American Hee Journal 



February, igii. 



1589 loads of pollen taken from bees as 

 they entered the hives. It would not do 

 to trust to the naked eye, for pollen of 

 the same color may come from two dif- 

 ferent species, so each load was examined 

 by the microscope. Think of the patience 

 required to capture 1589 loads and ex- 

 amine them with the miscroscope ! Her 

 conclusion is that "even on the most lib- 

 eral estimate, not one bee in 3 mi.xes her 

 pollen at all, and not one bee in 10 mixes 

 it to any appreciable extent (taking the 

 years average)." 



Even one in 10 is much beyond what 

 ordinary observation would lead one to 

 expect. It is not at all impossible that 

 that all-prevailing factor, "locality," may 

 have something to do in the case. 



As to why bees work upon two kinds of 

 flowers on the same trip, she says, "Are 

 the constituents of a mixture usually de- 

 rived from the flowers of similar color, 

 or from nearly related plants, or from 

 flowers which, though not necessarily 

 nearly related, belong to the same flower- 

 dass?" Then after giving the result of 

 a number of observations in this regard, 

 she says, "Apparently, therefore, bees are 

 not induced to change from one species 

 to another by any kind of similarity be- 

 tween the flowers of the two plants. What 

 does induce them to do so is pretty obvi- 

 ous : it is proximity." 



It is greatly to be desired that this es- 

 timable lady would extend her observa- 

 tions to determine whether another fac- 

 tor may not greatly overshadow the one 

 of pro.ximity, and that factor is scarcity 

 of pasturage. One might naturally sup- 

 pose that when clover, for instance, is 

 very abundant, a bee would work on noth- 

 ing else. When it leaves a flower it often 

 darts off several feet, even if it circles 

 about and alights on another flower not a 

 foot from the first. If a flower of an- 

 other kind be within 6 inches, would the 

 bee be likely to alight upon it if plenty 

 of clover blossoms are to be found within 

 a few feet? After observing thousands 

 upon thousands of loads of poUen upon 

 bees entering hives during many years of 

 observation, Dr. Miller says he has never 

 noticed a mixture of other pollen with 

 clover pollen (although instances may have 

 escaped his observation), but in a time 

 of scarcity he has seen a bee going from 

 one kind of blossom to another. 



English Ladies and Retired Army Men as 

 Bee-Keepers 



J. Herrod, as a result of his experience 

 as a traveling expert in various counties 

 in England during the last 10 years, says 

 in the British Bee Journal: 



I have no hesitation in sayinc that the 

 cleanest and best-appointed apiaries I have 

 visited were owned and managed by ladies 

 and retired army officers. 



Now which will feel most compli- 

 mented, the ladies or the army men? 



The Best Sugar for Man, and Its Cost 



Under the abo\e heading occurs in the 

 Practical Farmer some excellent words 

 of wisdom that the wives and mothers 

 who look after the welfare of their fami- 

 lies wojld do well to heed. They are 

 written by T. B. Terry, a man given over 

 to die by physicians, who went to work 

 studying how to prolong his life to such 

 good effect that he is to-day enjoying 

 vigorous health, and through the press is 

 helping thousands of others to live a 

 healthier life. He says: 



One of our folks comes to us quite a little 

 wrought up over the statement in his maga- 

 zine that sugar is cow food. Well, th at is 

 just what it is really. Our sugar is made 

 from the coarse sugar-beets and sugar-cane. 



is it not ? And these are not natural foods 

 for human beings, but are excellent for 

 cows. Condensed sugar is one of mans de- 

 vices. A too free use of it has caused an 

 enormous amount of suffering, and has 

 taken millions out of the world prematurely. 



Sugar, as God put it in the ripe fruits, is a 

 perfect form of food for man. And one is 

 not likely to eat too much. aS the sugar is in 

 such a diluted condition. And it is proper 

 food for man, woman and child, not cow 

 food. Fruit is natural food for human be- 

 ings. These are statements that are abso- 

 lutely true, beyond any controversy. The 

 matter is so simple that a child can under- 

 stand it. If you want sugar in the most per- 

 fect shape for mortals, just as the Creator 

 arranged it for us. eat the sweet fruits; they 

 are quite reasonable in price. If they do 

 cost a little more than cane-sugar, remember 

 the suffering, sickness and early deaths that 

 this form of natural sugars will help to pre- 

 vent. 



One can buy 12 pounds of fine seeded rai- 

 sins for 08 cents; 25 pounds of the best seed- 

 less raisins for $1.83; the best Smyrna layer 

 figs for 70 cents for a s-poundbox; the most 

 delicious Smyrna pulled figs for 82 cents a 5- 

 pound box. Prunes are a little higher this 

 year, as the crop is short. We paid S2 (18 for 

 a 25-pound box of large, fancy ones raised in 

 the famous Santa Clara Valley. Calif. All 

 these fruits are heavily charged with sugar 

 that is natural for man. Kipe bananas and 

 most of our other fruits contain some sugar. 

 But always remember that one should not 

 eat sweet fruits unless they are craved, and 

 the same of those containing acid. 



How TO Eat Cane Sugar if You Must. 



Suppose one does not get much sugar in 

 the best form; that is in fruits, fresh or 

 dried, then what ? Why, he may eat alitile 

 common sugar quite safely, say 2 ounces a 

 dav, moreor less. And for best results it 

 should be diluted, not eaten clear. 



Dr. Wallace, an eminent English physi- 

 cian, tells us it is a fact that cane-sugar in 

 a clear form is likely to be digested slowly 

 and to give rise to serious gastric irritation. 

