1 May, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 373 
long as you can find a satisfactory market at home sell your honey at home. 
Isaid I knew more about the condition of the British honey market than any 
man here. It is from personal experience. Some of you know I was one of 
your representatives over there when we sent over that magnificent display, 
the finest that has ever been made in the world, the finest and the best that 
ever will be made in the world again in our day. I visited all the principal 
cities in England, Ireland, and Scotland. When I was there I made it a 
special object to inquire as to the probability of an opening there for our 
honey. American honey at that time was sold, to my knowledge, on Market 
Lane, by auction, at 2d. alb., when we with our Canadian honey, after 
expending 2,000 dollars in expenses, returned to every man who, sent a pound 
of it, 10 cents (5d.) a pound for their extracted honey, and paid them for 
store in Britain (Lewis and Co., of Liverpool), perhaps the largest in the 
California honey very nicely put up, and it was very nice honey. I don’t 
know whether it was saze honey or mot. He told me he had bought that 
honey, and could get all of it that he wished to have at 34d. per lb., or about 
7 cents. Isay again, and [ repeat it to emphasise it, if you send honey to 
England you cannot, and you could not within the last 10 years at any rate, 
expect to realise more than 7 cents (83d.) per lb. on an average for it. ~ Will 
it pay you to do that and take the risk of it? Ithink not. I never knew a 
pound of honey sold in this country under 7 cents a pound.” 
HOW TO TAKE A SWARM. 
A very simple contrivance for taking a swarm with little trouble was 
explained by Mr. McKnight as follows :— : 
“ What I have used for 15 years is considered to be the best thing of the kind 
‘that is used anywhere. Its construction was not original with me ; I saw it men- 
tioned or described in Gleanings 14 or 15 years ago, and, I was a comparatively 
young beekeeper at that time, testing nearly everything I saw that came 
along. ‘This is a very simple and cheap contrivance. Those of you who were 
brought up in the old country will best imagine what it is like when I tell you 
it is on the principle of a chimney-sweep’s brush, only a chimney-sweep’s 
brush is wire, and this is made of wood. ‘Take, for instance, a piece of stick 2 
inches square and say 2 or three feet long, chamfer the four edges of it and. 
make it octagonal in shape (cight-sided), cut off a few pieces of lath, rip your 
_on these eight bevels one after the other till you get it filled down well, 6 or 8 
inches would be quite sufficient. At the other end cuta tin ferrule, put it on 
the stock with perhaps 2 or 23 inches to receive the stick that you put into it. 
Haye in your yard half-a-dozen or more different lengths of stick that will 
slip easily into this socket. When your swarm is clusteriug that is the best 
time to do it, but it does not matter; you can do it almost as well after it is 
clustered. You can see at once what length of stick is required to reach the 
cluster. Take the stick that you have in hand, put it into the socket, and 
as they are clustering put this in amongst them and they will cluster 
old elm tree; simply by tying one on to the other you can reach away up 
to where the cluster is. If they are clustered, as very frequently they 
are, before you have noticed them, take your stick again and give a sudden 
jerk near the cluster of bees till you dislodge them from their resting place. 
I will guarantee to catch ninety-nine swarms out of one hundred with that 
simple contrivance. Laving them clustered, then you can set your stick on the 
ground and take it away. When they are all settled upon your chimney- 
sweeping brush, lower your stick, drop the stick that was in the socket, carry 
home the swarm of bees to the front of your hive, and giveitasudden jerk and 
their package as well. Not only that, but I went to the largest departmental - 
world, and talked honey to the foreman. He brought me down a 2 lb. tin of » 
lath up the centre, cut them into pieces about 2 feet long, and nail them around — 
on it every time. I have taken swarms of bees off the top of a big — 
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