Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-08-15
FORTUNES IN HONEY.
A Yankee Who Got queen vi, oria 10
Taste American Nectar.
Fron the New York Sun.

even i it equals, that of the honey
made IN New York State" said a
wholesale dealer.
"One of the most extensive bee cul-
| turis.s in tbs or any other country, !"
/ he continued. as Captain Hetlcrinr.
| ton, whose apiarles along the Cherry
Valley Creek, IN Schoharie county,
annually turn out over loo. 600 pounds
, of the choicest honey. 1t takes nine
men and two steam saw-mllls five
weeks to prepare the lumber for the
boxes i'll which the honey is made hy
| his bees. Nearly $50, 600 panes Of
| glass, about SIX inches square, are
| used in these boxes. Captain Hether-
| lngton has st work this season nearly
| ,, 500 SwarmS of bees. These are not
all on his own premises, but are scat
tered among the orchards and fields
OF farmers along the creek, 10 whom
he pays !. rent for the privilege of his
bees working III the clover, buck
| wheat, or whatever blossoms are in
season on the farms The care of
! these bees does not fall on the owner
OF the land, Captain Hetherington
keeps men and teams constantly en-
| ployed looking out for them. lie has
received rs much as So, 600 for one
seasons crop.
Another large York State bee
| keeper IS c. s. lsham, of Peoria. Ip
| 10 1879 there was no market in Eng.
land for American ..oney. The Eng
lish dealers would not handle it, and
the periodicals devoted to the interests
q bee keepers in that country cried il
| down in every possible way The rea-
son for this was that they knew the
superiority of American honey. both
IN flavor and appearance, ever the
British article, and were aware that if
ii was once introduced in London. it
would be A great blow 10 the trade i'll
the home supply. There was smart
Yankee named Hoge working for
grocery IL this city. and he assured
hls employers that, If they would give
INN the commission. he would man
age to place American honey on the
English market 4 large lot of ISL
ANS honey, which the firm WAS then
handling. was packed Just as it came
from the hives, and Hodge was sent
to London with it, lie found lie
| needed all his Yankee ingenuity and
acutenesS, for he met with universal
opposition among the dealers. lie Ia
bored with them for weeks to no pur-
pose. In conversation one day with
the proprietor Of the hotel nj which he
stopped, the latter told Hage that If he
could manage IT, have his honey in
troduced on the table Of Queen Vic
torla 1t would solve the problem at
once, for if she was pleased with it
she would communicate TO llogc
through the Lord Steward This com
munication once made public would
make American honey the fashion in
England.
"A former Lord Steward was Il
friend of the hotel keeper, and was at
that time engaged largely in the
manufacture and sale of pickles.
This man the landlord introduced TO
Hoge They dlned together. Hoge
gave the pickle man an immense or
der for his goods, 10 be sent TO the
American grocer. More VINE fol
lowed, and before the eN. Lord Steward
went away he promised 10 use his
influence TO have the American hon
ey introduced on the royal table lie
succeeded IN inducing the then Lord
Steward, Sir John Cowell, to accept a
/ box of honey for the Queen. and to
serve it on her table. TIE Queen was
So delighted with the honey taat she
directed the Lord Steward to present
! her thanks to the donor TO order a
supply of ten cases at once, and To
keep American honey constantly on
/ the royal table.
''Hoge lost no time in making this
communication public. The conse-
| quence was that the opinion Of Amer
lean honey changed ut once, and Hogc
came back to New York secretly
! laughing at the Britishers, but rejoic-
ing over an order for 800, 0G0 pounds
| of American honey for the English
market, which he carried in his pock
ct. The demand for it has increased
ever since, and the trade that was
started in New York State honey is
now largely shared in by the Califor-
MIA product.
I'm California there are no long
/ winters, with dcarth Of flowers,
through which the bees must be fed
| by artificial means, and IN the mouth
of almost every canyon there IS bee
ranch or apiary The bee keeper Of
| the Pacific coast is not beset by as
many difficulties as confront his East
ern br other, and he grows ladolGnt
and rich from the labor oi his ever
industrious brown winged servants
| These bee ranches are models Of neat
ness and comfort, and the business is
so light, pleasant and profitable, and
requires so little capital at the start,
that it is fast becoming the leading
industry in many localities on the
coast You see men, women and
children who own extensive bee
ranches, among them being many
who are physically unable to attend
to business requiring active superln-
i tendence.
/ There is constant bHzhlng Of
wings in these canyons, caused by
! the endless goings and comlngs Of the
| bees, and the burden Of honey they
carry collectively is so great that the
air is perpetually filed with the frag-
rance of the fields. y
why do wa never see red clover
! honey advertised2" asked the reporter.
For the simple reason that there is
never any made by honey bees.
/ There is no blossom so rich in stores
of sweetness as the red clover blossom,
as every schoolboy whose privilege It
/ is to pluck them and suck their nectar
well knows. But the honey bee nev-
er collects it, because It can not. The
corolla tube of the red clover il SO
deep and small that the bee cannot
reach the honey. The bee knows
this, and, if you will think moment,
you will remember that you never
saw hive bee on a clover blossom.
They do not waste tkeir time in ef-
forts to obtain sweets that are beyond
their reach But the humble bee lev
les tribute on every red clover field in
his bailiwiek. As smart as the hive
bee is, it has yet to learn trick that
is as old as the hill to its gigantic and
more stupid seeming cousin: When
the humble bee lights on a head OF
red clover he punctures hole in the
base OF the corolia, and, thrustlng IN
his tongue, sucks out the nectar. I'm
| fortunately this big, clumsy bee Is
not much of a honey maker. You
might rob score of humble bee nests
| and not obtain quarter Of pound Of
honey: and besides, his nests are few
| and far between. Consequently we
| -r;Il bo,,a 41, nc n until the hive bee