Mar. 17, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



199 



one person in all the world can point to any benefit that has 

 been derived from it as food since honey has been in use 

 among- mankind. But, on the contrary, it is, to my certain 

 knowledge, an irritant, and positively harmful when taken 

 with food in some diseased conditions of the stomach. 



When I was a practicing physician I had under my care, 

 at different times, several cases of cancer of the stomach, 

 in each of which I advised the internal use of honey. 

 And while extracted honey was fairly borne, that taken 

 with the comb was irritating, and careful observation will 

 prove beyond doubt or question that honey-comb is in some 

 degree or other a source of irritation in all cases of diseased 

 conditions of the digestive organs; and when taken into 

 the stomach that is in perfect health, it imposes an unnec- 

 essary amount of labor upon the alimentary canal for its 

 removal. 



"But," says one, "it looks so much better in the comb 

 than it does when extracted ; " which is no doubt true, when 

 the facts referred to are not known, and when we omit to 

 look at it from a hygienic standpoint. The actual facts in 

 the case is what we should be governed by, and when the 

 mothers of the country once learn that extracted honey is 

 more easily digested by their children when cutting teeth, 

 or during any ailment of their digestive organs, they will 

 call for extracted honey in preference to comb honey all the 

 time, when they have proper assurance that they are not 

 purchasing glucose. What we should do is to educate the 

 mass of our people upon these matters of real importance to 

 them, and see to it that each State has a rigid law passed, 

 imposing a severe penalty on any one convicted of adulter- 

 ating, selling or offering for sale, any adulterated article 

 under the name of honey. I am aware that parties have 

 stated to the public, through the press, that glucose is bet- 

 ter than honey, and that we no longer have use for bees or 

 apairies. But not one of these characters believes a syllable 

 that he utters. If glucose is better than honey, why do 

 they not label it glucose instead of " liebiUing " (labeling) 

 it honey as they now do ? When these impostors are once 

 cornered, and the people know that glucose dare not be sold 

 under the name of honey, and that extracted honey is more 

 wholesome as food when free from comb or wax, they will 

 buy it in preference to comb honey, and will pay more for it. 



That honey is more easily digested by persons who can 

 eat honey at all, I have never heard questioned, especially 

 when eaten in reasonable quantities. Six ounces taken at 

 one meal, and it balanced with other articles of food (as Mr. 

 Hasty in his "Afterthought," as set forth on page 71 seems 

 to have done) might set one's digestive machinery to jump- 

 ing cogs. Let us read carefully his statements, and then 

 see if the following meal-order can be considered out of due 

 proportion : 



Honey, bread, pork, beans, cabbage, potatoes, cheese, 

 apple-pudding — of each 6 ounces ; coffee 10 ounces, and 2 

 ounces of butter, which will not oil the whole ration very 

 abundantly. In all, this will be 60 ounces. Let him eat the 

 entire square meal and take it to bed with him, and report 

 how he rested, what his dreams were, and how many horses 

 he tried to sell to himself. Or, to test the case more fully, let 

 him eat extracted honey one night with the above meal- 

 order, comb honey the next night, and sugar the third night. 



Rice Co., Kans. 



Do Queens Lay in Queen-Cells ? 



BY E. F. ATWATEK. 



I HAVE been reading with much interest the discussion 

 on this subject. On page 109 is a letter from Mr. Delos 

 Wood, in which he suggests that Mr. Chantry may be 

 " mistaken " in thinking that he saw queens lay in queen- 

 cells. Mr. Wood's offer to accept Mr. Chantry's invitation, 

 " provided he shall pay my expenses if he fails to show a 

 queen in the act of laying in a queen-cell," is not, it seems 

 to me, exactly fair, fori suppose those queens which lay in 

 queen-cells for Mr. Chantry are old queens about to be 

 superseded, and every bee-keeper knows that such are not 

 at all times on hand, and of select, gentle stock. 



