638.16 
 
 
 library 
 
 or Tv* 
 
 HARVEST. W8?«>wt.* 
 
 HANDLING, 
 
 MARKETING. 
 
 c '€ 
 
 '<^9 
 
 33 "5? 
 
 CHARLES and C. P. DADANT, 
 
 HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 We have handled and sold 45,000 lbs. of Extracted Honey in 
 three years ; read how we did it. 
 
UNIVERSITY Or 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
 > v -CHAMPAIGN 
 
TO OUR BROTHER BEE-KEEPERS. 
 
 j£N bringing this small pamphlet before the public, we 
 do not lay claim to any discoveries or wonderful improve¬ 
 ments. We simply wish to give the reader a description of 
 our modus operandi , in that branch of bee-culture, in which 
 we are most successful ourselves. The extensive production 
 and sale of extracted honey has heretofore been considered 
 by many as unprofitable, on account of the difficulties attend¬ 
 ing it. We have overcome most of these difficulties, and 
 now offer our experience to the public. There is much yet 
 to be done and learnt, and we hope, that a thorough examina¬ 
 tion and criticism of our methods, will lead to still better 
 methods, thereby proving advantageous both to the public 
 and to ourselves. We therefore ask for an open criticism of 
 all that is contained in this work, 
 
EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 Long before man began to keep bees, he had discovered 
 the value of both of the substances of which the product of 
 bees is composed—honey and bees-wax. Honey was then the 
 only sugar known, and was held in great esteem, on that ac¬ 
 count. Bees-wax, as a sweet scenting luminiferous substance, 
 far superior to the oils, or the crude grease of animals, then 
 in use, was greatly appreciated by the priests of that epoch, 
 and placed among the best offerings required to please the 
 gods. The custom of offering wax, or wax candles, continued 
 to this day by some churches, especially by the Greek and 
 Roman catholic churches, caused for centuries the levy of 
 heavy taxes, payable in bees-wax, in all the countries, where 
 the inhabitants kept bees. Some countries, in Europe, had to 
 pay to the church, every year, as much as several hundred 
 thousand pounds of bees-wax. Of course such taxes com¬ 
 pelled the bee-keepers to study the means of separating the 
 honey from the wax, with as little waste as possible. 
 
 Different ways were used. The custom of brim stoning the 
 bees, to get the contents of the hives, was then prevalent. - 
 Different grades of honey were thus harvested by the most 
 careful bee-keepers. The light colored combs were pressed 
 and strained first, to get a light colored and pure honey, then 
 the combs which had contained the brood were in turn 
 pressed, producing turbid honey of inferior quality. 
 
 These primitive methods were afterwards greatly amelior¬ 
 ated, as for instance, in the French province of Gatinais, where 
 the bee keepers used the heat of the sun to melt the combs, 
 and separate the honey from the melted wax. The choice 
 honey obtained in Gatinais, from the sainfoin , cannot be ex¬ 
 celled by our best extracted clover honey, as to color and taste, 
 and is altogether sold in Paris. 
 
 Such a good product, becoming a staple article, helped the 
 sale, on the French markets, of the different qualities of 
 strained honey; while comb honey, difficult to handle and 
 to send far away, on account of its fragility, had to be con- 
 
EXTRACTED HONEY . 
 
 \\ 
 
 sumed at home; or to be sold in the neighboring cities. Hence 
 the facility, for the French bee-keepers, to dispose readily and 
 at paying prices, of their entire crop of strained honey of 
 different grades; the dark honey, from buck-wheat and heath, 
 being used to make pain d'epices , a kind of ginger-bread, man¬ 
 ufactured in every town ; and the most turbid finding its place 
 in the drug store, for veterinary purposes. But the demand 
 being ahead of the supply, especially when the season was 
 unfavorable for bees, Europe imported strained honey from 
 Chili, and Cuba, and lately, extracted honey from California. 
 
 Such were the causes which created an easy market for 
 strained and extracted honey in Europe ; and taught the peo¬ 
 ple to prefer granulated strained honey, to the best comb 
 honey. 
 
 These causes did not exist in this country. Bees were 
 scarce here at first. The American settlers had too much 
 work on hand to care much for bees. The few who owned 
 a limited number of colonies, brimstoned one of them occa¬ 
 sionally, and consumed the honey at home. The more 
 extensive bee owners could sell some broken combs to their 
 neighbors, or a few pounds of strained honey to the drug¬ 
 gist, who vvas not very hard to please, being accustomed to 
 buy Cuba honey, harvested with the most slovenly careless¬ 
 ness. By and by, however, the number of bees increased, 
 owing to the very favorable condition of the rough country. 
 The wild woods soon swarmed with bees in the u hollow 
 gum trees,” and the bee-hunter made his appearance. Bees 
 were hunted as other game, and thousands of trees fell under 
 the hunter’s ax, to yield the sweets that they contained. This 
 rough-and-ready bee-keeping, or rather bee-killing, produced 
 large quantities of honey; but, as this honey was nearly 
 always badly broken up and mixed with pollen, dead bees, 
 and rotten wood, it became customary to boil the honey, so as 
 to force the impurities and the wax to rise on top with the 
 scum. Hence the cheap, liquid, dirty and opaque strained 
 honey, dark in color and strong in taste. By the side of this 
 unwholesome article, a little fancy comb honey was sold, and 
 this led to a national preference for comb honey. Moreover, 
 to add to the general dislike of strained honey, adulteration 
 set in—adulteration the scourge of free America, caused by 
 our love of freedom, which is at fault when it gives us the 
 freedom of committing wrongs. 
 
4 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY . 
 
 Hence the demand and the greater value of honey in the 
 comb; the buyer being then, and then only, sure to get*a 
 pure and good article, aside of the attractive seduction that it 
 presents. . 
 
 Such were the different conditions of honeyed affairs, on 
 each continent, the Old World and the New. In Europe 
 strained candied honey was a staple article, and comb honey 
 an article of fancy, difficult to sell at paying figures, uncer¬ 
 tain in its transportation and in its sales. In this country, 
 while liquid strained honey was a drug on the market, 
 comb honey presented the same difficulties and inconvenience 
 as in Europe. 
 
 Yet in both countries the bee keepers were, every year, 
 more and more convinced that bees, to produce wax, aside of 
 the time occupied in the work, had to eat large quantities of 
 honey. Berlepsch, in Germany, had made experiments and 
 found that to produce a pound of bees-wax, bees had con¬ 
 sumed at least 10 pounds of honey, while Dumas and Milne 
 Edwards, both French scientists, had found one pound of bees¬ 
 wax the product of 20 pounds of honey. 
 
 In presence of such facts, every practical bee-keeper desired 
 that some means be devised, to empty the combs, and return 
 them to the bees, to be filled again and again; when Major 
 Hruschka, of Dolo, near Venice, Italy, invented his machine, 
 
 THE HONEY EXTRACTOR. 
 
 It happened in this wise: He had given to his son, a small 
 piece of unsealed comb honey, on a plate. The boy put the 
 plate in his basket, and swung the basket around him, like a 
 sling. Hruschka then noticed that the honey had been 
 drained out by the motion, and concluded that combs could 
 be emptied by a rotary machine. 
 
 This invention was hailed, in the whole bee-keeping world, 
 as equal to, and the complement of the invention of movable 
 frames; and it fully deserved this honor. 
 
 As soon as we heard of the discovery, we had a machine 
 made. Of course, this machine was not so elegant as those 
 which are now offered by our manufacturers It was a bulky 
 and cumbersome affair; four feet in diameter and three feet 
 high ; yet it worked to our satisfaction, and we became con¬ 
 vinced, by actual trial, of the great gain which could be 
 obtained, by returning the empty combs to the bees. 
 
