August, 1908. 



241 



I American Hm JournaT 



)^ai^^~i 



To grade it best, I pick out _■ nr 3 

 sections of each grade and put tlicin up 

 on a box, shelf or bench in front of 

 where I take the sections from the 

 supers, then as soon as one is taken in 

 the hand I know exactly what grade 

 that section goes in. It is now put down 

 where it belongs, and as soon as another 

 is found like it, that is put with it, and 

 so on with each grade until enough has 

 accumulated of any one grade for a 

 case, when they are carefully scraped 

 free from propolis or stain, or any dirt 

 wliich may chance to have gotten on, 

 and nicely cased and the case put in 

 the place that grade of honey is to 

 occupy. As soon as a case of another 

 grade is gotten together, or another of 

 the same grade as the last, these are 

 cased also, and so on till all are put up. 



Well, after casing our honey and 

 getting it in the most attractive shape 

 possible, "What shall we do with it?" 

 is the next question. In answering I 

 would say that much depends upon the 

 amount of honey we have, and our sur- 

 roundings. If not more than 100 to 500 

 pounds are produced, as a rule, it can 

 be disposed of among our neighbors, or 

 in the nearest small towns about us, to 

 the best advantage. However, before 

 we sell our product we should know 

 what it is worth to us, if we send it to 

 some of the large cities. To do this, I 

 take up the American Bee Journal and 

 look up the market reports on honey, if 



1 should ship it away to market. I then 

 figure what the expense will be to me 

 by way of freight, commission, etc., 

 when I have what my product would 

 bring rne at my nearest railroad station. 

 For example: The freight rates from 

 my station to New York City are 45 

 cents per roc pounds ; but, as this is 

 gross weight, by making due allowance 

 for the crate, I find that one-half cent 

 a pound is about what the freight will 

 be on the whole. Then I find by looking 

 up the quotations that I can expect 

 about 15 cents per pound for my honey 

 on an average as the selling price, if I 

 ship it to New York. Then my com- 

 mission man will charge me 10 percent 

 for selling my honey, which would be 

 1^ cents per pound. This added to 

 the freight would make a cost to me of 



2 cents for the marketing of my product 

 in New York. This would bring the 

 price at 13 cents ; hence it will be seen 

 that if I can sell my honey, so it aver- 

 ages in my home market, or near-by 

 villages, 13 cents, it will be as well for 

 me as to send it to one of the large 

 cities. 



If every one having honey to sell 

 would adopt this line of reasoning, and 

 case his or her product nicely, they 

 would not only be "masters of the sit- 

 uation," but help much to establish a 

 uniform price for our product, which 

 is something greatly to be desired. 



Another thing: If all would hold the 

 price of their honey at the figure thus 

 arrived at, all would get what their 

 product was really worth, and we would 

 soon find that our smaller towns would 

 pay the same uniform price, as well as 

 the smaller cities, and we should be tak- 

 ing long strides toward making our 

 honey, as nearly as it is possible, a staple 

 article of merchandise. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Where the Pure Food 

 Is Not Needed 



Law 



liY REV. R. B. MCCAIN. 



The shameless manner in which ar- 

 ticles of food have been adulterated has 

 called forth the stringent regulations of 

 our national pure food law. General 

 satisfaction with the provisions of the 

 law has been expressed by the public, 

 but that satisfaction is tempered some- 

 what by the knowledge that the best 

 legal talent and the keenest qualities 

 of human ingenuity are exercised in 

 these days in finding ways to evade the 

 law. What the ultimate result of the 

 pure food law will be cannot be known. 

 Time alone will tell. 



It is interesting in this connection to 

 note the fact that in the case of comb 

 honey the provisions of the pure food 

 law do not and, in the very nature of 

 the case, cannot apply. The fact that 

 honey is stored and sealed in honey comb 

 is in itself a sufficient guarantee of its 

 purity. This statement is made all the 

 more interesting in view of the fact that 

 it is very generally believed that comb 

 honey can be adulterated. 



Comb honey is the product of the 

 hive bee under human direction and 

 management. The little cells in which 

 honey is stored are built up by the bees 

 themselves of pure white wax. This 

 wax is a secretion of special glands in 

 the body of the bee. By skillful hand- 

 ling in the "pinchers" located in the low- 

 er part of the bee's head, this wax is 

 drawn out to the thinness of fine tissue 

 paper. The cells are six-sided in shape 

 and, in the majority of cases, are about 

 one-fifth of an inch in diameter. They 

 fit so compactly together that but a 

 single thickness of wax is needed at 

 sides or bottom, thus economizing both 

 space and material. 



