500 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



strength of it. A good colony, however, will 

 gather from one to five pounds of honey per 

 day from clover in a fair flow, and from one to 

 ten pounds from basswood; and strong colonies 

 have been known to store even as much as 

 twenty pounds in a day. But such instances 

 are exceptional. 



The honey season in California, we are told, 

 is practically a failure all along the line. East- 

 ern honey will have little if any competition 

 from the Pacific coast. 



Mr. Martin Brockman, of 308 Abigail St., 

 Cincinnati, O., has, we are informed, been solic- 

 iting consignments of honey. Mr. Byron Walk- 

 er, after he had, as he thought, taken due pre- 

 caution as to his commercial standing, filled an 

 order for him for some ^73.00 worth of honey. 

 Mr. Brockman, acknowledging the receipt of 

 the honey, stated that it was very satisfactory, 

 and ordered more. Mr. Walker, again making 

 further inquiries, decided not to make the sec- 

 ond shipment. After writing him a number of 

 times regarding honey already sent, and getting 

 no response, he received notice from the com- 

 mercial agencies that Mr. Brockman was irre- 

 sponsible. Upon Mr. Walker's referring the 

 matter to us we wrote the party, asking him if 

 he had any explanation to make, telling him 

 that, unless he could straighten this matter up, 

 we should be constrained to make the affair 

 public. This was May 28th, and up to this time 

 no reply has been received, either by ourselves 

 or by Mr. Walker. 



THE SUGAR-HONEY CONTROVERSY. 



Ig^The following, in reference to the sugar- 

 honey matter, and the questions at issue be- 

 tween Bro. Holtermaun and Bro. Hutchinson 

 are at hand, and will explain themselves. 



c Friend Ernest:— J am very grateful for your kind- 

 ness and fairness ,in defending- my honor in tliis 

 matter of tlie sug-ar honey. I tliink a little explan- 

 ation on my part may help Bro. Holtermann to see 

 things in a different liglit, as I see from his letter in 

 last Gleanings that he is taking an entirely wrong 

 view of some things. I want to quote tlie passage 

 at which lie tools offense; but before doing tliat I 

 want to quote one that appeared before that one did, 

 as it will, I think, put things in a different light. In 

 the December Review, 1895, page 348, Mr. Hasty 

 wrote as follows : 



The sugar-honey law, which has been offered to two Parlia- 

 ments in succession, gives Itself away by its wording— evident- 

 ly not so much intended for general enforcement as for a haii 

 dy club to hit prominent hei'eties. Legislate ten years im- 

 prisonment for sneezing, and you have things so you can put 

 whom you choose in piison, and leave whom you will at large. 

 The act in question is so diaconically worded that the most in- 

 nocent bee-Keeper in the land could be put in prison under it, 

 for no greater crime than feeiling sugar to his starving bees to 

 keep them alive over winter. It is not merely selling but pro- 

 ducing sugar honey that is made penal ; and manifestl.y every 



one who feeds syrup early enough to have it finished and sealed 

 Ijroduces the article. 



In tlie March Review for 1896 appeared tlie follow- 

 ing: 



The last number makes a cheerful shout over the passage of 

 the legislation they have been trying for so long,tlie anti-sugar- 

 honey bill. It has been amended somewhat, it seems; and 

 lack of time, or modesty, or some other reason, keeps them 

 from giving us the te.xt, so we can not see for ourselves just 

 what sort of a looking " critter " it is. I venture to guess that 

 the Solons of the government have given them enlarged penal- 

 ties against real adulterators and evil-doers, and shorn their 

 power to persecute innocent neighbors. In such a case we may 

 all cheerfully rejoice togethei-. 



When I read tliis last-quoted paragraph I suppos- 

 ed, of course, that, "innocent neighbors" now 

 "free from persecution," meant those who wished 

 to feed their bees sugar to keep them from starv- 

 ing; for it is a fact tliat, as the act was worded by 

 its originators, it would have been possible to prose- 

 cute any one who fed bees sugar for any purpose. 

 The act as passed is far different from the way it 

 was originally worded, and contains a proviso that 

 bees may be fed sugar to be used by them as food. 

 It Bro. Holtermann had publislied the act as passed, 

 these misunderstandings would probably have been 

 avoided; but the trutli ot the matter is, that the act, 

 as passed, is a disappointment to those who urged 

 its passage, and there is evidently no desire on 

 their part to place it before the public. It gives no 

 increased penalties; in fact, it gives nothing not 

 before possessed by the Adulteration of Foods Act, 

 except that sugar honey, or any substance not gath- 

 ered by the bees from natural sources, is now men- 

 tioned in the act as an adulteration. Prosecutions 

 under the old act could have been carried on just 

 the same, only it would have been necessary to 

 •prove that sugar hone.v was an adulteration ; now it 

 won't, because the legislature has said that it is. I 

 inclose a copy of the act as passed, and you can 

 publish it or not, just as you please. 



Flint, Mich. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



The act referred to by Mr. Hutchinson above 

 is as follows: 



An Act further to amend the Act respecting the Adulteration 



of Food, Drugs, and Agricultural Fertilizers. 



Rh R Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 

 ate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: 



1. The Adulteration Act, chapter 107 of the Revised Statutes, 

 is hereby amended by adding the following section thereto, im- 

 mediately after section 21 ; 



"21A. The feeding to bees of .sugar, glucose, or any other sweet 

 substance other than such as bees gather from natural sources, 

 with the intent that such substance shall be used by bees in the 

 making of lione.y, or the exposing of any such substance with 

 the saiil intent, shall be and be deemed a willful adulteration 

 within the meaning of this act ; and no honey made Ity bees, in 

 whole or in part, from any such substances, ami no imitation 

 of honey oi' sugar honey, so called, or other substitute for 

 honey shall be manufactvired or i)r<iduccil for sale, or sold or 

 otl'ered for sale in Canada: Provided tluit this section shall 

 not be interpreted or construed to jncvciit the giving of sugar 

 in any form to bees, to be consumed by them as food." 



OUR OWN apiary; basswood HONEY-FLOW. 



During this month we have had a number of 

 copious rains; and while the prospects were 

 exceedingly bright before, after each success- 

 ive shower the chances for a good flow from 

 basswood seemed well nigh a sure thing. The 

 honey commenced coming again about a week 

 ago, and the flow kept increasing day by day 

 until Monday, the 33nd, when there was an 

 apparent decrease in the flow. It resumed 

 again on the 24th. and is still holding on. The 

 hives were just crowded with honey; even 

 two-frame nuclei, such as we are using for 

 queen-rearing, were gathering till there was 

 not an available cell left for storage. When it 



