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Entered at the Poet-OfiBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 

 Publisliea Meekly at 1^1. OO a Vear by Cieorgc W. VorU &: Vo., S»4 l>earborn St. 



OBORQE W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 9, 1904. 



VoL XLIV— No, 23. 





Editorial Comments 





The St. Louis Convention of Bee Keepers. 



The nest National Conveotion will be held in St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 

 2r, 28 and 29. So we were informed by General Manager France on 

 May 28, which is the first official notice we have received. Sept. 27 

 and 28 are to be International Days ; Sept. 29, National Day ; and 

 Sept. 30 Bee-Inspectors' Day. Those ought to be four great days for 

 the bee-keepers' of the world, and especially for American bee-keepers. 

 Plenty of time to get ready for a good time. 



Bogus Comb Honey and Ladies' Home JournaL 



Our attention has been called to the following paragraph, which 

 unfortunately appeared in that usually high authority among all the 

 magazines — the Ladies' Home Journal for June: 



" One cause of indigestion from candy-eating is an adulterant that 

 is sometimes employed— paraffin. This is especially used in caramels 

 in order to make them cut well when poured out on the mould, and it 

 is sometimes found in old-fashioned molasses candy. A most ingen- 

 ious use to which paraffin has been put in America has been the manu- 

 facture of artificial honey-comb. It duplicates the natural comb re- 

 markably well ; the little cells are then filled with glucose slightly 

 flavored to give the honey taste, and the artificial product is ready for 

 use. This is not harmful, but it is not honey. Paraffin is not a 

 poison, but it is an adulterant, and taken into the stomach it is indi- 



This paragraph appears under the department heading, " Pretty 

 Girl Papers," written by Emma E. Walker, M.D., the special topic 

 being, " Is Candy-Eating Harmful to Girls?" 



It is simply an echo of the seemingly unkillable Wiley lie about 

 manufactured comlp honey, which was started over 30 years ago. But 

 we art surprised to find that a paper of such immense circulation and 

 accustomed reliability as the Ladies' Home Journal, should help to 

 continue the misleading and fraudulent statement that honey-comlis 

 are made of paraffin, filled with glucose, etc. 



We have written Mr. Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies' Home 

 Journal, calling his attention to the untruthful and harmful statement, 

 and requesting the publication of a correction in the first possible 

 issue of his journal. We have no doubt he will be glad to do this, 

 for we are quite certain that Editor Bok would not willingly and 

 knowingly publish what is not true. 



We would urge that all our readers also write Mr. Bok, protesting 

 against the appearance ot that miserable old comb-honey canard in thr 

 Ladies' Home Journal. As the bee-keepers — and especially urn- 

 women readers — swarm around him with their buzzing letters, he will 

 begin to see that even the statements of some M. D.'s need to be edited. 

 This thing of would-be instructors repeating hearsay matters, or whut 

 they possibly have read in some daily newspaper, without taking i In- 

 least trouble to verify, needs to be stopped. Mr. Bok now has a li at- 

 opportunity to set his million subscribers right on the comb-hoiR\ 

 question, and as far as possible undo the wrong done to bee-keepei> 

 of which his journal — doubtless unconsciously — has been guilty. 



Address letters on this subject as follows; Mr. Edward Bok, Kdi 

 tor Ladies" Home Journal, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Newspaper Advertising of Honey. 



There are various forms of advertising the use of honey, but par- 

 haps the one tbat is the most easily and cheaply to be employed at 

 present is that of a contribution detailing briefly the great value of 

 honey as ii daily food. There is scarcely an editor or publisher of a 

 weekly or daily newspaper anywhere who would not gladly welcome 

 such contribution or article from his bee-keeping neighbors or friends 

 v^ho subscribe for and read his paper. It is also one of the very best 

 ways of acquainting the general public with honey and its uses. 



Mr. J. E. Johnson, a wide-awake bee-keeper of Knox Co., 111., and 

 one of our esteemed correspondents, has been working along this line 

 lately, and is succeeding. The following is a sample of his efforts, 

 which recently appeared in the Galesliurg (111.) Evening Mail : 



FOOD VALUE OF HONBT. 



Few people know the true value of honey as food. A great many 

 children are daily overtaxing their delicate digestive organs and laying 

 the foundation for an invalid life by the excessive use of sugar, candy, 

 and other delicate sweetmeats. It their parents would only give them 

 honey instead, they would not only find it a good, wholesome food, 

 but very restful to their digestive organs, as honey is the only sweet 

 that is practically predigested. 



First, let us look into the history of honey. In olden times honey 

 was probably the only very sweet food known, and is quite often men- 

 tioned in the Bible. The sons of Israel took honey and spices with 

 them as presents when they went down into Egypt for corn. (See 

 Genesis, 4Hd chapter. ) 



In Exodus, 16th chapter, we find that the manna sent from heaven 

 to the children of Israel, tasted like " wafers made with honey." In I. 

 Samuel, 14th chapter, we find that when Jonathan came to the wood 

 he found honey upon the ground, and when he tasted of that honey 

 his eyes were enlightened, and by the knowledge gained Saul's army 

 was able to overcome the enemy. Bees must have been plentiful in 

 those days. They even took up their abode in the big lion that Sam- 

 son slew, and Samson was fond of honey, and, judging by his great 

 strength, honey must have agreed with him. Several years ago Prof. 

 Benton went to Palestine to investigate the bee-industry, and the re- 

 sult was that we have a particular strain of bees known as the Holy 

 Land bees. They are much like the Italian bees, and are now scattered 

 widely over the United States. 



We also find that John the Baptist lived on honey and locusts, and 

 in the last chapter of Luke we find that Christ, the Son of God, par- 

 took of honey before the disciples just before asscending to heaven. 



The honey to-day is just the same as it was in olden times. It is 

 one of Nature's sweets. But let us look into the matter from a scien- 

 tific point of view. The physician often recommends honey for sore 

 throat, coughs, and l)ecause honey is not only predigested to a great 

 extent, but it is a very good antiseptic. The best remedy known to 

 medical science for fumigating to kill disease germs is formaldehyde 

 gas, because it unites with the oxygen of the air to produce formic 

 acid, and is therefore effectual. Years ago this was not known, and 

 the only means known then to obtain formic acid was from bees or 

 ants, and, strange as it may seem, formic acid, that great germicide, 

 always occurs in honey, and is one of the natural products of the 

 honey-bee; and, although honey dots not contain this formic acid in 

 large enough quantity to make it a germicide, it is, however, antisep- 

 tic to a considerable extent, and is therefore very valuable in prevent- 

 ing disease. Dr. Gandy, of Nebraska, says that honey is a sure pre- 

 ventive of that dreaded Bright's disease of the kidneys. 



I have found honey very valuable in curing tonsilitis by holding 

 honey in the throat so as to keep the tonsil in contact with the honey. 

 A few years ago liquid honey put up in glass tumblers was largely 

 adulterated, but now Illinois has a pure food law which has driven out 

 the adulterated article, and honey bought on the market anywhere in 

 Illinois is the true product of the honey-bee, whether liquid or comb. 



Comb honey can not be made artificially. One thousind dollars 

 standing reward has long been offered for a single pound of artificial 

 comb honey. No one has been able to claim it. Any syrup labeled 