Man's care and intelligence in the 

 management of bees is rewarded in the 

 finished product of the hive, pure comb 

 honey. It will add much to the enjoy- 

 ment of the one who eats comb honey 

 to know that when once the seal has 

 been placed on the cell by the bees, it 

 is beyond the power of man to modify 

 the contents without breaking the seat. 

 The seal once broken, it is beyond his 

 power to replace or counterfeit it. 



With comb honey before him, the 

 seal of the bees intact, the lover of 

 nature's choicest sweet may eat to the 

 full. He knows that upon his food he 

 has the seal of authority higher and 

 more binding than could be placed there 

 by any human legislation. 



Comb Honey and Digestion 



BY DR. G. BOHRER. 



On page 749 of Gleanings, for June 15, 

 1908, under the heading "Stray Straws," 

 the following language is used : 



"Sometimes the objection is made to 

 comb-honey that the wax is indigestible. 

 Probably in no case does that do any 

 harm, and, in some cases, the indigesli- 

 bility of the wax is its greatest recom- 

 mendation. In cases of chronic constipa- 

 tion, comb honey has been reported bene- 

 ficial when extracted would 4iave no 

 effect." 



Please permit me to state in reply to 

 the language above quoted that the fact 

 that wax has been reported beneficial 

 m possibly some cases, proves beyond 

 a doubt that it acts as an irritant. For 

 to no other property can its possibly 

 beneficial effects be attributed in cases of 

 constipation. Wax never was, is not 

 now, and in all probability never will be, 

 classed as even a mild laxative, to say 

 nothing about it as a cathartic proper. 

 And for the very prominent reason that 

 it acts as an irritant instead of acting 

 as a stimulant proper, it should be avoid- 

 ed by all persons whose digestive organs 

 are sensitive, easily irritated, and ex- 

 cited until abnormal action. Hence to 

 assert as the writer quoted does, that 

 probably in no case does it do any harm, 

 is not in accord with any standard au- 

 thor upon the subject of digestion, its 

 causes and treatment. Neither is it in 

 harmony with the observations and ex- 

 perience of our older and most scientific 

 practitioners of the healing art. 



I remember quite distinctly that when 

 actively engaged in the practice of med- 

 icine, several cases of cancer of the 

 stomach came under my care. Among 

 other articles of food as mildly non- 

 irritating as I could advise, honey free 

 from comb, or wax, was recommended. 

 And as a matter of taste as to looks, 

 honey in the comb was tried, and could 

 not be borne by a cancerous stomach, 

 and when the extracted was submitted, 

 it was quite well borne. 



And while upon this subject, I desire 

 also to state that it is a well-known fact 

 that occasionally a person is found who 

 can not use honey in the comb as food, 

 it being almost certain to induce spas- 

 modic colic, which in all reasonable 

 probability is caused by the poison that 

 bees invariably expel upon the slightest 

 jar or disturbance of the hive. Only 

 a very few persons are susceptible to 

 the influence of the small amount of 

 bee-sting poison thus scattered over the 

 combs. And when the cappings are re- 

 moved preparatory to extracting, the 

 poison is almost, if not entirely, re- 

 moved, leaving the bulk of honey free 

 from this source of irritation to persons 

 peculiarly susceptible to its effects. And 

 if the limited amount of honey obtained 

 from the cappings be kept separate, it 

 can easily be fed back to the bees, and 

 need never be put upon the market. 



Permit me to state that in what I 

 have above given as facts, I have done 

 no guessing, but have used my best en- 

 deavors to give actual statements, which 

 it is to be hoped all are in search of, 

 and which can bring no harm to the sale 

 of the products of the bee-industry. 

 But, on the contrary, with the increase 

 of a true knowledge of the fact that 

 honey in the extracted form is in its 

 highest, purest, and best shape for food, 

 and that under the strict enforcement 

 of the pure food law, and the known 

 fact that more honey can be produced 

 in the extracted form, and that pure 

 honey free from all sources of irrita- 

 tion to the human digestive organs is by 

 all odds the most wholesome sweet ever 

 used by man, the sale of honey will 

 increase beyond any demand heretofore 

 known. 



Before dismissing the subject, it is but 

 proper to say that many persons do use 

 as food articles not in harmony with 



