STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 1 5/ 



Honey has always been highly esteemed as a food. It was 

 used by the ancient Greeks in medicine and also as a sirup in 

 which to preserve fruit. Sicily was noted for its honey pro- 

 duced from fragrant herbs. 



There are many Biblical allusions to honey and the hone}'- 

 comb, and we are all familiar with the riddle which proved the 

 undoing of the doughty Hebrew champion, Samson. 



Wax is a secretion of the worker bee and is produced when 

 required for use in the hive. The bees fill themselves with 

 honey and as a high temperature is required to produce it, they 

 hang themselves up in clusters or festoons in the hive and most 

 tenaciously cling together. It is secreted between the plates in 

 the lower side of the abdomen. It is at first white and very 

 brittle but is rendered pliable in the mouth of the bee by thor- 

 ough mastication. 



It has been an important article of commerce for many cen- 

 turies and its production very great. In the days of the 

 Pharaohs, the sacrificial funds were often paid in honey and 

 wax. It was largely used for medicinal purposes and also to 

 embalm the dead. 



Bees-wax candles have been used exclusively for ages in 

 the altars of both Pagans and Christians. 



The muscles of the bee are very strong and perfect. Its brain 

 is large in proportion to its size ; only the higher vertebrates 

 have convolutions to the brain, while that of the bee has well- 

 defined convolutions ; and its habits and instincts prove it to be 

 on the same plane of intelligence as our highest animals. 



As the season advances the bees remain quiet about the hive. 

 When it is too cold for flight even at mid day, they contract 

 their extremities as much as possible and cluster closely together 

 for warmth. If left in their summer stands they must be pro- 

 vided with sufficient stores for winter and carefully packed with 

 warm, wool blankets. 



Then you need have no fear that your cherished bees are 

 sufifering from hunger or cold. 



It always seems, after ours are thus cared for, when the 

 snow drifts softly over the hives almost concealing them from 

 view, as if the wind murmuring in the pines nearby must be 

 lulling them to sleep. 



