166 



May, 1916. 



American ^ae Journal 



ment. We do not believe the bees 

 waste any wax except in extraordinary 

 circumstances, such as the breaking 

 down of the combs, when we have seen 

 it plastered indiscriminately on the 

 wall of the hive, in little lumps. This 

 was evidently because the space where 

 combs could be built was in such a 

 mess that it could not be occupied by 

 the builders. 



When a swarm emerges, the young 

 bees in it are often loaded, not only 

 with honey, but with wax scales ready 

 to emerge and that explains why super- 

 ficial observers believe that wax costs 

 but little to produce at swarming time. 

 The honey consumed for two or three 

 days previously is not taken in consid- 

 eration, by them. — Editor.] 



Honey as a Medicine 



BY A. F. BONNEV. 



SO much has been said about honey 

 as a medicine that I finally became 

 curious, and having investigated 

 thoroughly give the result to the fra- 

 ternity. 



In the United States Dispensatory, 

 which is the reference book used by 

 doctors and druggists when drugs and 

 medicinal substances are concerned, 

 we find it stated that: " Honey pos- 

 sesses the same medical properties as 

 sugar, but is more disposed to affect 

 th * bowels. Though largely consumed 

 as an article of food, it is seldom em- 

 ployed medicinally except as a vehicle. 

 Its taste and demulcent qualities ren- 

 der it a useful addition to gargles, and 

 it is sometimes employed as an applica- 

 tion to foul ulcers." 



This compels us to look up sugar, 

 and under the head of Saccharum we 

 find the following statements : " Medi- 

 cal and Pharmaceutical Uses. As a 

 demulcent, cane sugar has been used 

 to some extent in catarrhal affections, 



especially of the respiratory tract 



According to Dr. S. Meslach (now un- 

 known to fame), glucose, when given 

 in doses of 6 to 6>^ ounces a day in the 

 form of the concentrated syrup, acts as 



a powerful diuretic and is useful 



in the treatment of cardiac dropsy. 



In pharmacy, sugar is used to render 

 oils miscible with water, to cover the 

 taste of medicines " 



I wish to state that many substances 

 are retained in the Dispensatory which 

 are practically no longer used as reme- 

 dies for disease. Wormwood is one of 

 them, and why it and others are re- 

 tained I cannot understand. Whisky 

 held an honored place in the venerable 

 volume for a century, but has been 

 eliminated, and sugar is no longer used 

 as a remedy for foul ulcers and cardiac 

 dropsy. 



As a matter of 90 percent of human 

 ailments will " get well " if left severely 

 alone, I shall not discourage the use of 

 honey as a cure-all, for it is the least 

 harmful of all the vaunted " cures," 

 while if it becomes as popular as 

 whisky the sales will increase tremen- 

 dously. It does not matter that I con- 

 sider it a poor dressing for the hair, 

 not a ?uccessfy! foot ease, and lacking 



value as a remedy for appendicitis. 

 Our object is to sell honey, and it will 

 be impossible to falsify ads to aid that 

 object as much as is done for many 

 other things, but this advertising a 

 delicious food product side by side as 

 a feed and a remedy for foul ulcers is 

 repugnant to me, and I honestly be- 

 lieve that for every ounce sold as a 

 remedy we injure the sale of ten as a 

 food or table sweet. 



I have before me a card issued by a 

 neighbor, which reads as follows : 



"Honey is Nature's one pure sweet." 



"Honey is both food and medicine." 



"Money invested in honey is an in- 

 vestment in health." 



" Honey is cheaper than doctor bills." 



" Eat plenty of Money and you'll save 

 doctor bills." 



" If you want good honey every time 

 buy it of ." 



This card was vastly better, as a 

 truthful production, with only the first 

 and last lines, to-wit : 



Honey is Nature's one pure sweet. 



ff you want good honey every time 

 buy it of . 



Who, besides honey producers, may 

 I ask, vaunt their product as medicinal 

 agents, and, again, why is it necessary? 

 Does it do any good ? Does it sell a 

 pound of honey ? People buy honey 

 because they want it, and if not for 

 table use they will practically never 

 buy it for other purposes. Once in a 

 great while I sell a pound to fill a 

 demand for something for a cold, but 

 99 percent of my honey is sold to be 

 eaten, and because the people want a 

 delicious sweet. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



Net Weight on Sections— Ob- 

 jections of a Practical 

 Beekeeper 



BY FRANK COVERDALE. 



IT is very plain to me that the Govern- 

 ment should not require the stamp- 

 ing of the net weight on the sec- 

 tions of comb honey, because it is an 

 impossibility to accurately perform 



that requirement. 



The producer of comb honey has no 

 control of how many ounces the bees 

 will put into each section. The net- 

 weight law should be forced upon those 

 only to whom it is applicable. The 

 producer who has secured 20,000 sec- 

 tions has a job the accurate doing of 

 which is unthinkable. And if those 

 sections are not stamped correctly 

 how is the consumer to know what he 

 is getting unless he asks the retailer 

 to weigh them again, for they may 

 vary from 5^ to 6 ounces? 



The producer of extracted honey can 

 readily fill all the requirements of the 

 law, like any other packer of commodi- 

 ties, even to the fraction of an ounce. 

 But the producer of comb honey can't 

 change its weight. A ruling for the 

 poultry owners to mark each egg, or 

 for the farmer to mark each ear of 

 corn its actual or minimum weight 

 would be no more of an impossibility. 

 Neither is there any method by which 

 he can compel the bees to help him 

 one iota in securing greater uniformity. 

 It is not to be wondered that so many 

 of the sections put upon the market 

 vary from the weight marked upon 

 them. I have been through this trial 

 and call it a farce af best. 



I have come to the conclusion that 

 the only thing to do is to appeal to the 

 Government to set aside all rulings on 

 the comb honey put upon the market 

 and let it sell by the piece, just as they 

 letail apples, or melons, or oranges, 

 or pineapples. For the producer has 

 no more control of the weight of a 

 comb of honey than he has of canta- 

 loupe or a pineapple. The buyer must 

 use his eyes in either case and judge 

 of the weight or value of what he 

 purchases. If he does not rely upon 

 his judgment, he can always require 

 the retailer to ascertain the weight for 

 him. 



I for one am in favor of appealing to 

 the Government to set aside this im- 

 possible requirement, which if tested 

 out would probably not stand in the 

 courts, for the simple reason, already 

 mentioned, that no one has any control 

 upon the net weight of each package. 



Delmar, Iowa. 



Hot)ey 



13ofyr?ey 



J 



A. F. BONNEY THE ORIGINATOR OF THE HONEY STICKER 