 Let us say here, that we found, at first, that the prolit, de- 
 
EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 rived from the use of the extractor, was many times greater 
 than we had anticipated ; for. we, together with a great many 
 others, had committed the fault ot extracting, before honey 
 was altogether evaporated. Like Novice, who thought of 
 emptying his cistern to put the overflow of his extracted 
 honey, we had to go to town again and again, for jars and 
 barrels, to lodge our crop. But experience has taught us 
 that we cannot get a good merchantable article, unless all, or 
 nearly all the cells containing the honey are sealed; and that, 
 if we give to bees empty combs, to store their honey, we will 
 And, by comparing the products of colonies who have to 
 build their combs, with those of colonies who always have 
 empty combs to fill, that these last produce at least twice as 
 much as the others. 
 
 A little consideration will readily show, to the intelligent 
 bee-keeper, the great advantages given to the bees by furnish¬ 
 ing them with a full supply of empty combs. To illustrate 
 all these advantages, let us compare two colonies of bees, of 
 equal strength, at the beginning of the honey season; one 
 with empty boxes, the other with empty comb in the boxes. 
 
 The two colonies have been breeding plentifully, and har¬ 
 vesting a large quantity of pollen, and a little honey, for several 
 weeks past. The brood chamber is full from top to bottom. 
 After perhaps one rainy day, the honey crop begins in full. 
 The bees that have been given empty combs, can go right up 
 in them, and begin storing, just as fast as they bring their 
 honey from the fields. Not a minute is lost; and as they have 
 plenty of storing room,there is no need of their crowding the 
 queen out of her breeding cells. 
 
 In the other hive, however, there is indeed plenty of empty 
 space in the upper story; but before this space can be put to 
 any use, it has to be first partly filled with combs. Before a 
 half day is over, the greater part of the bees have harvested. 
 and brought to their newly hatched companions, all the 
 honey that the latter can possibly hold in their sacks. What 
 shall they do with the surplus ? Only one thing can be done. 
 They have to go up into that surplus story, and hang there 
 for twenty-four hours, waiting for this honey to be trans¬ 
 formed into bees-wax, by the wonderful action of these 
 admirable little stomachs, whose work man cannot imitate, 
 despite all his science. But, while this slow transformation 
 is going on, while the small scales of wax are emerging from 
 
 UPMt t! t H. 
 
6 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY . 
 
 under the rings of the abdomen of each industrious little 
 worker; while their sisters are slowly but busily carrying, 
 moulding and arranging the warm little pieces of wax in 
 their respective places, in order to build the frail comb ; dur¬ 
 ing all this time, the honey is flowing in the blossoms, and the 
 other colony is fast increasing its supply of sweets. Mean¬ 
 while, the few bees, which have found a place for their load, 
 go back after more, and finding no room, they watch for the 
 appearance of each hatching bee, from its cell, and at once 
 fill that cell with honey ; thus depriving the queen of her 
 breeding room, and forcing her to remain idle, at a time 
 when she should be laying most busily. 
 
 The loss is therefore treble. First, this colony loses the 
 present work of all the bees which have to remain inside to 
 make wax. Secondly, it loses the honey of which this wax 
 is made. Thirdly, it loses the production of thousands of 
 workers, by depriving the queen of her breeding room, in 
 the brood chamber. All this, for what purpose ? To enable 
 the owner to eat his honey with the wax; when by the agree¬ 
 ment of everybody, it is known that wax is tasteless and 
 indigestible. 
 
 One more word in regard to the loss of production, by the 
 crowding of the queen. This loss is two-fold in itself. When 
 the bees find that the queen is crowded out of her breeding 
 room, they become more readily induced to make prepara¬ 
 tions for swarming. 
 
 It is then that a large number of young bees would be 
 necessary to make up for the loss which the colony will sus¬ 
 tain, in the departure of the swarm; and yet the diminished 
 number of eggs laid, produces exactly the reverse of the 
 desired result. 
 
 There is perhaps a fourth item of loss, in the failing to 
 furnish empty combs to this colony, and that is when the 
 season is not veiy favorable. Many practical bee-keepers 
 have noticed that, in rather unfavorable seasons, it is very 
 difficult to induce a colony to work in an empty surplus box, 
 whilst they would work in it very readily if this box was 
 furnished with combs. It is a question which may remain 
 doubtful, whether the bees do not sometimes, in such cases, 
 remain idle for a day or two, rather than begin building comb 
 in a box which they do hot expect to be able to fill. 
 
EXTRACTED HONEY . 
 
 7 
 
 All these facts being proved to our satifaction, we resolved 
 to manage our bees so as to produce extracted honey. So far 
 we had used, on our hfves, surplus boxes & % la Quinby —we 
 mean, glassed on four sides, and also Adair section boxes, 
 which sections could be taken apart, when the combs were 
 built straight in them. We were anxious to get rid of the 
 expense of making these boxes, of the annoyance of finding 
 some of them with combs only partly sealed, or soiled by the 
 hatching of brood, or by a few cells of pollen, or even by an 
 occasional moth worm. The bees were slow in building 
 their combs in such boxes. They were slow in leaving them, 
 when taken out of the hive. Sometimes the queen was in 
 one of them, and, after useless attempts to incite the bees to 
 leave, we had to demolish the box, to lind the queen. At the 
 present day, part of these troubles, in producing comb honey, 
 is obviated by the use of sections and separators; but such 
 implements are expensive and cumbersome; the annoyance, 
 which they cause, is not counterbalanced by the higher price 
 of comb honey, when we take into account the difference in 
 the amount of the crop. 
 
 Every year a part of the sections contain unsealed combs, 
 which have to be carefully preserved, for the ensuing year, 
 away from dust, or mice, or insects. All these sections, 
 together with those of marketable honey, have to be cleaned 
 of the adhering bee-glue. This operation is very delicate— 
 not to scratch a single cell; yet, although we handle our sec¬ 
 tions with the greatest care, there is always more or less 
 leakage, and this leakage, coming from sections piled upon 
 one another, all the boxes under those leaking are besmeared 
 with honey. Such an accident is irksome; yet it is small 
 when compared to the leaking of the sections after they have 
 been handled by railroad men. 
 
 Where is the bee-keeper who never had to complain' more 
 or less of the breaking and slashing of combs by the rail¬ 
 road employees? We do not lay the blame op these poor 
 fellows, but on the managers of railroads, who usually employ 
 only one man where two would be almost indispensable, and 
 also dispense with overseers, while they pocket large profits. 
 
 We have extensively traveled in Europe ; but nowhere have 
 we seen the dealers and the travelers so completely subservi¬ 
 ent to the railroads kings, as in this country. Such evil is 
 difficult to mend; for the greatest number of our papers 
 
8 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 refuse the insertion of articles exposing the railroads, for fear 
 of losing their free passes, or their advertisements of railroad 
 business. But the people will open their eyes sooner or later, 
 and put an end to this. But we digress. 
 
 We had noticed that a strong colony of bees, which does 
 not swarm, harvests more honey than a colony which has 
 swarmed, together with the swarm. We, therefore, concluded 
 that it was best to prevent our bees from swarming, as nearly 
 as possible; and, by our method, we succeeded to our entire 
 satisfaction. 
 
