Bright Future for Beekeeping is Seen

1920

Enlarged American Consumption of Honey to Continue

If American beekeepers are able to meet increasing demand, the enlarged American consumption of honey will continue, says the annual report of the chief of the bureau of entomology, United States department of agriculture.

During the war our exports of honey to the allied countries increased at least ten times, and the domestic use also went much higher. The increased export demand has continued since the end of hostilities, and the bureau sees reason to expect that this market will continue to be an important factor in American beekeeping.

Local sales of honey near the points of production have increased more rapidly than sales in the larger markets, but this can readily be remedied, according to the report, by the further development of the business of bottling honey.

The tendency to collect the bees of the country in the hands of commercial beekeepers is viewed as a wholesome sign for the development of the industry. Prevalence of two destructive brood diseases, and especially the necessity of careful study of beekeeping problems in order to obtain maximum crops, make it almost impossible for the person having only a few colonies to give the care essential for good beekeeping. Only the man who makes beekeeping his chief work may expect to get proper returns, says the bureau.

Monroe Man's Honey Barrel Discovered

New York, 1911

Bees Make 250 Pounds in Receptacle in His Cellar

Monroe, Feb. 2, (Special) — John R. Hayes, who owns a house on the main street of this village with the conservatory of E. H. Welling, the meat marketman, in the rear came across an unexpected find in the cellar of his home yesterday. Mr. Hayes found a barrel of honey there of which he had been totally unaware that he was the owner.

Mr. Hayes kept a discarded cider barrel in the cellar uncorked, the bunghole being on one side, in the middle. Before it held the cider, the barrel had been filled with whiskey. It has been empty since the early part of last summer. Since the cold weather set in Mr. Hayes has been keeping a fire burning in the cellar furnace and, on going down to heap on some more coal yesterday, was surprised to see bees in a semi-comatose state crawling around on the floor. This led him to investigate the contents of the barrel. He was surprised to find that he could scarcely move it, — it was so heavy.

With an axe he broke in a slat on one end. That slat did not move more than an inch, something offering resistance from the inside. On removing the slat he was surprised to find that the one end of the barrel was entirely filled with honey. He took out a number of combs, for use at his table, and two pounds to the office of the local newspaper for the use of the editor and his family. The honey is said to be excellent although slightly darker than the usual and flavoring a little of cider.

To your correspondent yesterday, Mr. Hayes said with evident glee that he was assured of a supply of honey for an indefinite time. He said he would leave the barrel where it was and that the bees would undoubtedly continue to increase the stock of honey there next summer. Meantime Mr. Hayes can replenish his table from the one end of the barrel replacing the slat after taking out each supply. He says he has no idea where the bees came from unless it be from the skips of Robert Ashman, a neighbor, who keeps bees. Mr. Hayes believes that there are altogether about 250 pounds of honey in the barrel. He is to have a local apiarist, Edward Rake, examine the bees as he thinks they are of an unusual or excellent breed — probably Italian.

—Orange County Times-Press, Middletown, NY, Feb. 3, 1911, p. 10.

Bees Make Home in His House, OK with Him

1917

Store Honey Unmolested For Three Years In Doctor's Residence.

St. Louis.—A swarm of bees has lived and made honey for three years in the brick wall at the home of Dr. Allen Wilson, Wagoner place. Dr. Wilson has never interfered with the bees, and they have never harmed him, nor has he ever eaten any of the honey.

The bees' improvised hive is a cavity in the wall about halfway to the top of the two story house on the kitchen side. The entrance is a small hole apparently left by the bricklayer when placing the bricks around the anchor of an iron wall brace.

Dr. Wilson said be had investigated and found that the cavity now extends into the wall about a foot, apparently having been hollowed out by the bees themselves. The swarm is not a very large one, and Dr. Wilson thinks it has not produced more honey than it needed. He does not expect to try to move the bees.

—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 23, 1917, p. 1.

Bee-Culture Hobby Is Bulwark Against Evil Fortune of Paralytic

1917

McGREGOR, Iowa.— (Special.)—John Clark of North McGregor, Iowa, is a paralytic and yet earns a living for his wife, little children and himself. Until a year ago when stricken by apoplexy he was a plasterer. He was skilled at the trade, had plenty of work and made good money. Meanwhile he had a hobby. It was bees. He can't remember when he wasn't interested in bees and wouldn't rather be fussing with them than doing anything else. After marriage his wife became interested, too.

They bought a small piece of land on the outskirts of town where lots of sweet clover and basswood grows. Reserving part of the land for the bee hives, Mr. Clark set most of the rest of it to fruit. Apple, pear, plum and cherry trees, raspberry, blackberry, currant and gooseberry bushes were planted. The fruit blossoms would provide nectar for the bees and the bees would pollenize the blossoms, he figured.

The fruit farm was nicely started, the bees were busy in half a hundred stands and the husband and wife had the plans drawn for a pretty bungalow at "Sunnyside Apiary," as they had named their little farm. Then Mr. Clark was stricken with apoplexy and the problem of obtaining money for food, clothing, doctor bills and fuel drove away the dream of the bungalow among the apple blossoms and the honey bees.

When the basswood blooms the first two weeks in July, if there is no wind and the weather is fair the bees in Sunnyside Apiary will store twenty-five pounds per colony in ten days. The honey they make is so good that the proprietor has no trouble at all in marketing it. In fact, buyers this year came to the house for almost all of the crop.

"Do you like the work?" the invalid was asked and his face lighted as he answered:

"It's the most interesting business anybody can have. You never get tired of bees. There is always something new turning up."

The wife answered:

"I love to work with them. Do you know, I have about decided beekeeping an ideal job for women. Success in it depends upon looking after the little things and I believe women naturally do that better than men."

It was then Mr. Clark gave thanks for his hobby. His wife said:

"If you will direct me from your bed, I'll do the work and we'll see if we can't make our bees earn a living for the family."

That was a year ago. November 15 this year they had sold 3,600 pounds of extracted honey and had 500 pounds of comb honey stored in the cellar.

Compete for His Honey

Others are keeping bees in the country nearby, but with nothing like as good results. Mr. Clark attributes his success to good management and to their location near an abundance of sweet clover and basswood. Everybody knows the finest honey is "basswood honey" and nobody knows it as well as the bees.

—The La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, La Crosse, Wisconsin, January 22, 1917, page 10.

EIGHTY-FIVE TONS OF HONEY BETWEEN FLOORS

STORM LAKE, Ia., Nov. 9 -- Special: The discovery of bees in the room of a hotel guest at the Bradford resulted in a search which revealed upon tearing open the flooring, a hive of bees and eighty-five tons of honey.

Mrs. P. M. Mitchell was badly stung by the bees. An electrician left a brick out on the exterior of the building two years ago and the bees made their entrance, crossing an entire wing.

-- Des Moines Register, Nov. 10, 1917

Comment: Now there's a story I'd like to know more about. 85 tons of honey? How much space would that fill? That's enormous. What'd they do with the honey? How did they manage to clean it out? Wow!