 So eat very moderately of concentrated 

 sugar, and see that what you do eat is 

 diluted. 



To illustrate; I use a little cane-sugar in 

 my wheat drink. A teaspoonful in a cupful 

 is thoroughly diluted. The experiments 

 made in the German army prove conclu- 

 sively that a free use of clear sugar is inju- 

 rious. Of course, some can eat more sugar 

 than others can. and serious results are not 

 likely to come suddenly. But Nature has a 

 way of never forgetting to punish when her 

 laws are violated. There will be digestive 

 disturbances after a time, and eventually 

 sugar diabetes, perhaps, or some other seri- 

 ous ill. It is my opinion that trouble comes 

 from the concentrated form of our common 

 sugar, molasses and maple syrup, and hence 

 our eating too much of it. and perhaps eat- 

 ing it clear, than it does from the eating of 

 sugar made from cow food under proper 

 restrictions. 



There is value in such counsel ; but it 

 seems amazing that a man of Mr. Terry's 

 intelligence, in considering the best sugar 

 for man and its cost, should utterly ig- 

 nore the fact that there is in existence 

 something that contains sugar in the very 

 best form for man, a "natural food," "just 

 as the Creator arranged it for us," in the 

 most delicious form, and at much less 

 cost than it can be obtained in dried 

 fruits he mentions. Surely he can not 

 think that the sugar in raisins, figs, and 

 prunes is in any better form for ready 

 assimilation than the sugar in honey. 



Then the matter of cost. If Mr. Terry 

 takes the same pains to get bargains in 

 honey that he does in dried fruits, he will 

 be able to get delicious extracted honey 

 at 10 cents a pound. His dried fruits 

 cost from 7 to 16 cents a pound, and 

 when you come to consider the sugar that 

 is in them it is pretty safe to say that a 

 pound of sugajr in dried fruits will cost 

 several times as much as a pound of sugar 

 in honey. 



To be sure, there are other matters in 

 dried fruits, and to some extent this is 

 true of honey. But in any case, whether 

 it be that enough sugar can not be found 

 in dried fruits, or whether the cost be 

 too great, when he comes to consider "if 

 you must" eat sugar, instead of practical- 



ly saying. "Try not to go beyond 2 ounces 

 a day," why does he not advise to have 

 at least a part of that 2 ounces in 

 honey ? 



Instead of using common sugar in his 

 wheat drink, if Mr. Terry would try a 

 mild-flavored honey, he might prolong his 

 life just a little longer. 



A National Honey-Brand 



If we had a "National" brand for our 

 honey, we as members of the National Asso- 

 ciation would have a strong shoulder to lean 

 against, and therefore a substantial backing. 

 A member would not dare, nor even have the 

 inclination, in fact, to put up something not 

 pure, and brand it with the National brand. 

 On the other liand. no one would question 

 the absolute purity of an article under such 

 brand. 



In the second place, more bee-keepers 

 would rally around the National banner so 

 as to be entitled to use the brand and its 

 protection, thereby making the National 

 Bee Keepers' Association that much the 

 stronger and that much wider known, so 

 that there would be more demand for pure 

 honey. 



Since the pure food and drug law has been 

 in force, all bogus preparations that did not 

 go out of business have boldly advertised 

 their stuff under various names; and if it 

 pays to advertise trash, why should it not 

 pay us to advertise our pure goods with a 

 brand that is synonymous with strict hon- 

 esty ? Among those benefited by this meas- 

 ure would be the National Association, the 

 bee-keepers as a body and individually, the 

 grocers and consumers, and only the glu- 

 cose-manufacturers would suffer.— Mrs. M. 

 E. Pruitt. in Gkiiiiiiiss in Bee Culture. 



Upon this Editor Root comments as 

 follows : 



For a number of years the General Mana- 

 ger of the National Association has given to 

 members a label bearing the National seal 

 to use on honey, so that the buyer may at 

 least know that such honey is absolutely 

 pure. If the word " brand " were used, or 

 if the honey were advertised as the " Na- 

 tional brand." would it not be a suggestion 

 of manufactured goods? Furthermore, un- 

 less such honey were put up by a central 

 packing force at the National Association 

 headquarters, say. it would vary consider- 

 ably in flavor. One "brand" of honey 

 should be the same the country over. 



While there may be objections to the 

 plan proposed by Mrs. Pruitt, yet it is 

 not the easiest thing to see just how 

 the best success can be had without 

 something of the kind. It is greatly to 

 be desired that the ball set rolling by 

 Editor York, in his annual address at 

 the National convention at Albany, 

 shall not stop rolling until something 

 reallv practical comes to pass. It is all 

 well enough to talk about raising a big 

 sum of money for a campaign of pub- 

 licity, but that has been tried in the 

 past to a sufficient extent to show that 

 there is enough selfishness left in the 

 heart of the average bee-keeper to pre- 

 vent him from putting money into 

 something that will bring just as much 

 benefit to all his bee-keeping neighbors 

 as it will to himself. Offer some plan 

 by which he will see that those who 

 put up the money are going to get the 

 chief benefit from it, and there ought 

 not to be such a very great deal of 

 trouble to find enough to enter the 



scheme. 



^ • » 



Only a Fourth of a Crop 



Dear Miss Wilson :— We had only 

 one-fourth of a honey crop the past 

 year. I fed the bees in spring and all 

 fall, and got them in good condition 

 for winter, I am hoping for a better 

 season in 191 1. 



Catharine Wainwricht. 



Tilton, Iowa, Dec. 30. 



