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Eniered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



OEORQE W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 17, 1904. 



VoLXLIV— No.ll. 



c 



Editorial Comments 



] 



The Manufaetuped-Comb-Honey Yarn. 



A week or two ago we received a letter from Mr. Gustave Gross, 

 of Wisconsin, enclosing also a clipping from the Chicago Inter-Ocean, 

 tal<en from its department of " (Questions and Answers.'' Someone, 

 among other questions, had asked, " Is there any manufactured honey 

 sold in combs?" The answer given by the Inter-Ocean is this: "A 

 good deal of honey is manufactured in combs." 



Mr. Gross suggested that we enter a protest to the Inter-Ocean, 

 thinking that it would pos6il)ly have more weight than if he himself 

 wrote to them about it. We called three times at the Inter-Ocean 

 office, and finally found the person who was responsible for answering 

 the question. It happened to be a lady. She was very courteous, and 

 said she had received several letters on the subject. Before we stated 

 the object of our call, she said she thought she knew why we had 

 come. 



We had a very pleasant interview, and a prompt and full correc- 

 tion was assured. She was under the impression that she had read in 

 some book, or had been told by a prominent person, who she thought 

 was authority, that comb hone.v is manufactured. We assured her 

 that it was all a mistake, explaining to her the origin of the manu- 

 factured-comli-honey lie. 



We have not as yet seen the correction, but suppose it has ap- 

 peared. As the question and answer were in the weekly issue of the 

 Inter-Ocean, likely the correction also appeared in that edition, and 

 not in the daily. 



The cordiality with which we were received, and the readiness 

 with which we were assured that the correction would be made, 

 created a very favorable impression upon us. So many papers, after 

 publishing the manufactured-eomh-honey story, have been inclined to 

 ignore all requests for correction. But the Inter-Ocean seems to be a 

 delightful exception. We furnished it with printed information on 

 the subject, and suggested that it might be used to good advantage in 

 setting themselves right Ijefore their readers. 



We are always glad to have our subscribers call our attention to 

 matters of this kind, as we can not possibly read all the newspapers 

 and magazines that are published, and so we would not know that 

 anything detrimental to bee-keepiotr had been published. We are 

 always glad to do all we can for the benefit or defense of bee-keepers. 

 That is what we and the American Bee Journal are here for. 



California Expeplment in Honey-Ppoduetlon. 



A newspaper clipping reports that Prof. C. W. Woodworth, of the 

 department of agriculture of the L'niversity of California, is carrying 

 on an experiment in the production of honey. A glass hive is used, 

 A report of it reads as follows : 



" The experiment is being carried on entirely within this trans- 

 parent hive, the bees being allowed no communication with the outsidf 

 world except for the purpose of carrying out their dead. Apparently 

 they have no objection to the close scrutiny under which they an- 

 living, for they carry on their work just as under ordinary conditions 

 The important feature of the experiment is the substitution of arti 

 ficially prepared food in the place of the usual plant products from 



which honey is made. The object of the test is to ascertain the mini- 

 mum cost of production, and at the same time to secure as good, it 

 not a superior, quality of honey. The food which is being substituted 

 in the place of the nectar of flowers is beet-sugar. This is moistened 

 to a paste-like consistency, and placed under glass cases within reach 

 of the bees. The whole apparatus is placed upon the scales so that 

 daily records can be made of the amount of material consumed, and of 

 the quantity of honey produced." 



It would be presumptuous to say Prof. Woodworth is doing noth- 

 ing of the kind, and yet one can not always place implicit reliance 

 upon newspaper reports. The affair certainly has a somewhat fishy 

 appearance. 



There is " no communication with the ouside world except for the 

 purpose of carrying out their dead." If the bees follow the usual 

 practice of imprisoned bees, a large number will constantly be making 

 earnest effort to get out of that hive, and the professor will have a 

 lively time opening the gate for each bee that comes along with a 

 dead bee, and then quickly shutting it before any other bee slips by. 

 Then what about that bee-undertaker getting back in? 



The bees must be carefully trained in some fresh sanitary regula- 

 tions, else the hive will become a charnel house from the excrement 

 of the bees. 



Two objects are in view. One is to find the minimum cost of pro- 

 duction. After the experiment is over some of those unenlightened 

 California bee-keepers who have reported a crop of 10 to 50 tons will 

 know to a fraction just what is the very least for which they can pro- 

 duce a pound of sage honey ! 



The other object is to " secure as good, if not a superior, quality 

 of honey." Instead of having the honey encumbered with any flavor 

 so common as that obtained from the flowers, it will have the rich 

 flavor and aroma of beet-juice I When this is placed upon the market, 

 the honey obtained by the bees skirmishing around among the rocks 

 and canyons hunting up the posies of the sage, or any other old thing, 

 will have to take a back seat, and the owners of those bees will either 

 have to go out of the business or else go to raising beets ! 



Freight-Rate on Bees. 



We have received the following letter on this subject from Rev. 

 R. B. McCain : 

 Mk. George W. York— Grundy Co., III., Feb. 2", 1904. 



Dear Sir .—Find enclosed a letter from the General Freight Agent 

 of the Alton Railroad to the Local Agent of that road in reply to an 

 inquiry made at my request in regard to freight-rates on bees. I send 

 you this because it was stated at the Chicago-Northwestern conven- 

 tion last December, that the local freight-rate applied to bees. Some 

 members were so positive about it that I was somewhat surprised that 

 I had not learned about it. This is a raalter of vital interest to all bee- 

 keepers in the West. I, for one, would like to know who is right — 

 the bee-keepers or the freight agent. 



Very sincerely yours, R. B. McCain. 



The railroad letter referred to by Mr. McCain reads as follows : 



Mr. H. a. Adams, Agent — Chicago, III., Feb. 19, 1904. 



Dear Sir : — Referring to yours of the 12th, beg to advise that 

 there is no lower than three times flrst-class on bees in hives. 

 Yours truly, F. A. Wann, 



Oeneral Freight Agent U. it- A . Ji. Ji. 



On receipt of the letters from Mr. McCain, we at once forwarded 

 them to Emerson T. Abbott, who was one of those who referred to 

 this matter in the discussion at the Chicago-Northwestern convention. 

 His reply reads as follows : 



Mt Dear Mr. York:— Yours at hand and contents noted. 



In my opinion, the general freight agent of the Alton needs to gel 