 For years we had accustomed to melt all the drone comb, 
 after taking it out of the brood chamber, and replacing it 
 with worker comb; but as soon as we resolved to raise 
 extracted honey almost exclusively, we ceased to melt even 
 the smallest fragments of drone comb, whether new or old. 
 All were fastened in frames six inches deep, to be used in 
 the surplus chamber, and we have now several thousands of 
 these combs, some of which have already passed fifteen or 
 twenty times through the extractor, and are now as good as 
 at first, nay, even better; for some were very dark, which are 
 lighter in color now, on account of the dark cells having been 
 shaved by the honey knife and mended, by the bees, with 
 new wax. 
 
 To prevent the moths from injuring these combs, we 
 keep them on the hives during the whole summer; the bees 
 take care of them, and we keep them, in the winter, carefully 
 piled against mice, in cold rooms, where the cold of winter 
 destroys the eggs of the moth. 
 
 When the honey crop begins, generally about the first of 
 June, we put these surplus combs in half story racks on our 
 hives. As soon as the combs of one of these boxes are about 
 three-fourths full we put another rack under the first, and 
 sometimes a third under the second. All this without wait¬ 
 ing for the honey to be sealed; but we never remove the 
 honey, to extract it, until the crop is at an end, for we want 
 to get our honey entirely ripened. 
 
 It is very important to leave the honey on the hive until the 
 crop is fully over, in order to obtain honey that will keep and 
 granulate thoroughly. When the honey is entirely sealed, 
 however, it can be removed and extracted at once; but if it is 
 not all sealed, it is usually safer to leave it until the crop stops. 
 The reason of this is obvious. Honey is evaporated, or ri- 
 
HARVESTING . 
 
 9 
 
 pened, by the forced circulation of air, caused by the fanning 
 of the bees through the hive, in connection with the great 
 heat generated by them. As fast as honey evaporates, it dimin¬ 
 ishes in volume, and as long as the bees continue their harvest, 
 they constantly bring in fresh unripened, or watery honey, 
 which they store in the partly filled cells that contain honey 
 already evaporated. It is for this reason that unsealed honey 
 after the crop is over, is then as ripe as honey sealed during 
 the crop, and sometimes riper. 
 
 HARVESTING. 
 
 The extracting, to be done swiftly, requires the work of 
 four persons: three men and a boy. When this work is done 
 at a time when the bees have ceased to make honey, as is al¬ 
 ways the case with us, great care has to be exercised not to 
 leave any honey within the reach of robber bees. The work 
 of opening the hives, removing the combs, and brushing off 
 the bees, has to be done quietly, but swiftly. The receptacles 
 for combs should each have a cover, and the hive should be 
 closed and its entrance reduced, as promptly as possible. In 
 this way, there is not the least danger of robbing; but if rob¬ 
 bing is once begun, by some carelessness or forgetfulness of 
 the operator, the work has to be stopped until it has subsided. 
 A basin of water and a towel, placed near at hand, are found 
 to be very convenient, when the hives afre very full; as the 
 operator, or the carrier, sometimes get their fingers sticky 
 with honey. 
 
 The operator opens the hive; takes out the combs and 
 brushes the bees off, with a brush made of asparagus tops. 
 He then places the combs in a comb bucket. The carrier takes 
 the bucket to the house, and places the combs in empty racks, 
 on a carpet made of cheap, painted cloth, which is spread over 
 the floor of the room, to prevent it from being daubed with 
 honey. He then returns with his empty bucket, to help the 
 operator, or carry away another full bucket. 
 
10 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 Our hives are very large; the brood chamber contains about 
 3,000 cubic inches; we use a division board, to reduce the 
 space in winter and spring, and we extract also from the brood 
 chamber, where there is often too much honey after the crop 
 is over. We sometimes even extract from combs containing 
 brood; though we prefer not to do this. We never noticed 
 any loss of worker brood, either by running the combs through 
 the extractor, or by keeping them out of the hive for a whole 
 day. If a few worker larvae are displaced by the rotation, 
 the bees push them back to the bottom of the cells. It is not 
 the same with the drone larvae: unless the machine is run ex¬ 
 tremely slowly, they are thrown out of the comb. In all cases, 
 when there is brood, the crank must be turned slowly. 
 
 In the extracting room, a man, or a lad, the shaver, as we 
 call him, uncaps the combs, as fast as they are brought. He 
 has a large painted cloth, or oil-cloth apron, and stands before 
 the capping can. The capping can is formed of a lower can B, 
 24 inches wide and 18 inches high with a slanting bottom, a 
 faucet and a central pivot C; on this lower can is placed an¬ 
 other can A, 23 inches wide and 18 inches high, with a coarse 
 wire-cloth bottom, resting at the center on the pivot C. The 
 upper can acts as a large sieve. On the top of it is placed a 
 wooden frame D, notched, so as to fit on the edges of the can. 
 It is on this frame that the combs are uncapped, and the cap¬ 
 pings fall in the sieve, where the honey drains out of them, 
 into the lower can. Our capping can is meant to hold the 
 cappings of three whole days of extracting. 
 
HARVESTING. 11 
 
 In this small pamphlet, we do not give any engraving or 
 description of a honey extractor; for the reason that there are 
 eight or ten different patterns of good extractors, made by as 
 many different parties, and these extractors, though unlike in 
 construction, are nearly equal in their advantages. We will 
 therefore refer the reader to the advertisements, at the end of 
 this book, or to the bee-papers, for the engravings and descrip¬ 
 tion of honey extractors. We will simply say that a good ex¬ 
 tractor should be easily covered, easily fastened to the floor* 
 easily emptied to the last drop, and easily cleaned, to fulfill lb 
 main requisites. 
 
 In regard to the honey or uncapping knife, however, justice 
 
 compels us to say that, so far, to our knowledge, there is but 
 one which is really practical, that is the Bingham honey 
 knife. This knife does away with the annoyance of having 
 the cappings stick to the comb again, after having been 
 
12 EXTRACTED HO NET. 
 
 shaved oft', because it is made with a bevel, which causes the 
 shaver to hold it in a slanting position, so that the cappings 
 cannot stick to the comb again, unless purposely allowed to 
 do so. 
 
 As soon as the combs are uncapped on both sides, they are 
 put in the extractor, which is turned by a boy. Care should 
 be taken that the combs, that are placed opposite one another, 
 be of equal weight, or nearly so, as the unequal weight of 
 combs causes the extractor to swing right or left, and fa¬ 
 tigues both the boy and the machine. 
 
 When very white and brittle combs are extracted during 
 the hot weather, it is sometimes very difficult to remove 
 them from the extractor, without breaking them ; because 
 the soft wax gets into the meshes of the wire cloth, where it 
 remains imbedded, and adheres very firmly. To obviate this, 
 we use movable sheets of coarse wire cloth, of the size of the 
 frames. We place the brittle comb against these in the 
 extractor, and after extracting, remove the two together. 
 
 The extractor is fastened on a high platform, so that a pail 
 can be put under the faucet. A barrel is in readiness, with a 
 large funnel, with a sieve over it. This sieve fits in the fun¬ 
 nel about on the plan of the sieve of the capping can. As 
 fast as a pail is filled, it is emptied, into the funnel, by the 
 extracting boy. 
 
 A good shaver can uncap, or shave , as our hands usually 
 call it, as fast as a boy can extract and barrel the honey. 
 
