The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-22
FARM AND
GARDEN ~
INTERESTS
The Honey-Making Industry.

The HOney-MakinS Industry.
St Joseph Cdo) News.
The annual meeting of the National Bee
keepers Association, which will be held in
Denver the first week in September, will
be without doubt one of the most inter
esting meets of the kind ever held on the
continent and will be attended by bee
keepers from all parts of the United States
and Canada. The Colorado beekeepers are
already making great preparations for the
event Railroad fares will be low and there
will be no end TO the attractions offered
as an inducement to attend this meeting.
independent of the interesting papers and
discussions Of the various sessions of the
association
Speaking of the report that has been cur
rent lately 10 the effect that the bees are
starving this season on account of their
inability TO get sufficient food during the
rainy period, Mr.. Abbott of the Busy Bee
says: 1t is all mistake. The bees have
hot been materially injured by the Excess
sive rains. The indications are that the
honey crop will be good throughout the
United States. Ii is certainly better than
last year in this section OF the country Gun ~;
average yield. The blooms have yielded
bountifuly this year and the bees have
only been kept from flying out during the
storms"
Honey is now regarded as one of the
most healthful sweetmeats on the market,
being especially nutritious for inValidS and
persons with delicate stomachs, by rea-
son of its chemical properties. Its prin-
cipal constituent is grape sugar and hence
is all ready TO be assimilated as soon as
it enters the stomach. Its superiority
over other sweets is due to the fact that
they are largely made up of cane sugar
and frequently colored with injurious sub
stances, which are most unhealthful.
The beekeeper has snap, in that he can
provide mis- family with all the meats that
they may crave and at a slight expense.
The cost of a colony of bees is compare
lively small. When bought in modern hives
they can be purchased for from So to S.,
according 10 the season. They are cheaper
in the fall, but the best time to buy them
is in the spring, as there is danger of loss
during the winter A colony of good and
strong bees Will more than pay for itself,
provided the season is favorable. Fifty
pounds of honey is not a large yield, and
one good swarm should be secured, which,
by the following spring, should be OF as
much value the original swarm. Given
the necessary tools, and by paying strict
attention to business, after learning the
fundamental principles for bee culture, a
very young boy or girl would soon learn TO
care for eight or ten colonies. The hrst
swarm that usually issues from a hive
numbers from $4,000 TO $4,000 bees. This in
dustry, to prove a lucrative one, need not
be especially confined to farms. The oppor-
tunties in cities and towns can be taken
advantage of and the business conducted
l r
two hundred colonies within the city
limits.
Bees properly handled seldom sting
Many people have the idea that bees resort
TO singing for pleasure, which is errone-
Gus The idea that they take a dislike TO
certain people IS also a mistake. Bees VIII
not sting one person more than another.
| The bee charmer" is a myth. Ii is not
the individual, but the way he acts that
the bee does not like. a cool head and a
steady hand coupled with a reasonable
] of INF Is al needed
to handle bees A horse that is persplrlng
should never be left near beehive. 1t al
ways has the effect of irritating the bees,
the supposition being that the disagree
able odor has an irritating effect.
The profits in Bookkeeping are larger in
proportion, according to the money invested,
than any of the other rural pursuit. Start
ing in the spring with one colony costing
So, the yield will be fifty pounds of honey
and a good swarm. The honey should
bring on the open market 10 cents per
pound, or total of $3.50. and the swarm
/ would be worth much the following
/ spring as the original colony. 1t IS tact
that small quantities are a more paylns
/ investment than the handling or many
/ colonies as when grouped they cannot
! be handled so well, and contingencies arise
/ which materially reduce profits. -.
Two kinds of bees, the native German bee
! commonly known as blacks, and the
] Italian bees. are used in this country. The
( last named originated in Italy and has been
I imported 10 THIS country Tor the past nIty
/ years Any colony of blacks can be
/ changed TO Italian by introducing an Italian
| queen, as the queen lays all the eggs. The
! Italian variety is superior TO the blacks,
! being gentier. more active and with longer
| tongues which enable them to work flowers
| that the blacks cannot reach The fact
] OF Italian superiority has resulted in what
/ is known as queen rearing. Queens are
grown and shipped all over the country by
! mail. They are transported in small boxes
| divided into compartments and covered with
/ Wire. The boxes usually contain one
queen and from fifteen TO twenty bees Food
/ sufficient TO last them on their journey
| is put in the boxes. Shipments have fire.
/ uuently been received here from Italy, ans
! occasionally from the isle of Cyprus. 4
resident of Cincinnati, who is engaged ii
queen rearing. has just made large con
signement TO Germany.
This years honey harvest is practically
| over, the most of it being gathered il
| May and June.
To contradict the story that comb honey
| is manufactured by machinery, the Ma
| tional Beekeepers Association has Offered
/ a reward of $1,000 to any one who will fur
nish a single pound of such honey they
| have bought on the open market. This offeI
! is one Of long standing. 1t has been thor
| oughly proven that the ingenuity Of
| man, great as il may be, cannot in thi!
| instance equal the skill of the busy bee
| Comb honey is never adulterated. Non,
is on the market but what is the gen
| uine article.
The worlds fair management is planning
| for a bee exhibit in 1904 that will eclps,
anything ever attempted in this line be