THE BEE-KEEPERS ' REVIEW, 



honey has been discussed with a coolness 

 and fairness that is surprising when we con- 

 sider the hue and cry that even its mention 

 raised last spring. 



In my mind there is no doubt that sugar 

 fed to bees becomes honey. The nectar 

 of flowers is almost wholly cane sugar. 

 What difference does it make whether the 

 bees get their cane sugar from the blossoms 

 or from the juice of the sugar cane, evapo- 

 rated and clarified and then made into a 

 syrup ? To be sure, the nectar of flowers 

 has a flavor, but. as explained by Mr. Doo- 

 little, in his article, this flavor can be easily 

 added if desired, by the addition of a small 

 quantity of honey possessing the flavor de- 

 sired. Let no one fear that sugar will be fed 

 so rapidly that it will not be changed into 

 honey. For reasons why, read the article 

 headed " How Bees Change Nectar Into 

 Honey," to be found in the Extracted De- 

 partment. Remember that Mr. Larabee fed 

 twenty- three pounds of sugar in one night, 

 yet the honey that was the result could not 

 be distinguished by chemists, students or 

 Cooks, from the best floral honey. By the 

 way, there was an error in Prof. Cook's arti- 

 cle last month. Where it said that Mr. Lar- 

 abee fed twenty-three pounds of honey it 

 ought to have said twenty-three pounds of 

 sugar. 



The question as to whether sugar fed to 

 bees becomes honey needs no more argu- 

 ment so far as I am concerned. I believe 

 that it is honey in its broadest sense. I pre- 

 sume that the majority of bee-keepers will 

 think dift'erently. We are so largely crea- 

 tures of education, and have been taught to 

 almost religiously believe that honey can 

 come only from blossoms, that this belief 

 cannot be gotten rid of in a moment. 



As to whether it will prove profitable to 

 produce sugar honey, is a questson that is 

 far from being settled. With my knowledge 

 of feeding back, / can make it profitable, 

 but as I have frequently said, the production 

 of honey by feeding back, is as distinct a 

 branch of apiculture as that of queen rear- 

 ing, and must be learned before it can be 

 followed with profit. The bee-keeper in a 

 small way will seldom make a success of 

 feeding back. There must be the tanks, 

 pails, feeders, fires and knowledge of the 

 business ; these he will not acquire. The 

 raising of sugar honey, if it is ever done, 

 will be done by the expert specialist. 



As to what effect the raising and selling 

 of sugar honey would have upon the market, 

 all that can be said at present will be simply 

 speculation. The market will never suffer 

 from the quality of the goods, of that I am 

 certain. This is more than can be said of 

 some floral honey. I once had 200 pounds of 

 honey stored from boneset. It had a strong 

 bitter taste. It was two years before I sold 

 the last of this honey, and it would have been 

 money in my pocket if I had never tried 

 selling it. Many were the times that I was 

 accused of adulteration by purchasers of 

 that honey. Some are inclined to oppose 

 the putting of sugar honey on the market, 

 fearing that the increased quantity will lower 

 the price. Planting for honey had the ob- 

 ject in view, yet no one objected on that 

 score. After all that has been said, however, 

 I am not yet ready to advise everybody to 

 go to raising sugar honey. I am rather in- 

 clined to agree with my good friend Miller, 

 that it would be a leap in the dark. How it 

 would affect bee-keeping I am frank enough 

 to say, "I don't know." I think the advice 

 of my neighbor, R. L. Taylor, very good. 

 Use sugar for winter stores and for building 

 up the apiary to get it in the best possible 

 shape for the natural harvest, which usually 

 comes. If it does not come and you feel 

 like experimenting in a small way with the 

 feeding of sugar for the production of comb 

 honey, I see no reason why yoa should not 

 do so ; and if you choose to make known 

 the result of the experiment you need not 

 now fear, thanks to the courage of the Re- 

 view. I am aware that the raising of sugar 

 honey is a new idea, or at least one that has 

 never before been defended, yet I think it 

 ought to receive careful consideration and 

 cautious experimentation instead of being 

 dismissed with a sneer or severe censure. 

 As I have said before, try and lay aside pre- 

 judices and preconceived notions and let 

 reason reign supreme. Remember : " He 

 who cannot reason is a fool : he who dare not 

 is a coward ; he who will not, a bigot." 



EXXRT^OXED. 



Large Colonies Not Best for Winter in the 

 South. 

 That bright lady bee-keeper of the Lone 

 Star State, Mrs. Jenny Atchley, gives her 