 The windows of the room in which we do the extracting, 
 are closed with wire cloth, nailed on a frame placed outside. 
 This frame is a little wider and a little longer than the opening 
 of the window, so as to be closely attached to the window 
 frame, with screws or removable nails. The upright pieces of 
 this frame extend six inches beyond the upper cross-bar, and 
 the wire cloth extends also that far. This upper cross-bar is 
 placed so as to leave a space of J- of an inch between the 
 wire cloth and the wall, at the top of the window. The 
 frame is nailed with the side of the wire cloth against the 
 wall. The bees, that may have been brought in with the 
 combs, or that may have entered the room, at some time or 
 other, fly against the wire cloth, and soon find the small 
 fissure above, through which they escape ; but, in returning, 
 they smell the honey through the wire cloth, and forgetting 
 that they have escaped between the wire and the wall, they 
 
HANDLING THE HONEY 
 
 13 
 
 try in vain to pass through the wire cloth. This device helps 
 the hands greatly; by ridding them very fast of every bee. 
 
 All the extracted combs are piled in racks, on the painted 
 cloth carpet; till the day’s work is done. The combs are 
 never put back into the hives before evening, at or after sun 
 down; to prevent too much excitement in the apiary. In 
 half an hour, every hand helping, the whole number is dis¬ 
 tributed in the hives ; though we have extracted as much as 
 1200 pounds in a day. 
 
 To facilitate the placing of the surplus comb rack, or upper 
 half story, on the hives, we have enlarged the thickness of 
 the rear and the front boards of our hives, by nailing a 
 lath to each, so as to have at least one inch of width, instead 
 of half an inch, as it is usually, at the place of the rabetting. 
 This broader surface helps us in placing the painted cloth, the 
 mat, and the surplus rack, and these operations are always well 
 made, without loss of time in adjusting these implements; as 
 it is the case when the boards are narrow, especially in the 
 simplicity hive; in which the upper edges of the side boards 
 are bevelled to receive a second story. 
 
 HANDLING THE HONEY. 
 
 The barrels that we use for extracted honey, are oak barrels 
 which have contained alcohol or whiskey. We allow them to 
 dry up thoroughly before using, and only wet them slightly, 
 when putting up the honey. The barrels are then filled, 
 bunged, and rolled into a cool and dry cellar, where they re¬ 
 main until the honey selling season; which begins in September 
 or October. The best size of barrels used, are those that con¬ 
 tain from 250 to 300 pounds of honey; as they are more easily 
 handled than larger barrels. Some parties use cheap syrup 
 barrels, made of soft wood, which are said to leak less than 
 the oak barrels. They will do very well when the hon^y is 
 to be sold at wholesale ; as the barrel is then usually lost by 
 the shipper; but we have an objection to them for ourselves. 
 We generally have to take the honey out of them after it is 
 
14 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 granulated,to put it up for retail trade; and these cheap barrels 
 are so easily damaged by taking the head out, that they can¬ 
 not be used more than one or two seasons, while good iron 
 bound oak barrels will last for years, and will never leak, if 
 managed as we stated before. 
 
 En October, the honey of the July crop is all granulated, and 
 that of the September crop is beginning to granulate. There 
 are many different opinions in regard to the causes of granu¬ 
 lation in honey. Some think that it is effected by the action 
 of light, but this is certainly a mistake, for our honey only 
 sees the light when extracted, and is then kept in the dark 
 until solid. We are more inclined to think that it is the action 
 of air which causes granulation; for sealed comb honey gen¬ 
 erally remains liquid. The honey which we harvest, always 
 granulates, without exception. We have handled liquid ex¬ 
 tracted honey, however, several times; 'but we have always 
 found it to be unripe ; and have laid it down as a rule for us, 
 that good honey should be granulated after November. In 
 this we speak of honey harvested in the Mississippi valley; 
 such as clover, basswood, heartsease, golden rod, buck¬ 
 wheat, boneset, etc. 
 
 Of California honey, we can say nothing, having never 
 handled it. But we have handled Louisiana honey, which, 
 we were told would not granulate before a year, and we had 
 scarcely had it three weeks in our cold climate,before it began 
 to granulate. The only ripe honey, which we have found to 
 granulate with difficulty, was a lot of Spanish needle honey, 
 which had been extracted late in November. It remained 
 liquid until sold, a month or two later, and we ascribed its not 
 granulating to the late harvesting of it. 
 
 Every bee-keeper has noticed that at times, honey candies 
 in very coarse and irregular granules, that look like lumps of 
 sugar, and which have no adherence with one another, having 
 a small amount of liquid honey interposed between them; and 
 that at other times, the candying is compact, and can be com¬ 
 pared to the hardening of lard. 
 
 Nearly always, the first kind of granulation is produced 
 in honey harvested, like clover or basswood, during the warm 
 months of the year; while the second kind of granulation is 
 prevalent in the honey extracted in the fall. In France, 
 coarsely granulated honey is held as less valuable than the 
 fine grained honey, and there is a good reason for such 
 
HANDLING THE HONEY. 
 
 15 
 
 preference, for the coarsely granulated honey cannot be kept 
 as well as the tine grained. 
 
 In this country also the coarsely granulated honey sells 
 with less facility — especially because many ignorant persons 
 imagine that it has been adulterated with sugar, and that 
 the coarse grains are lumps of sugar. 
 
 Without pretending to explain exactly what is the cause of 
 such difference, in both of these forms of granulation, we 
 will risk the suggestion that, summer-extracted honey hav¬ 
 ing remained for months, motionless, during warm weather, 
 a kind of adherence has begun, between some of the most 
 crystallizable particles, of which it is composed; and that, 
 when the cold congeals it, these particles join together in 
 crystallizing, leaving the other more watery particles free; 
 while on the other hand, fall honey is seized by cold and 
 entirely solidified before any of its particles have had time to 
 adhere together. 
 
 Of course, to prevent such coarse granulation — too fre¬ 
 quent— especially in basswood honey, the bee-keeper can 
 either shake the honey, as soon as the weather becomes 
 cooler, in order to break the adherence which has begun, 
 between some of the granulating particles ; or, what is better 
 and more certain, he can transfer the honey from one barrel 
 to another at that time. 
 
 We have noticed also that, in such coarsely granulated 
 honey, the liquid parts come to the surface, and absorbing 
 moisture from the air, are very apt to become acid by ferment¬ 
 ing. But even after granulation, it can easily be brought to 
 a fine grain by melting it, and exposing it to the intense cold 
 of our Northern winters. Basswood honey would even be 
 benefitted by this, as it would lose a little of its too strong 
 flavor. 
 
 Basswood and clover honey are more apt to work and 
 ferment than any other class of honey, even when thor¬ 
 oughly granulated, if they remain exposed to the heat of 
 summer, and it is advisable to keep these two kinds in a dry 
 cellar, or in a cool and dry place during hot weather. A 
 damp cellar would be objectionable; as honey is hygrome* 
 trie, that is, readily absorbs moisture from the air. 
 
 Heartsease honey granulates readily, is of a pale yellow 
 color, and very tine in flavor. It is probably the best selling 
 of all the grades of extracted honey, except if to be used by 
 
16 
 
 EXTRACTED ~ HONEY . 
 
 confectioners, when the whitest clover and basswood are 
 preferred. 
 
 Spanish needle honey is of a dirty yellow color when gran¬ 
 ulated ; buckwheat is rather dark; and boneset is the ugliest 
 and poorest in quality. 
 
 MARKETING. 
 
 But, while to produce extracted honey was comparatively 
 easy, to dispose of it proved rather difficult. We went to 
 our grocery stores to offer it in bulk, but none of our gro¬ 
 cers was disposed to encumber his store with it. We then 
 visited the drug stores, with no better results. One of our 
 druggists, taking in hand the vial containing our sample of 
 the brightest and whitest clover honey, raised it between his 
 eye and the window, then looking, with an inquiring eye, 
 into our face, he said: Is that honey ? I do not buy such 
 stuff.” Our^ honey, clear as crystal, it was in July, was too 
 fine for a man accustomed to handle a turbid and impure 
 article. 
 
