582 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 25, 1904. 



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

 took of honey before the disciples, just before ascending to 

 Heaven. Bees must have been plentiful in those days, as 

 they even took up their abode in the lion that Samson slew, 

 and Samson was fond of honey ; and judging- by his great 

 strength honey must have agreed with him. 



The honey of to-day is just the same as it was in olden 

 times, except that the bee-hive has been improved so that 

 the bees build their combs in a more convenient shape. 



A few years ago Prof. Frank Benton went to Palestine 

 to investigate the bee-industry, and as a result of his efforts 

 we have a particular strain of bees known as the Holy Land 

 bees, which are now scattered widely over the United States. 

 The bees always rear their brood at the bottom of the comb, 

 and store their honey above, so that the nurse-bees carry 

 their food down when feeding. So, by placing frames in 

 the lower story of a hive, and sections or little boxes in the 

 story above, the brood is reared below and the honey is 

 stored above in the little boxes, and for that reason the 

 comb honey on the market to-day is so white and nice, no 

 brood having been reared in the comb. The comb in which 

 brood is reared becomes much darker in color. 



Foolish stories have been started by reporters who have 

 no knowledge of the habits of honey-bees, that comb honey 

 is made by machinery, but such reports are entirely 

 without foundation. Comb honey can not be made arti- 

 ficially. A one thousand dollar standing reward has long 

 been offered for a single pound of artificial comb honey. No 

 one has been able to claim the reward. 



In order to get the bees to build the combs straight and 

 even in the little boxes, a small, thin sheet of beeswax is 

 fastened in the center of the upper part of the box. The 

 bees start their comb on this sheet, and thus the bee-keeper 

 is able to get his bees to build comb in the shape desired. 



The liquid honey found upon the market is obtained by 

 shaving the cappings off of combs, and placing them in an 

 extractor. The combs are made to revolve around inside of 

 the extractor so that the honey is thrown from the comb by 

 centrifugal force. The comb can then be placed back in 

 the hive, and be refilled by the bees. More honey can be 

 obtained in this way, as bees consume many pounds of 

 honey in building comb. 



The bees gather the nectar from different flowers and 

 blossoms, and by a process known only to the bees and 

 their Creator, the nectar is converted into honey— the most 

 wholesome sweet known to man. 



But let us look into this matter from a scientific point 

 of view. Honey is often recommended and prescribed by 

 the physician for colds, coughs, etc. It is also beneficial to 

 patients afflicted with kidney trouble. Dr. Gandy, of 

 Nebraska, says that honey is a sure preventive of that 

 dreaded Bright's disease of the kidneys. 



I have found honey to be a good remedy for tonsilitis, 

 by holding honey in the throat so as to keep it in contact 

 with the tonsil. 



Of late, scientists have discovered that nearly all dis- 

 eases are caused by living organisms which belong to the 

 bacterium family. These organisms are so exceedingly 

 small that they can only be seen by the aid of a powerful 

 microscope, and when they find our system favorable to 

 their propagation they take up their abode with us, and 

 thus cause disease. These bacteria are not of animal life, 

 but are little plants, and are often found in the wjter we 

 drink, and the food we eat, and even in the air we breathe. 

 For instance, the disease consumption is contagious, but 

 only when these germs find our lungs weak or disordered. 



Of late it has been found that the acids from raspber- 

 ries, strawberries, lemons, etc., are very beneficial in pre- 

 venting disease, because the acid, though not injurious 



to the system, does, to a great extent, prevent the propaga- 

 tion of disease-germs. Henri De Parville, a well known 

 bacteriologist says in the Journal des Debats, that lemon- 

 ade will kill the germs of typhoid fever. Citric acid will 

 kill cholera-germs in two minutes. Now, while certain 

 acids kill certain germs, formic acid is one of the best germ- 

 destroyers known to medical science. And strange though it 

 may seem, formic acid is always found in honey, and is one 

 of the natural products of the honey-bee. So honey is not 

 only a predigested sweet, as Nature has provided it should 

 be, but it contains one of the best germ-destroyers known 

 to medical science, and has stood the test of thousands of 

 years. It was recommended in olden times. It was the 

 food of the ancient prophets, and it is the same to-day as it 

 was when God promised his chosen children of Israel a land 

 that flowed with milk and honey. 



In my own family we have honey on the table the same 

 as butter, and the children eat all they wish, and do not have 

 such craving for candy as they otherwise would have. We 

 use it in summer in lemonade infetead of sugar, and in win- 

 ter we drink hot water sweetened with honey and flavored 

 with lemon for colds ; and I am sure we are much better 

 and healthier for it. 



Many say they would eat mucb more honey if they were 

 sure that it was genuine bees' honey. Let me assure you 

 that there is not, nor has there ever been, any such thing 

 as artificial comb honey. Neither will the bees touch glu- 

 cose nor store it in their hives. So that any one is safe and 

 sure of getting genuine bees' honey when buying comb 

 honey. 



A few years ago liquid honey was largely adulterated 

 by unprincipled dealers, but the pure food laws have driven 

 it out of the market in most States. So ask for pure honey 

 and don't buy syrup said to be as good as honey, and expect 

 to get honey. 



All honey does not look alike, nor taste exactly alike. 

 For instance, clover honey is of light color, while when bees 

 work on buckwheat and some other flowers the honey is of 

 a darker color. I am a bee-keeper, and my bees not only 

 furnish our family with honey, but I sell honey to my 

 neighbors and nearby trade ; but I have no honey to sell to 

 far-off trade. Buy your honey of your grocer, or any near- 

 by bee-keeper, and I assure you that you will find it far 

 superior to any other sweet known. 



Honey should never be stored in a cellar or damp room. 

 If stored in a warm, dry room it will keep indefinitely. 



Knox Co., 111. 



[ Convention Proceedings j 



Report of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the 



Texas State Bee-Keepers' Association, 



Held at College Station, Tex., July 



5 to 8, 1904. 



REPORTED BY LOUIS H. SCHOLI,. 



(Continued from page £67.) 

 "The Present Standing of Foul Brood in Texas " was 

 gone over thoroughly byLouis H. Scholl. He has been in 

 correspondence with bee-men in several of the infected 

 localities where the disease is now prevailing, and he read 

 several letters from these. From what he has been able to 

 glean he gave the following paper: 



