensue from using still smaller sections. Unless to 
counteract this loss separators may he dispensed with when 
the narrow sections are introduced, and the comb still be 
free from bulging, when the loss will not be so great as in 
the case of the quasi-standard section with separators. In 
my apiary separators are always used, and whenever an 
attempt has been made to work sections without them failure 
has been the result. Let those who desire to do so adopt a 
smaller section. I shall be content to watch the result with 
the conviction that the producer will find it much more 
difficult to sell to the retail dealer twice as many half-pound 
sections as to dispose of half the number of those of the 
ordinary size. When sections a,re of consistent good quality, 
and a fair attempt is made to sell them at a reasonable and 
remunerative price, no trouble ought to be experienced, and in 
future years, as the quality oi the honey becomes more 
widely known, the local demand may quite possibly exceed 
the supply. 
Notwithstanding contrary opinions held by other-, I 
believe that the vast sale of Canadian honey in this country 
during the last few months has done an almost irreparable 
injury to the home producer. Those who have this year 
purchased this Colonial honey will another year also buy the 
same, unless the Canadian bee-keepers are foolish enough to 
send inferior brands. It is all easy to say that by the sale 
of so great a weight of honey the taste for it has been 
spread, so that in the future a greater demand will exist 
than in the past ; but it is a very different thing to induce 
the purchaser of honey from abroad this year to buy it from 
the home producer next season. If he is able to obtain the 
same quality again next autumn at the same average price 
he will see no necessity to change. The consumer does not 
as a rule care who benefits by his purchase; he does not 
think that if he buys English honey he is doing something 
to foster British apiaries; nor does he think that in con¬ 
suming Canadian honey he is injuring a home industry. 
The consumer tries to buy the best quality at the most 
moderate price, irrespective of all other considerations. There 
is not even the slight consolation that the honey of Canada 
is so vastly inferior to our own that the ordinary consumer 
can detect the difference. How many of the thousands of 
honey-eaters in Great Britain could detect the difference 
between two samples—the one Canadian honey, and the 
other English ? The Canadian bee-keepers have been wise 
and made the most of their opportunity. English bee-keepers 
have been delighted to meet them and to discuss the great 
problems of the day with representatives of Canadian bee¬ 
keepers ; but notwithstanding this pleasure it must not be 
forgotten that by the grand display of honey at the “ Colin- 
dries ” this year an enormous impetus has been given to the 
sale of Colonial and foreign honey at a time when the 
home market was glutted with supplies for which there was 
no apparent sale. It cannot be forgotten that the first prni- 
ciple implanted in every individual member of society by 
Nature is “self-preservation.” 
We rejoice at the prosperity, loyalty, and power of Canada; 
we desire to see that prosperity increase, that loyalty endure, 
and that power grow greater each suceeding year; we hope that 
good seasons, happiness, and profit will attend the bee-keepers 
of Canada; but we also most earnestly hope that the bee¬ 
keeper of this the Mother Country will do all that lies in 
his power to actually monopolise the home honey market, 
not with the assistance of protective tariffs, but by an honest 
attempt to produoe honey of good quality at the leas'; possible 
cost, so as to enable him to beat out of the market all 
Colonial and foreign produce, and to resist the flood of com¬ 
petition which already su-ges at his door, threatening to 
break down the barriers which have hitherto restrained its 
pent-up force.— Felix. 
MEAD-MAKING. 
A CORRESPONDENT wishes a detailed recipe for making mead of the 
best quality. The experience I have had in the matter scarcely entitles 
me to instruct others in the art, nor would it be wise even though I were 
a proficient to givo a recipe as producing the best quality, for tastes 
differ so widely. 
Many of the recipes for mead-making include foreign liquids and in¬ 
gredients, such a9 brandy and spices. A recipe before me could be easily 
imitated by thoroughly dissolving a teaspoonful of honey in a glass of 
brandy or rum, and adding spices according to taste. “ Athole Brose’* 
might be regarded as the proper term. I delayed giving any instructions 
in mead-making until I had made inquiries of those who were likely to 
be able to give full particulars as to preparing mead from honey pure 
and simple, but in this I have failed. They either do not differ from my 
own system, or are of too complicated a nature. 
Liquors made from honey are undoubtedly far more refreshing and 
safer to take than many of the compounds sold at the present day. What 
is termed beer, made from honey, is certainly a refreshing effervescing 
drink during hot weather. It is made here usually from the water that 
combs, after the honey has been extracted, had been steeped in, the pollen 
in the combs giving it a colour, flavour, and fermentation that pure honey 
would not do. The following is the recipe for making similar beer to that 
which took the first prize at the Caledonian Apiarian Society held at 
Edinburgh in 1884, and which was greatly relished by everyone who 
tasted it. The quantity of honey used may be more or less according to- 
taste. 
To every 3 lbs. of honey add 1 gallon of water, 1 oz. of hops boiled 
separately, strained, and the liquor added to the honey and water after 
the latter has been boiled gently for nearly an hour, and the scum skimmed 
off as it rises. Now pour the liquor into a cooler, and when about milk- 
warm add a gill of brewer’s barm. After it has stood in the cooler and 
fermented for three or four days, bottle and cork tightly. The above 
gallon is Scotch measure. 
The successful preparation of mead depends greatly upon circum¬ 
stances and experience. To every gallon of water (imperial measure) add 
3 lbs. of honey. In this case, as in beer, heather honey and honey with 
an admixture of pollen, give colour and flavour not obtained with honey 
free from it. Boil the liquor slowly for an hour and skim off the impuri¬ 
ties as they rise to the surface. Have the liquor infused from the hops 
ready to be added when the liquor is skimmed, then pour into a cooler. 
If the weather is warm no barm will be required, but if cold add some 
barm. When sufficiently cold pour the contents into a well seasoned 
barrel, clean, and perfectly free from any mustiness whatever. This must 
be particularly attended to. Place the barrel in a dry place at a tempera¬ 
ture not less than 60°. After it has wrought two or three days bung 
closely. A small spigot hole may be left open for a few days longer and 
the barrel kept full by a little of the liquor preserved for the purpose. 
If any particular flavour is desired, that can either be done before casking 
or after, as desired, but care must be taken that sufficient liquor is pre¬ 
pared to fill the barrel. 
Mead made according to the above receipt is heating and is as good a 
stimulant as many of the high-priced wines imported into this country, 
mead being much safer for an invalid to use. After it has been kept in 
the cask for six months it may be bottled for use, corked and sealed. The 
following recipe is taken from “ Honey as Food and Medicine.” “ Wine 
Mead.—To make mead not inferior to the best foreign wines put 3 lbs. of 
the finest honey to 2 gallons of water, two lemon peels to each gallon 
boil it one-half hour and skim well. Put in the lemon peel while boiling 
Work this mixture with yeast, and then put it in a vessel to stand five or 
six months, then bottle for use. If you choose to keep it for several years 
add 4 lbs. of honey to a gallon of water.”— Lanarkshire Bee-keeper* 
All correspondeuce should be directed either to “ The Editor ,r 
or to “ The Publisher.’' Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