 Our first crops of extracted honey, however, were sold 
 readily at wholesale, and at good prices ; for it was then that 
 the wholesale dealers and manufacturers were making the 
 Largest profits, by mixing the honey, which they bought 
 from bee-keepers like us, with cheap substances, like glucose? 
 which kept the honey from granulating; and by putting it 
 up in tumblers, with a small piece of comb honey in the 
 center. This honey, or rather mixture of honey, was sold 
 by them usually at lower prices than they had paid lor the 
 pure honey. But ready sales in this way did not last long, 
 for, after a year or two, the markets were crowded with 
 this drug; and we were left to market our honey alone; if 
 we did not want to sell it for little above nothing. 
 
 The idea of retailing honey in glass tumblers incited us to 
 put ours in glass jars, like those used for canning fruits. We 
 then went to town and ordered five thousand labels, for our 
 
MARKETING . 
 
 17 
 
 glass jars. In order to make it known that the honey was 
 extracted, we had written the words Extracted Honey ” in 
 large letters. The next day the printer delivered to us a few 
 of these labels, made exactly as ordered. But great was our 
 disappointment when, in opening the package of labels, 
 which had been printed a few days later, we found that the 
 word “Extracted” had been replaced by the word “Strained.” 
 The printer, who had never belore heard of extracted honey, 
 had concluded that, as we were French, we had made a mis¬ 
 take, and by the word “ extracted” we meant “ strained.” 
 
 We put some of our glass jars, on commission, at our best 
 groceries, and sent the rest to a good commission merchant 
 of St. Louis. The first sales were good, a few hundred 
 jars were readily sold ; but, when April came, more than 
 one-third were unsold; and to avoid taking them back, we 
 consented to sell the honey at 8 cents per pound. This was 
 in 1869. 
 
 The main reason against the sale was, that our honey had 
 candied in the glass jars, and then looked like lard of inferior 
 quality. All the customers wanted liquid honey; ours was 
 not considered as pure, being granulated. 
 
 The second step taken, was to put our honey in wooden 
 pails, commonly called butter pails, coated with bees-wax in¬ 
 side, to prevent soaking and leaking. Many of those who had 
 tried our honey, wanted larger packages, and we could already 
 dispose of a great deal of honey in this shape. But we soon 
 found that these pails holding 25 pounds, were too large for 
 retail, and we concluded to try tin pails, like those used by 
 workingmen to carry their dinner. The tin pail when about 
 full, weighs 10 pounds gross; the pail is weighed with the 
 honey, and is partly paid for by its own weight. 
 
 Yet the sale was difficult ; although we were gaining cus¬ 
 tomers every year, a great many grocers were disappointed, 
 when opening our pails, to find our honey as hard as butter. 
 The adulterators manufacturers of glucosed honey helped to 
 maintain this dislike of granulated honey, by asserting that 
 granulated honey was impure, and that pure honey should 
 always remain liquid. At times we had to endure the rebuk¬ 
 ing of an angry grocer who had had our honey candying in 
 his store. In some cases we had to take it back. 
 
 We since resolved to make war against the adulterators of 
 sweets, and provoked the sending of the petitions to Con- 
 
18 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 gress, against such crimes, which nowhere are tolerated, but 
 in this land of liberty. Our petitions were buried by being 
 handed to a committee that never reported, and the adultera¬ 
 tion of every article of food, goes on more than ever. 
 
 We thus had to fight against two difficulties, first the 
 accusation of selling impure or adulterated honey, because 
 our honey was always granulated, and because people knew 
 that adulteration is to be expected in every article of food ; 
 and secondly, the competition of really adulterated liquid 
 honey, which was so much more to be feared because it 
 assumed the shape of the liquid strained honey of bee- 
 hunter times. The adulterators had also over us, the advan¬ 
 tage of employing an article which was then but little known 
 to the p iblic in general, which left the honey bright and 
 clear, while we had to contend with the most absurd accusa¬ 
 tions, such as that of making honey with sugar, notwith¬ 
 standing the fact that sugar was, and has been ever since, on 
 par with honey, in its wholesale price, so that There would 
 have been no profit in the venture. Others thought we used 
 flour. All these, and many other objections, were raised 
 against our honey ; but wherever we could get the people to 
 try it unprejudiced, we invariably succeeded fin establishing 
 our sales. 
 
 We always found an easy sale for extracted honey among 
 foreigners—especially German or French ; as these foreigners 
 have been used to granulated strained honey, which has been 
 produced for centuries in most all parts of Europe. Some 
 of these foreigners are so well acquainted with it, that they 
 prefer it to the very finest comb honey, saying that comb is 
 not made to be eaten. 
 
 Once, having received a service from a French farmer, liv¬ 
 ing a short distance from us, we selected a beautiful large 
 comb of nicely sealed clover honey, while extracting, and 
 sent it to this farmer’s family after having carefully laid it on a 
 dish. Much to our astonishment, we learnt, a few days after, 
 that the good French housewife had put our nice comb in a 
 clean towel and had carefully pressed the honey out, and 
 melted the wax; and besides, that she was very much aston¬ 
 ished at our having sent to her comb honey, when we had 
 such nice extracted honey on hand. The reader will easily 
 imagine that henceforth we never sent to them anything but 
 extracted honey, much to their satisfaction and ours. 
 
MARKETING. 
 
 19 
 
 Having failed to succeed in the sales of honey in glass jars, 
 on account of the regular granulation of our honey and of its 
 unattractive appearance in glass, since it looked like butter, 
 or lard, or even worse, we concluded that the only thing to 
 be used for small retail packages, 
 was tin. Small wooden packages 
 were tried, and proved inadequate, 
 as the honey soaked or leaked, 
 more or less, through any of the 
 cheap packages that we could pro¬ 
 vide, unless they were coated with 
 wax, which made them too expen¬ 
 sive. But tin was entirely successful. 
 We already had the 10 pound pail 
 but this was too large for a very 
 large retail grocery trade. We had 
 a 5 pound pail made, which, though 
 half ot the former, was still found 
 too large. A pail half of this was 
 then made. It was a pretty little 
 thing—a real toy—and took well. 
 But this was not^mall enough for 
 some customers, and at the request of 
 several grocers, we divided it again, 
 and now had a box of 1£ pounds. 
 
 We first wondered that such a small package of honey 
 could be sold at all, as it contain but little over a pound of 
 honey, leaves a useless box afterwards, and costs much more 
 than the rest. But the fact is, that this small package is the 
 best selling of all. One day one of us happened to meet a 
 laborer of our acquaintance carrying one of these boxes of 
 honey, which he had just purchased at a grocery. “Why 
 W——, if you buy some ot our honey, why don’t you come 
 to our house and buy 50 pounds in bulk ? You will get it for 
 about two-thirds of the price that you have to pay for it in 
 this shape.” “ Well, yes ; I know, Mr. Dadant, but you see 
 I can afford twenty cents a week for a box like this ; but I 
 could not afford seven dollars all at once. So I buy one of 
 these boxes every Saturday, for my Sunday.” That is the 
 reason why these little boxes sell so readily. Besides, they 
 incite a great many to try the honey, and thus lead to the 
 sale of larger sizes. Still, we found that the marketing of 
 
20 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 honey, even after it is put up in the most attractive shape, is 
 not a very easy thing to establish. Honey, in any shape, is 
 not considered a staple article, i e ., not only it has not a regu¬ 
 lar price-current quoted on all markets, but, more than that, 
 it is an article which few persons will buy regularly. Con¬ 
 sumers will go to the grocery and will buy tea, coffee, sugar, 
 flour, meal and butter, but very few make it a custom to buy 
 honey—not that they dislike it, but because they are not 
 used to it. 
 
