156 



May, 1916. 



American l^ee Jonrnal j 



long list, I'll be still more glad to know 

 more of a man who can give a lot that 

 I couldn't think of — or at least didn't 

 think of. And in the latter case I'll 

 hide behind the claim that I never 

 spent much of my life lexicographying. 

 Prof. Baldwin seems to see inconsis- 

 tencies in the list. The whole business 

 of writing compound words is more or 

 less a thing of inconsistencies. The 

 Professor will have a busy time of it if 

 he attempts to reconcile all the com- 

 pound words in the dictionary. Let 

 him try his hand on egg-shell and 

 horsehair. In the present case there is 

 less chance for consistency than in the 

 dictionary ; for there are four men with 

 different notions, and no distinct law 

 by which to be guided. If they can 

 compromise their differences it will be 

 a gain, in spite of the inconsistencies. 

 It is better to have all write " bee-yard " 

 and "outyard " than to have no unani- 

 mity." 



If there be any law in the case, it 

 seems something like this: When a 

 word is compounded, a hyphen is writ- 

 ten between them; then when the com- 

 pound is sufficiently familiarthe hyphen 

 is thrown out and the two words are 

 written as a single word. Yet some 

 seem inclined, when throwing out the 

 hyphen, to let the two words fall apart 

 as single words. That way lies con- 

 fusion. 



Prof. Baldwin seems to think that a 

 change in putting in or leaving out a 

 hyphen has some effect in changing 

 the accent. That's new to me, and I'm 

 sure it's not true in my case. He says : 

 "For example. Dr. Phillips' list has 

 'bee-culture' accents on both bee and 

 culture, which is obviously common 

 sense, inasmuch as no one would ever 

 try to say ' bee ' ' culture,' with only one 

 accent." Beg pardon. Professor, but 

 that's exactly the way I've pronounced 

 it all my life, without any reference to 

 the way it might be printed, and I never 

 noticed that any one else pronounced 

 it differently. 



In the list is the word "beestings." 

 Prof. Baldwin says: "This word 

 ■ beestings ' is a poser. Do you know 

 that it is only one of the two cor- 

 rect spellings of the word for the 

 first milk given by a cow that has 

 freshly calved, and is a technical word, 

 when spelled as a single word, not 

 compounded, and that the other spell- 

 ing is, biestinffs' ? We would respect- 

 fully suggest that this word, at least, 

 better be spelled either ' bee stings' or 

 ' bee-stings.' " 



Well, you're not the only individual. 

 Professor, who objects to " beestings." 

 Another writes : " I agree with Prof. 



Baldwin on 'beestings,' which looks 

 ' beestly ' to me. I have been trying 

 hard to follow the rule, but my con- 

 science hurts whenever I write that 

 word." 



Well, now, suppose — just suppose — 

 that the milky beestings had never 

 come into existence, and we want to 

 decide how to write the word that 

 means the stings of bees. If we write 

 it in two separate words, then we may 

 as well throw to the winds all idea of 

 using hyphens for a«v compound 

 words, or of writing them as single 

 words, and say that when more than 

 one bee stings bee stings always result. 

 If we admit that at any time in its his- 

 tory our word was entitled to a hyphen, 

 surely the frequency of its use war- 

 rants that the hyphen now disappear 

 and that the two words be run to- 

 gether as one. In short, any reason- 

 ing that warrants "fleabite" warrants 

 " beesting." Clearly " beesting " it 

 should be if that other word were not 

 in the way. 



Trot out now your beestings that 

 you get from the cow, and see how 

 much claim it has to drive out our 

 friend that comes from the bee. Your 

 question as to one's knowledge of it, 

 together with your giving its full defi- 

 nition, shows that you do not believe 

 many know of the existence of such a 

 word. I am not ashamed to confess 

 that I never knew there was such a 

 word until hunting in the dictionary 

 after the sting of a bee. Honest Injun, 

 Professor, did you know of the word 

 with the milky meaning before you saw 

 that list ? And now you and our friend 

 of the tender conscience want us to 

 give up a perfectly good and useful 

 word — allowing that "bee sting," " bee- 

 sting," and " beesting " are three differ- 

 ent words — all because there is in the 

 dictionary a word that we have never 

 met elsewhere, never have heard used, 

 and probably never will, for no other 

 reason than a bit of sentimentality. 

 Don't you really think that's carrying 

 sentimentality just a little too far ? 



Anyway, I'm glad of your interest in 

 the matter, and the longer you make 

 that list of omitted obvious compounds 

 the better I'll like you. c. c. m. 



Honey Desserts 



This is a little French publication by 

 Tante Line, containing some 2U recipes 

 for honey desserts and ending with a 

 pretty legend connected with the pres- 

 ent devastated condition of poor Bel- 

 gium. We have selected among them 

 a recipe of honey pastilles, because we 

 are already acquainted with these, since 



our good friend, Mr. Prieur filled our 

 pockets with them at our passage in 

 Poitiers, as reported in our Journal for 

 July, 1915. A quart box of these pas- 

 tilles was distributed ::mong the bee- 

 keepers at the National meeting in 

 1914. 



HONEY PASTILLES. 



These are made of a mixture of sugar 

 and honey. Honey alone, even if much 

 cooked, would not reach sufficient stiff- 

 ness or consistency. Then take : Sugar 

 5 pounds, water 2K pounds, honey 2 

 pounds. First melt and heat the sugar 

 on a slow fire until it is cooked, with- 

 out being burnt; as it is cooked for 

 the making of candy for bee feeding. 

 The proper point of cooking is very 

 important. It takes a little experience. 

 When it has reached the proper de- 

 gree the syrup becomes glittering. One 

 may ascertain its proper degree as fol- 

 lows : Dip your finger in a glass of 

 cold water and immediately after in 

 the boiling liquid. Withdraw it quickly. 

 If the syrup is sufficiently cooked it 

 will in cooling become firm enough to 

 be rolled in the fingers. If you are 

 afraid of burning your fingers, you 

 mav, instead of the finger, use a straw 

 or a little stick of wood. This is also 

 dipped first in the cold water and then 

 in the hot liquid. Then let a few drops 

 of the latter fall into the glass. These 

 drops will harden in the bottom of the 

 glass, if the syrup is sufficiently cooked. 



The honey should be added then : 4 

 pounds for every 10 pounds of sugar, 

 and continue the cooking until the 

 syrup becomes brittle when dropped 

 into cold water. One must be careful 

 all the time not to allow it to burn. 

 This last cooking is the most difficult 

 part of the operation. 



When the syrup is done, the paste is 

 poured upon an oiled marble table, and 

 before it gets cold it is divided into 

 squares or lozenges, or, still better, it 

 may be put into moulds to give it what- 

 ever shape is wanted. 



The large confectioners' shops are 

 provided with moulds which work au- 

 tomatically and permit the manufacture 

 of a large number of lozenges in a 

 short time. 



As honey is very deliquescent and 

 absorbs moisture readily, those pastil- 

 les, when put up, would stick to each 

 other. To avoid this trouble, they put 

 into the tin boxes containing them an- 

 other small box punched full of holes 

 and containing chloride of lime, to ab- 

 sorb moisture. Another method is to 

 slightly steam the pastilles and then 

 roll them in fine powdered sugar, which 

 prevents them from sticking to each 

 other. 



