The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-10-02
T FORTUNES IN HONEY.

FORTUNES m HONEY.
4 Yankee Who Got Queen Victoria "a
Taste American Nectar.
From the New York Sun.
'While California is tho greatest bee-ranch-
ng or honey making region in the world, owing
to the excellence of it's climate and the endless
variety of its honey yielding flowers, the quail.
ty Of it's honey does not excel, even if it equals
that Of the honey made in New York State"
said wholesale dealer
"One of the most extensive bee cuIturists in
this or any other country" he continued, 'sie
Captain Hetherington, whose apiaries along
the Cherry Valley Creek, in Schoharie county,
annually turn out over 1000 pounds of the
choicest honey: It takes nine men and two
steam saw-mills five weeks to prepare the lum-
Der for the boxes in which the honey is made by
his bees Nearly 150 600 panes of glass, about six
inches square, are used in these boxes. Cap
tain Hetherington has atwork this season near
~ 1850 swarnas of bees. These are not all Cd
his own premises, but are scattered among the
orchards and fields of farmers along the creek,
to whom he pays rent for the privilege of his
bees working in the clover, buckwheat, or what
ever blossoms are in season on the farms. The
care of these bees does not fall to the owner of
and teams constantly employed looking out for
them. He has received as much as $25, coo for
one seasons crop"
sAnother large York State bee-keeper is C.
B. Isham, Of Peoria Up to 1879 there was no
market in England for American honey. The
periodicals devoted to the interests of bee-
keepers in that country cried it down
in every possible way. The reason for
this was that they knew the superiority of
American honey, both in flavor and appearance
over the British article, and were aware that if
it was once introduced in London, it would be
= great blow to the trade in the home supply.
There was a smart Yankee named Hoge work
ing for grocery in this city, and he assured
his employers that, it they would give him the
commission, he would manage to place Amer
lean honey on the English market. A large lot
OF Isham's honey, which the firm was then
handling, was packed, just as it came from the
hives, and Hoge was sent to London with it.
He found he needed all his Yankee ingenuity
and acuteness, for he met with universal op
position among the dealers. He labored with
them for weeks to no purpose In converse
ton one day with the proprietor of the hotel at
which he stopped, the latter told Hoge that if
he could manage to have his honey introduced
on the table of Queen Victoria it would solve
the problem at once, for. if she was pleased
the Lord Steward. This communication once
made public would make American honey the
the fashion in England
IA former Lord Steward was 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 dined together. Hoge gave the pickle
man an immense order for his goods, to be
sent to the American grocer. More wine fol-
lowed, and before the ex-Lord Steward went
49, L. T. Sr,A. $r hox
the Americans honey introduced on the royal
table, He succeeded in inducing the then Lord
Steward, Sir John Cowell, to accept box OF
the honey for the Queen, and to serve it on her
table, The Queen was so delighted with the
honey that she directed the Lord Steward to
supply of ten cases at once and to keep Amerl-
can honey constantly on the royal table.
"Hoge lost no time in making this communi-
cation public. The consequence was that the
opinion of American honey changed at once,
and Hoge came back to New York secretly
an order for $500, 900 pounds of American
honey for the English market, which he carried
in his pocket 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 California product"
Gin California there are no long winters, with
dearth of flowers, through which bees must be
fed by artificial means and in the mouth of al
most every canon there is a bee ranch or api-
AIRY. The bee-keeper of the Pacific coast is not
beset by as many difficulties as confront his
Eastern brother, and he grows indOlentand rich
from the labor of his ever-industrlous brown
winged servants. These bee ranches are models
of neatness and comfort, and the bust
ness is go 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
suoerintendence There is constant buzzing
of wings in these canyons, caused by the end
less goings and comings of the bees, and the
burden Of honey they carry COLLECTIVELY is
so great that the air is perpetually filed with
the fragrance of the fields"
"Why do we never see red clover honey ad-
vertised?" asked reporter.
ssFor 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 knows.
But the honey bee never collects it, because it
can not The ,corolla tube Of the red re
clever Sss is n rs deep and henaI b
knows this and if you will think a mo-
ment, you will remember that you never, saw
hive bee on a red clover blossom. They do
not waste their time in efforts to obtain sweets
that are beyond their reach. But the humble
bee levies 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
hills of it's gigantic and more stupid-seeming
cousin. When the humble lee lights on a head
of red clover he punctures hole in the base
of the corolla, and, thrusting in his tongue,
sucks out the nectar. Unfortunately this
big, clumsy bee is not much of a honey max
er: You might rob score of humble bee
nests and not obtain quarter of a pound of
honey; and besides, his nests are few and far
between Consequently we will have to wait
until the hive bee learns to drill into the
blossom to got the nectar before we can have
red clover honey for our waffles"