 The grocer will therefore hesitate considerably before he 
 invests in such an article. Besides, many grocers have han¬ 
 dled more or less honey in bulk, comb or extracted, and have 
 had to dip it out of some vessel or other, with a ladle; or 
 else, they have had some leaky packages, which dripped 
 honey on the counter—left a sticky reminiscence of their 
 presence, and attracted flies and bees. 
 
 It is with these grocers that the greatest difficulties will be 
 experienced ; and yet it is to them that we should sell our 
 honey, in order to make it become a staple. 
 
 When we go into a strange grocery, where we are un¬ 
 known, the immediate answer of the grocer, to our mention 
 of honey is: 4 ■ I#lon’t want any honey; I have no sale for 
 if, and 1 don’t like to handle it.” Should we then take our 
 leave and go, there would be but little hope of increasing our 
 sales. We have to study, and learn to imitate, the cunning 
 and the perseverance of the traveling agent, and quietly, 
 talk it out. We first have to assure the grocer that we only 
 wish to show him our goods and our prices at his leisure, 
 and that he can then refuse to buy, if he chooses. We must 
 first show him why he has no sale for honey. We tell him 
 that pure honey is one of the best sweets in the world, to 
 which he readily agrees. We then explain that honey, not 
 being a staple, his customersmever come on purpose to buy 
 honey but that when they see it, they are tempted to buy 
 it; that, for this reason, honey should be put up with large 
 and showy labels, and placed in a conspicuous position, so 
 that it will readily catch the eye. Whereupon we exhibit 
 samples of our pails, with the label glued on them. About 
 this time the grocer begins to feel interested. But he soon 
 becomes indignant, when he finds that our honey is not comb 
 honey, but extracted. 44 Strained honey! I can’t use; my 
 
MARKETING . 
 
 21 
 
 customers would not buy it, because it is usually adulter¬ 
 ated.” 
 
 Then we begin to explain that he must not mistake our 
 granulated extracted honey for the ugly, dirty strained honey 
 of bee-hunters—bee-killers, which does not granulate, on 
 account of having been exposed to great heat; that the 
 honey which we offer, is really a pure article, raised by our¬ 
 selves ; that we guarantee satisfaction r and purity, and that 
 this guarantee is marked on all our labels. And we also tell 
 him that the best test of purity in honey is its granulation ; 
 since adulterators have not yet found means to imitate the 
 soft granulation of honey, with any of their compounds. 
 We give him to understand that this granulated honey can 
 be readily melted by heat, and that it will then become as 
 clear as the clearest honey ever was; that if it is heated to 
 boiling, it will lose its granulating properties; a 'peculiarity 
 belonging exclusively to honey ; but that boiling will also injure 
 its quality, by evaporating what chemists call the essential 
 oils, which give the fine flavor to the honey. At last we 
 exhibit a sample of the honey. With grocers that are unac¬ 
 quainted with us, we usually begin by giving them yellow 
 honey, such as buckwheat 4 , or heartsease, or golden rod. 
 This honey, strong in flavor, sells better to the unexperienced, 
 who are always afraid of getting, sugar, or glucose. It is 
 only after one or two years that we venture to offer to this 
 grocer our whitest clover or basswood, which, though of 
 superior flavor, are objected to, on account of their* very 
 beauty and quality. In every case we try to furnish some 
 good reference to the grocer, and we give him a full guaran¬ 
 tee of satisfaction, with an agreement to take the honey back, 
 if it does not prove altogether as we represent it. When a 
 dealer is well satisfied that the merchandise which he sells 
 is pure, his customers are quite likely to have confidence in 
 it themselves ; but, on the other hand, if he is in doubt as to 
 the quality and purity of it, he will have but little chance of 
 selling it, unless he does not care for the satisfaction of his 
 patrons. 
 
 We must therefore spare no pains to fully convince our 
 grocers of the quality of our goods. 
 
 After the first sales have been made, the sales always 
 become larger and easier. Of course, occasional objections 
 are made, by persons who are unacquainted with the proper- 
 
22 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY. 
 
 ties and qualities of good honey ; but these are easily over 
 come, when you have once gained the confidence of the 
 dealers. In order to meet the most customary objections, we 
 have prepared an explanatory back label, which we place on 
 the pails, especially on those that contain the whitest honey. 
 
 Slowly and steadily, we have overcome the prejudices, 
 which we at first encountered, and we have indeed succeeded 
 beyond our expectations. 
 
 In Keokuk, where we have been selling for many years, we 
 have taken orders, without any samples , for a thousand pounds 
 of honey, at our price, in half an hour, and we can boast that 
 there, at least, extracted honey has become a staple on the 
 market. 
 
 During the years of 1878 and 1879 owing to the large yield 
 of honey throughout the country, the farmers all had honey 
 to sell. This honey, usually comb honey, in small glass 
 boxes weighing from 4 to 6 pounds, was brought by them to 
 town, and sold for what they could get. Thousands of 
 pounds of this honey were sold at 6 to 8 cents, and retailed 
 by grocers at 10 cents, while these same grocers kept a reg¬ 
 ular supply of our extracted honey in tin, for which they paid 
 10 to 12 cents, and which they retailed at 12 to 15 cents. So 
 that, at that time, our extracted honey actually sold higher 
 than comb honey. 
 
 Let us here make one remark to bee-keepers. To sell 
 honey well, it should not be taken to market, except to be 
 delivered. Honey will not stand handling and keep clean, 
 whether comb or extracted, whether put up in wood, glass 
 or tin; and the first requisite of success is to have your honey, 
 and your package clean and in good order. The label must 
 not be soiled by flies or dust. Take a sample with you, and 
 solicit orders. Let your sample be a fair specimen of what 
 you have. Visit the grocers on the day, and at the hour, 
 that they are least likely to be busy, so that they can afford to 
 listen to you patiently. Do not ask a fancy price ; let your 
 price be reasonable, though sufficient to cover your expense, 
 and pay for your trouble. Better sell low, at first, and raise 
 the price after the market is created. Low prices create a 
 demand which must be filled afterward seven at high prices. 
 Let your price be uniform, and sell to all grocers alike. If you 
 fiud it necessary to change your prices, during the season, let 
 all your customers be informed of it. They will become 
 
MARKETING . 
 
 23 
 
 accustomed to it, and will finally accept your prices without 
 objection. If you follow these instructions you will find 
 that the grocers, as a class, are gentlemanly, pleasant and 
 accommodating. 
 
 Yet it is not in every case, that we will succeed at first; 
 some dealers will altogether refuse to hear us, or to be con¬ 
 vinced by our arguments; sometimes because they have 
 heard opposite arguments, from some adulterator, who has 
 glucosed honey to sell, and who keeps them in the opinion 
 that only liquid honey is good ; or because some all-knowing 
 bee-liunter will tell them, with an important countenance, 
 that he knows all about honey , that good honey remains liquid 
 all the time, that granulated honey is made with sugar, and 
 that he knows exactly how it is made. Such grocers should 
 not be lost sight of entirely, but every chance should be 
 improved, to convince them. We have met with such our¬ 
 selves, whom we had entirely given up, until, seeing all their 
 competitors selling our honey, they would finally give in of 
 their own accord, and politely send us an invitation to 44 call 
 in and take an order.” Such customers often become the 
 best. 
 
