Oclol)c 



American liee Journal 



305 



wcTc ill iilil l)(ix-liivi-^ and were ikioiIv 

 managed. This condition may well be 

 restored, except tliat the bees shonld be 

 kept in the best of the improved hives, 

 and managed in the most improved man- 

 ner of our best apiaries of today. 



IloNKV Crop Not a Total Faihrk. 



The abundant rains of last winter 

 gave us great hope of a bountiful honey 

 harvest, in almost all parts of our State. 

 Especially was this true in our lovely 

 Southland. True, the rains were not as 

 heavy as in some years, but they were 

 so timely tliat we had great hope. But 

 with the spring and early summer came 

 very cool days and nights, with cool 

 iireezes, and so the nectar-glands were 

 paralyzed, and we secured very little 

 honey. Now,- for two years, we have 

 experienced these conditions of cold and 

 damp, and have lamented a honey fail- 

 ure. 



But this j'ear wc are not entirely deso- 

 late, as later warm weather came and 

 we will get quite a crop, after all. In 

 soiTie of the more protected canyons llie 

 crop has been reckoned by the car-load. 

 In parts of the State the cold and winds 

 did not prevail, and the harvest has been 

 fine. In all sections July and August 

 have done something to make up for the 

 failure of May and June. Thus while 

 the season is generally poor — yes. very 

 poor — still there will be quite a showing 

 for our State, after all. 



Robber-Flies. 



These great dipterous or two-winged 

 flies are very common in Southern Cali- 

 fornia. We have both types — the great 

 black ones with their long, slender bod- 

 ies, and the yellow hairy ones, much 

 like the bumble-bees in form and ap- 

 pearance. We can but admire these 

 brave robbers, for they kill many of our 

 worst insect pests, and their courage in 

 seizing even the worker-bee is surely to 

 be admired. I recently saw one such 

 capture and struggle. The fly grasped 

 the bee with its strong legs, and held 

 it despite the struggle and masterful ef- 

 fort of the bee to escape, and at once 

 proceeded to insert its great, strong ros- 

 trum or t)eak, and to suck bloodless and 

 lifeless its unwilling victim. It is to be 

 regretted that these flies thus maraud 

 on the workers of the hive, but as they 

 do so much good we will not treasure 

 it up too seriously against them. 



Clareniont. Cal. 



Beeswax and Digestion— In- 

 creased Sale of Honey 



BY DR. r,. BOHRER. 



On page 269. under the above caption. 

 Dr. C. C. Miller criticizes my article on 

 page 241. Part of it he does not find 

 fault with, and I rather think that when 

 he comes to understand it fully he will 

 accept about all of it as not much out 

 of joint. He seems to think I am up- 

 setting the arguments of Rev. R. B. 

 McCain on the same page, and just be- 

 fore mine. Xow, please, Doctor, read 

 the McCain article again, and you will 

 learn that he has reference entirely to 

 the adulteration of comb honey. And 

 he is entirely correct. But he does not 

 say one word about bee-sting poison. 



lint you claim that according to my 

 statements, bee-sting poison is sure to 

 1)0 absorbed by the honey in the cells. 



In this you are in all probability en- 

 tirely mistaken, as the particles of poi- 

 son expelled by l)ees, when their hive 

 is jarred, most likely never reach the 

 honey in the cells at all, as the bees 

 never put their feet nor the tips of their 

 bodies into the cells, nor dip them into 

 the honey. But without doubt, it is 

 spread over the bees, and in moving 

 about over the combs a part of it is 

 with next to no doubt spread over the 

 surface of the comb ; and, as I have 

 stated on more than one occasion, is 

 taken into the human stomach when 

 eaten with the comb, which, as you 

 know, in a few rare instances, produces 

 spasmodic colic. And, Doctor, you 

 know such people never buy honey to 

 use as food for themselves. So that 

 you, as a comb-honey producer, can not 

 get rich selling them comb honey. 



But if I am not entirely mistaken, 

 in uncapping honey with the uncapping 

 knife the bee-sting poison is removed, 

 so that when the honey is extracted it 

 is free from bee-sting poison and wax. 

 The latter being vkholly indigestible and 

 in no w-ay available as aii article of 

 nutrition to the human body, whatever 

 action it may have or influence it may 

 exert upon the digestive organs, is en- 

 tirely of an irritating character. And 

 the extracted-honey producer may be 

 able to sell this class of persons honev. 

 See the point, Doctor? 



