1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



183 



being about the same as those of Gleanings. It is 

 printed on better paper than formerly, and alto- 

 gether the change is an improvement. The Bee- 

 Keepers' Record is a 16-page monthly, with a tinted 

 cover. Both journals are edited by Thomas Wil- 

 liam Cowan and W. Broughton Carr. The former 

 has more direct supervision of the weekly, and the 

 latter of the monthly. The price of the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Record is 2 pence, and of the British Bee Journal 

 one penny each, or respectively 60 cents and $1.00 

 per annum. 



A NEW DEPARTURE IN THE CANADIAN BEE JOUR- 

 NAL. 



The publishers of this periodical, on and after 

 March 1, propose to divide the Cayiadian Bee Journal 

 and Poultry Weekly into two separate publications; 

 namely, the Ca^iadian Bee Journal, and the Canadi- 

 an Poultry Journal. The former will be issued on 

 the Ist and 15th of each month, and the latter in the 

 intervening weeks— on the 8th and 23d. The prices 

 of the separate publications will be 76 cts. each per 

 annum. This change is made to accommodate 

 those who desire a distinctive bee-journal and a 

 distinctive poultry-journal, and both will be pub- 

 lished semi-monthly. On the whole, we think the 

 change will be a good one, and we wish our Canadi- 

 an brethren all manner of success. 



THICK TOP-BARS. 



We have received such a lot of correspondence 

 on the value of thick top-bars as a preventive of 

 brace-combs that we are unable to make use of all 

 of it. In fact, there are some very valuable com- 

 munications on the subject that we shall be obliged 

 to reject. We deem it best that the discussion 

 come to an end for the present. Perhaps we should 

 say, that, among the very large number of testimo- 

 nials we have received a majority of them unpub- 

 lished for want of space— there has been scarcely 

 one but that goes to prove most conclusively that 

 thick top-bars are going to do away with many if 

 not all of the troubles of brace-combs. We have 

 had reports of top-bars only 'li inch square, but they 

 accomplished the result only imperfectly. But 

 where the top-bars have been fully 'a thick, 1 inch 

 wide, and spaced about /„ apart, there have been 

 no brace-combs. 



INGKRSOLL AND TOBACCO. 



I AM exceedingly surprised to notice by the New 

 York World of Feb. 21, that Col. IngersoU defends 

 tobacco, and even delivered an address at the close 

 of the Cigar Manufacturers' Convention at Del- 

 monico's. In his address he used these words: 



I use tobacco now, and defend its use against the 

 moral advice of parsons and the physical advice of 

 medical men. 



We can readily understand how he may excuse 

 himself on the ground that he differs in opinion 

 with the clergy; but we can not understand how he 

 can offer any excuse for rejecting or defying the 

 almost unanimous decision of the medical fraterni- 

 ty. No better evidence of the low moral tone of 

 the whole tobacco business can be produced, than 

 that it employs IngersoU to defend it. To a care- 

 ful observer, however, his whole speech on the 

 above occasion was one of the finest pieces of irony 

 and sarcasm ever read. 



MBS. COTTON'S CIRCULAR FOR 1890. 



This is quite an improvement over any circular 

 and price list that has been sent out by Mrs. Cotton 

 in any former year. There are no criticisms of the 



bee-journals or writers on bee culture. In fact, she 

 does not find fault with anybody, so far as I can 

 see. The things she offers for sale are, however, 

 away above the prices usually charged for bees, 

 hives, feeders, instruction-books, etc. She still of- 

 fers drawings and illustrations for making her hive, 

 for $4.00. She insists on feeding largely whenever 

 the bees are not gathering honey, in order to in- 

 duce them to put all the honey they gather into 

 surplus boxes as far as possible; and there is no 

 caution, that I can see, against feeding bees sugar, 

 and calling it honey. She also says the feed used 

 in her system costs only about 4 cents a pound. 

 This, of course, is possible, where half or more of 

 the feed is water. Equal quantities by weight of 

 water and sugar does make a very good feed for 

 stimulative feeding; yet it is hardly fair to say that 

 the feed costs only 4 cents a pound, and that the 

 honey brings four times that, or more. She says, 

 in plain print, " If you do not receive just what you 

 order, write me; for I warrant everything to reach 

 the purchaser, and to be just as represented in this 

 circular." This is promising a good deal, and I be- 

 lieve Mrs. Cotton holds lo it much better than she 

 did some years ago. I have taken this amount of 

 space to notice Mrs. Cotton's circular, because a 

 number of inquiries are sent in every year asking 

 my opinion in regard to her "system" of bee cul- 

 ture. 



FALSE STATEMENTS IN REGARD TO THE ADULTERA- 

 TION OF CONFECTIONERY. 



It seems that it is not only in the honey business, 

 but in the confectionery business as well, that sen- 

 sational stories of a damaging character have been 

 copied in regard to the fraud and corruption of the 

 present century. All men are not cheats and liars; 

 and it strikes me that the ones who maintain that 

 they are, are the very chaps, and almost the only 

 ones, who need putting in jail. The following was 

 written by the editor of the New York Confectioner 

 to the Scientific American: 



In the editorial notes in your issue of January 18 you refer 

 to the use of terra alba in confectionery, and state that the 

 Board of Trade Journal of Portland, Me., is authority for the 

 assertion that 6000 tons of terra alba were recently imported 

 througli this port for use in confectionery. I have before me 

 the letter of the editor of that publication, in which he affirms 

 that he had no authority for the statement, but that the ar- 

 ticle was clipped from some other publication, and the credit 

 left oft in the make-up by mistake. 1 have been unable to 

 trace the statement about the terra alba to any reliable 

 source, or to hud any truth in it. 



The other statement in your note, about the lozenges ship- 

 ped to Sc. Louis over the South Snore Railroad, emanated 

 from the National Druggist, and I have before me the letter 

 of the editor of that ptiblication saying that the affair occur- 

 red live or six years ago, before the National Confectioners' 

 Association was organized. 



Believing the Scientific American to be a fair and honora- 

 ble publication, that would not willingly do injur.v to an hon- 

 orable calling. I write so that you may make such reparation 

 as would be proper, to counteract the harm done by the pub- 

 lication in your widely circulated journal; tor the cii'culation 

 of such reports is an injury to the trade. 



There is no terra alba used now by any reputable manufac- 

 turer of confectionery. The National Confectioners' Asso- 

 ciation " offers a reward of one hundred dollars for evidence 

 that will enable it to convict any person of adulterating con- 

 fectionery with poisonous or injurious substances, the asso- 

 ciation assuming the cost and responsibility of prosecuting 

 the offender." The publisher of the New York Confectioner 

 pledges himself to pay over an additional 8100 to the person 

 who furnishes him with the evidence that will enable the Na- 

 tional Association to effect a conviction, and several large 

 manufacturers each offer $100 upon the same terms as the 

 Confectioner. Hakry J. Shkllman. 



New York, Jan. 17, 1890. 



To the above, the editor of the Scientifi^^ Ame7-ican 

 replies as follows: 



The above assurances that the adulteration of confection- 

 ery with terra alba has practically ceased are very gratify- 

 ing, and we have nnich pleasure in placing them before our 

 readers. 



I confess that the above was a little surprise to me. 

 I have for so many years heard that candy is general- 

 ly adulterated with terra alba that I had come to sup- 