 And still we do not take all the pains that we should take, 
 in securing sales and putting our honey forward. We would 
 certainly sell much more, if we would entirely follow the 
 advice which we give to others, and visit all the groceries of 
 all our neighborboring towns, for we miss many sales which 
 we ought to secure. 
 
 For shipment to great distances, we put up our tin pails in 
 wooden cases, in which they fit exactly as follows: 
 
 10 pound pails, 6 in a case, or 60 pounds. 
 
 5 pound pails, 8 in a case, or 40 pounds. 
 
 2J pound pails, 20 in a case, or 50 pounds. 
 
 1£ pound boxes, 20 in a case, or 25 pounds^. 
 
 These cases are labeled 44 HONEY, HANDLE WITH 
 CARE, THIS SIDE UP,” and can go to the world’s end 
 without trouble, after the honey is granulated. 
 
 By putting up the honey in this way, we do away with 
 the big loss usually called leakage . If we ship one thousand 
 pounds of honey, to the other end of the country, the 
 returns come for one thousand pounds, without an ounce of 
 loss, and this is quite an item, as many of our readers must 
 know. Besides, we do not have the annoyance, the anxiety, 
 
24 
 
 EXTRACTED HONEY . 
 
 for fear of broken combs, so disagreeable in shipping comb 
 honey. 
 
 When we ship to a large city, on commission, we put a 
 price on each size of pails, and our commissioners are in¬ 
 structed not to deviate from it. Of course, this price is based 
 on the actual value of honey, taking into consideration the 
 higher value of honey in small packages. 
 
 In this way we have no trouble in selling on commission. 
 By experience, we know about what the commissioners can 
 sell readily of this honey and we keep them supplied, as 
 nearly as we can, during the honey selling season, which 
 lasts from September to April. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 To sum up: Comb honey is a fancy article, for which only 
 fancy prices can be obtained, aiid these prices will always be 
 changeable, whilst extracted honey must become a staple 
 article sooner or later. 
 
 Comb honey is difficult to transport, and to export. Ex¬ 
 tracted honey is therefore the coming honey. California will 
 soon see before her an inter-oceanic canal which will give 
 her a full scope on the European continent. As for us, bee¬ 
 keepers of the East and Middle States, let us improve our 
 home market, and let us learn how to produce good cheap 
 honey. In the meantime, let us hope that Congress will see 
 fit to put an end to all food adulterations by enforced legisla¬ 
 tion. Let us hope also that they will understand the propri¬ 
 ety of placing the public services in the hands of the people, 
 and will organize the railroads with the regularity, the hon¬ 
 esty, and the careful, cheap and prompt management, which 
 are so prominent in the Postoffice Department. 
 
 Then the honey resources of America will astonish the 
 Old World and will invade it. 
 
1 
 
 S! If yi are in any way interestei in 
 
 113133113Si <~yj=L Kt03STE3' , S^ 
 
 Will with pleasure semi you a sample copy of our MONTHLY GLFANINOS 
 ■ M ItEE CUETITRE, with a descriptive price-list of the latest improvements in 
 Hives. H i»«*y Extractors, Artificial Comb, See ion Honey Boxe . all 
 
 books and journals, and everything pertaining to Bee Culture. Nothing Patented. 
 simply send your address on a postal card, written plainly , to A. I ROO i , Medina, Ohio. 
 
 Excelsior Honey Extractor! 
 
 FROM EIGHT TO FOURTEEN DOLLARS- 
 
 I he Excelsior is made entirely of metal, and is consequently 
 rerv light, strong and durable, with lugs at the bottom for 
 irmly attaching to tlm floor if desired. 
 
 I he strong over-motion gearing, so necessary to ease in run- 
 iing and speedy operating, was designed and is manufactured 
 expressly_ tor the Excelsior. A child ten years old can operate 
 he machine as rapidly as it can he supplied with combs. 
 
 I he Comb Basket having vertical sides, insures the extract- 
 ng power alike for top and bottom of frames. The sides of the 
 >asket being movable and interchangeable, greatly facilitate the 
 Iteration oi dusting before and thoroughly cleaning after use if 
 
 The basket can be taken from or replaced in the can in a 
 noment, there being no rusty screws to take out or nuts to re- 
 no ve. 
 
 At the bottom of the can, and below the basket, is a cone 
 >r metal standard, in the top of which revolves the bottom pivot 
 d the basket, thereby giving room for sixty or seventy pounds 
 u honey without touching the basket or pivot below. 
 
 By sending your name and address (written plainly) on a 
 lostai card lor my new Illustrated Catalogue and Price List for 
 881, you will receive a complete description of the Extractor 
 na all other useful implements for the apiary: such as Hives, 
 section »oxes, Comb foundation, etc , as wed as Queens and 
 >ees, v_eeds for Honey Plants, and all the leading Books on Bee 
 miture. Honey and Beeswax bought and sold at market prices. 
 
 Correspondence solicited, and all orders promptly attended to. 
 
 » ALFRED H. NEWMAN, 
 
 972 West Madison St., Chicago, Ills. 
 
BARNB’S 
 
 PATENT FOOT-POWER MACHINERY. 
 
 Complete Outfits for Actual Workshop Business. 
 
 Lathes for Wood or Metal Circular Saws. Scroll Saws, Formers, Morti- 
 sers. Ten oners. Etc. 
 
 MACHINES OIV TRIAL IF 1 DESluED. 
 
 Mention this book, and send for Descriptive Catalogue and Price-List. 
 
 W T . F. «fc JOHN BARNES, Rockford, Ills. 
 Outfits for tlie Manufacture of Apiary Supplies. 
 
OtheO 
 
 BEE-KEEPERS EXCHANGE. 
 
 This journal begins its Third Volume with the Jan¬ 
 uary number. It is a live, 
 
 Edited by a practical Bee-Keeper, and richly worth 
 the subscription price, which is only 75 cts. 
 per annum, postpaid, or 20 cents on 
 trial for three months. 
 
 SAMPLE FREE. 
 
 Our Price List of Apiarian Supplies is now ready, 
 and you will consult your best inter¬ 
 est by securing a copy before 
 you buy. 
 
 Address, 
 
 J. H. NEELIS, 
 
 Canajoharie, JV. Y. 
 
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! 
 
 BINGHAM BEE SMOKER, I 4 
 
 The first practical bellows bee smoker. .3 {*< 
 
 The first and original patent smoker. m h 
 
 The first never-failing bee controller. & & 
 
 The first direct draft bellows smoker. ^ < 5 - 
 
 The first to burn stove-wood and not go out. m S 
 The first durable bellows bee smoker. S ^ ^ 
 
 The first to create a demand for smokers. a 0 
 
 The first to meet the wants of bee-keepers. g ^ -g 
 The first cinder-proof bellows smoker. cs £ £ 
 
 The first twenty thousand now in use. ^ ® ^ 
 
 The first complaint yet to be received. ®PP3 « 
 
 The first smoker yet to be returned. .2 £ 
 
 W H 
 
 The first thing for bee-keepers to do, to save impo¬ 
 sition and money, and be happy and safe, is to send 
 a card for testimonials, or half-dozen rates, to 
 
 BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON, 
 
 OTSEGO, MICH. 
 