Several years ago (1899) this matter was debated in the 

 Progressive Bee-Keeper, in the number for March, in which 

 Mr. Doolittle says : 



" Dr. Gallup and Adam Grimm gave conclusive proof 

 that queens do lay in queen-cells, and had been seen to do 

 so." Also, " G. M. Doolittle's assistant in the apiary saw 

 a queen lay in a queen-cell, while Doolittle held in his hand 

 the frame on which it was being done." And, further : 

 " The eggs in a queen-cell are always fastened to the base 



of the queen-cell in just the same way the queen deposits 

 all of her eggs in worker or drone cells, sticking one end of 

 the egg to the base of the cell, while eggs removed by bees 

 (which is very rarely done) are found lying on their side 

 near the base of the cells." 



" Swarthmore " has asserted, in Gleanings, that his 

 breeding-queens deposit their eggs directly in his com- 

 pressed queen-cell cups. Mr. Ouinby and Mr. L,. C. Root 

 assert that the queen deposits the egg in the queen-cell, but 

 without giving the reasons for so believing. Mr. Wood 

 writes of " the Dzierzon theory of the size of the cell con- 

 trolling the sex of the egg, and that is an accepted fact by 

 our best bee-keepers." This was the theory of the late Mr. 

 Samuel Wagner, instead of Dzierzon, and is spoken of in 

 my " Langstroth Revised " as " overthrown. " 



But, is it not a fact, Mr. Wood, that queen-cells, just 

 before being supplied with an egg, are always contracted 

 at the mouth to about the size of a worker-cell ? I can't 

 refer it to the bees now, but, as I remember it, that is so. 



Dzierzon says of a normal queen, " She is able to lay 

 male or female eggs interchangeably, at pleasure." 



I have known Mr. Chantry for years, and have almost 

 absolute confidence in his observations. He has bred a re- 

 markably quiet and gentle strain of Italians, as I know 

 from having worked in his South Dakota yards, and have 

 had bees of his stock in my own apiary. This is not in- 

 tended as a free advertisement, but merely to show that one 

 may, with an exceedingly gentle strain of bees, see things 

 that might not be seen in a lifetime among cross, nervous 

 races. Ada Co., Idaho, Feb. 11. 



[ Our Bee-Keepin§ Sisters] 



Conducted by E.MMA M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



That Cap-Load of Girls for Arizona Wives. 



That invitaton to send a car-load of girls to Arizona 

 seems to be making trouble for the postmaster of Buckeye, 

 Ariz. In a letter to the Record-Herald, he says "that since 

 then I have recevied letters from girls in different parts of 

 the United States, also from Germany and Austria, asking 

 me to send them the names of some of the bachelors, so 

 they might be able to correspond with them." 



He wants it very distinctly understood that that 

 "locality" will be "overstocked" with members of the 

 feminine persuasion, if any number of them should follow 

 up their present seeming inclination to encroach upon ter- 

 ritory already occupied. He siys further : 



" Now, I wish to say that there are only a few bachelors 

 here that would get married, " so runs the epistle, " and 

 there are as many old maids, and plenty of girls growing up 

 that are just as good and smart as one could find anywhere. 

 The sexes are about evenly divided." 



" Girls," warns the postmaster, " do not come out here 

 thinking you could catch a husband as soon as you set foot 

 on Arizona soil. You may get fooled if you do." 



Much ado about nothing, it seems. Often the case. 



Bee-Keeping- Fine Work for Women. 



About a year ago, at this time, I was recovering from 

 an illness of several weeks' duration, was able to sit up 

 supported by pillows, and beginning to take an interest in 

 life again. I asked some one of my family to bring me the 

 Bee Journals that had been accumulating for two months. 



On looking them over I was delighted to find a depart- 

 ment for the bee-keeping sisters, but wondered that so few 

 were availing themselves of the chance to have a cosy chat 

 in that fascinating corner, over which Miss Wilson presided 

 so graciously. My thought was, " She'll see me there when 

 I get well." 



The road back to health was a slow one, and there was 

 so much to attend to, with no one to help me in the apiary. 

 The heavy thaw in March caused great loss, because there 

 was so much water in the bee-yard, and when the bees came 

 out for a flight, a strong south wind blowing at the time, 