And as to the matter of feeding the 

 little honey from the cappings back to 

 the bees, becoming the means of mix- 

 ing the bee-sting poison with the sur- 

 plus honey, you need not, I think, bor- 

 row any trouble, as bees, you. know. 

 are fed for two general purposes — the 

 one to carry them through winter, and 

 the other to stimulate and aid them in 

 brood-rearing. 



You ask me how I know that bees in- 

 variably thrust out their stings, and that 

 poison is expelled upon any jar of the 

 hive. In reply I will say that I have 

 seen it so often that I feel fully justi- 

 fied in arriving at svch a conclusion. 

 .\nd in the presence of your experience, 

 I feel somewhat surprised to learn that 

 you doubt the correctness of this view. 



You also say, "Please tell us how the 

 spread of your facts is going to in- 

 crease beyond any demand heretofore 

 known, the sale of honey." / iicz'cr said 

 your facts: and whatever this remark 

 may be intended to mean, j'ou said it. 

 But, Doctor, I did say, and now repeat, 

 that in all I have said or written. I 

 have done no guessing in regard to the 

 influence of comb honey upon a very 

 few persons, as regards its producing 

 spasmodic colic. .\nd I will also say 

 that I feel quite confident that, as the 

 people become acquainted with the re- 

 quirements of the rure food law. and 

 the efltects of a rigid enforcement of the 

 same, the sale of honev, both extracted 

 and comb, will be very largely increased. 

 People have for ages been acquainted 

 with the excellent qualities of unadul- 

 terated honey, but you well know that 

 for inany years the custom of adulterat- 

 ing honey with glucose has been con- 

 dfcted upon such a gigantic scale that 

 pure extracted honey w^as recarded as 

 ditlicult to obtain in the markets; and 



lliat tills must exert a demoralizing iri 

 llueiue upon the sale of honey, you 

 certainly understand. You are also 

 aware of the fact that many people were 

 led to believe that honey-producers 

 rnanufactured comb, filled it with arti- 

 ficial honey, and sealed it so nearly as 

 the bees do that it was difficult for even 

 an expert to detect the counterfeit. 



And, further, as to the spread or re- 

 print of my article in question, I have 

 lieen written to from a distance for per- 

 mission to publish it in local papers, 

 which has been done. .Xs to how many 

 papers my print it, 1 have no means of 

 knowing. I am, however, informed that 

 where it was republished, physicians en- 

 dorsed my views, and groceries were 

 selling honey in larger quantities. So 

 that I perhaps need have no deep re- 

 grets to express, nor apologies to ofTer. 

 for having written the article in ques- 

 tion. I am also convinced that I can 

 province more honey, and with less la- 

 bor and expense, in the extracted form 

 than I can in the comb. And to say 

 the very most in behalf of comb honey, 

 the wax or coinb is to honey what face- 

 powder is to the human complexion — 

 simply ornamental. 



Lyons, Kans. 



Illinois State Convention 



The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will meet Nov. T()th and 20th, 

 at the State house in Springfield, We 

 may have no program except what will 

 be made up by the best of our bee-keep- 

 ers — which is always better than a set 

 program, if those present are alive to 

 their opportunity. 



The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation has made arrangements with 

 the State Board of Agriculture to have 

 hees handled in cages at the State Fair. 

 In one cage, for the purpose, a foul- 

 broody hive will be shown up. Louis 

 Werner, of Edwardsville. will do the 

 manipulating. Jas. A. Stone, Sec. 



Rt. 4, Springfield, 111. 



Northern Illinois Convention 



The annual meeting of the Northern 

 Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association will be 

 held in the Court House in Rockford, 

 III., Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 20 

 and 21, igoS. All interested are invited 

 to attend. B. Kennedy, Sec. 



Cherry Valley, 111. 



The Panhandle Convention 



The Panhandle Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will meet in Knights Golden 

 F.agle Hall, corner 38th and Jacob Sts., 

 Wheeling. W. X'a.. Monday. November 

 16. 1908. W. L. KiNSEY. Sec. 



Blaine. Ohir) 



Bee Jonmal for IOC! 



10c. 



We still have on hand some complete 

 vo.umes of the American Bee Journal for 

 1907, which we will mail for 40 cents 

 each. The first half of that year the Bee 

 Journal was issued weekly, and the last 

 half monthly, which would make 32 

 numbers. And all of them for only 40 

 cents! Surely this is a bargain for any 

 new reader who has become a subscriber 

 this year. 