 Frances Dunliam 
 
 Inventor and Sole Manufacturer of the 
 
 Dunham Foundation Machine 
 
 rfNEW C:RCULAR AND SAMPLES FREE.'CS 
 
 Address FRANCKS DUNHAM, 
 
 DEPERE, BROWN CO., WIS. 
 
Our Honey Extractors 
 
 *AVE received the Highest 
 awards at all places where 
 they have been placed on ex¬ 
 hibition, and they have been exhib¬ 
 ited in Competition with every 
 Extractor of any reputation in 
 the United States. 
 
 First Premiums were awar¬ 
 ded to them at The Michigan State 
 Fair in 1879, and again at same Fair 
 in 1880. First Premiums at 
 IVortli Eastern Bee-Keep¬ 
 ers Convention,Feb, llth 
 to 13th. IS SO. First Pre¬ 
 mium at Queens Co., Agricul¬ 
 tural Society (largest Fair in the 
 State of New York), Sept. 28th to 
 30th, 1880, and highest award at 
 the Great American Insti¬ 
 tute Fair, Sept. 15th to Nov. 
 27th, 1880. 
 
 These Machines are all 
 
 metal, made up very strong, 
 neat and durable. The cen¬ 
 tral shaft, on which the comb basket 
 revolves, is an iron tube connected 
 directly with the mitre gearing above 
 and resting on a tin cone at bottom. 
 They are provided with close fitting 
 tin covers. Handles, Honey Gates, 
 etc., extract all sizes of combs, and 
 even small pieces without frames. 
 
 No. 1, Price $11.00. 
 
 PRICES. 
 
 No. I. Holding 180 lbs. of honey below the basket, so that all specks 
 rise to the top and the honey clear as crystal runs through the gate at the 
 bottom without strainer, - - - - - - $1100 
 
 No. 2. Extracts all sized frames or pieces. Gearing and Shaft same as 
 No. 1, but has bottom flat, and slightly inclined, so the honey will run to 
 side containing spout with stopper, no handles or covers, holds 50 lbs. 
 below basket, -- - - - e - - 8 50 
 
 WAX-EXTRACTOKS, BEE-HIYES, 
 
 And all Implements used in the Apiary, besides 
 
 ITALIAN, CYPRIAN, AND HOLY LAND QUEENS, 
 
 Of Purest Strains at very reasonable prices. Address, 
 
 A. J. KING & CO.. 
 
 Publisher ' 1 s Bee-Keepers Magazine , Bee-Keeper's Text-Book , etc. 
 
 14 Park Place, X. Y. City. 
 
THE ONLY WEEKLY BEE-PAPER IN THE WORLD. 
 
 THE 
 
 American Bee Journal, 
 
 THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 
 
 Proprietor. 
 
 No. 974 WEST MADISOJV STREET, 
 
 Ills., 
 
 Subscription, - - $2.00 a year for the Weekly. 
 
 Three or Six months at same rates. 
 
 jgg^S EUXTD FOR SAMPLE COPY. 
 
 MUTH’S 
 
 HONEY EXTRACTOR 
 
 AND 
 
 UNCAPPING KNIFE. 
 
 The Extractor is made 
 of all metal and is al¬ 
 ways ready for use, 
 easily cleaned, and 
 will last a life-time. 
 In fact they have only 
 to be used to be ap¬ 
 preciated. Every Bee- 
 Keeper should send 
 for my circular giving 
 details regarding the 
 
 care of bees, and how to get the 
 
 CHiS. F, MUTH, No. 976 
 Central At.. Cincinnati, O. 
 
QUINBY BELLOWS SMOKER. 
 
 The fact that the new Quinby Smoker is the very best upon the market is so well 
 known that we hardly need enumerate its superior qualities. 
 
 The Double blast, which enables us to regulate the draft according to the fuel 
 used, diminishing heat and increasing smoke, also to apply the smoke cool and free 
 from sparks or ashes, is unquestionably the most valuable improvement ever made 
 in smokers. 
 
 In its general construction, it is unequalled in quality of material and workman¬ 
 ship ; it distances all other makes. 
 
 As a result of these points of superiority, its sales were larger the past year than 
 ever before. Many of our customers were so well pleased with it, upon comparing it 
 with other styles, that they duplicated their orders, some of them several times. 
 
 TARE NOTICE that the Quinby Smoker took 1 st premium at the 
 Michigan State Fair, in i860, where all leading smokers were present. 
 
 The Quinby Smoker with upright bellows and tube, has been upon the market five 
 years longer than any'of the imitations. Capt. J. E. Hetherington, says of Mr. 
 Quinby : 44 I predict that this invention of a smoker, combining the principle of an 
 
 upright tube and bellows, will in the near future, be in the hands of every bee-keeper 
 in the land/’ 
 
 We have the latest patent granted on smokers, which fully protects all who buy, 
 sell or use it. 
 
 We do not do our wholesale customers the injustice of sowing broadcast a small, 
 inferior article, at a price so little above cost, that it catches the majority of orders 
 from those who are uninformed. 
 
 We sell two sizes, $1.25 and $1.50. By mail, 25 cents extra. 
 
 QUINBY’S NEW BEE-KEEPING. 
 
 BY L. C. ROOT. 
 
 This is a work of 270 pages well bound in cloth. It contains 100 illustrations, 
 including a portrait of the late M. Quinby. Ir is fully up to the times, and is 
 acknowledged as the most practical york published. Price postpaid $1.50. 
 
 VAN DEUSEN’S BEE-FEEDER. 
 
 We have the entire control of this feeder for the coming season. As a top feeder, 
 it is known to be one of the very best. 
 
 We have devised a bracket on which it may be placed to feed at the entrance and 
 side, thus making it the best for all purposes, now offered to beekeepers. 
 
 Single feeder, by mail, ,40 cents. 
 
 HONEY KNIVES. 
 
 We have had as much experience in extracting honey as any beekeepers in 
 America, and have a knife for uncapping which is not surpassed. Sent by mail, 
 for $1.00. 
 
 We furnish everything needed in practical beekeeping; for we make beekeeping 
 our exclusive business and know what is necessary. 
 
 Dealers are requested to send for our wholesale price list, as we offer particular 
 inducements to the trade. We desire to place our circular in the hands of every 
 beekeeper. Send for circular and price list to 
 
 E. C. ROOT & BRO., 
 
 Mohawk, N. Y. 
 
Chas. Dadant k Son. 
 
 
 IMPORTED CYPRIAN AND ITALIAN BEES, 
 
 Q©I©s&!©s* Queens and S.i^es^ 
 
 Exiractors of Every Dosorijtioo. 
 
 Honey Fails, Kirns, Sukers of all Styles, Foliation 
 Machines, Specialty of Comti Foliations. 
 
 WE MANUFACTURE THE 
 
 BEST PRINTED, 
 
 BRIGHTEST, 
 
 -AND- 
 
 Purest Foundation, 
 
 Of All, both for 
 
 BROOD CHAMBER, 
 
 -AND- 
 
 SURPLUS BOXES. 
 
 M^Send for Circular. ”®a 
 
 Chas. Dadant & Son, 
 
 HAMILTON, Hancock County, Ills. 
 

 
 I 
 
 4 
 
3 U1 
 
 £ I . 
 
 THE 
 
 NORTHEASTERN BEE-KEEPERS 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 at its meeting of February 2d, 3d and 4th, 1881, held at 
 
 Utica, U. Y., awarded to Chas. Dadant, 
 
 for the Best Essay on Wintering Bees; to C. P. Dadant, 
 
 for the Best Essay on Marketing Honey, and to Chas. 
 Dadant & Son, 
 
 for the Best Comb Foundation for Brood Chamber.