1885 



GLtiANlKGS lU nkk cUL'ruiti:. 



44.J 



are about the same that we obtain on most 

 of our roads liere in Ohio ; but when we 

 strike other roads in different States, a great 

 many times they will cliarge first class or 

 double tirst, when it ought to have been third 

 class, and make, as an excuse for it. that 

 there is no '• rating." 



DEATH FROM EATING POISONED 

 HONEY. 



IS TT FACT OR FICTION? 



iLEASE read the inclosed item, which was tele- 

 graphed all over the country, in regard to the 

 # so-called honey-poisoning by eating honey 

 impregnated with gelsemium troni yellow 

 jessamine. It is said to have caused three or 

 more deaths. Do you think it possible? Suppose 

 we call on Prof. Cook, or some able botanist, for a 

 detlnition of gelsemium of yellow jessamine, and 

 what latitude the plant is chietly confined to. 

 Such reports are damaging to the honey trade, to 

 say the least; and being interested to a considera- 

 ble extent in that line I should like to have such a 

 statement as that refuted if possible. 

 Nashville, Tenn., June II, ISH-I. H. H. C.kkh. 



AVHOT.ESALE POISONINO; TERKIBI.K HF.SUI.TS OF 



EATING HONEY IN A SOUTH-CAKOI.l N A 



COMMUNITY. 



Branchvii.t.e, S. C, June 6.— Mrs. Jacob Dukes 

 gave a negro servant some honey, which the serv- 

 ant gave to hei- four sons loi- dinnci-. .Mniost as 

 soon as they had i-aten it thej- <'()mplain(Ml ol blind- 

 ness and dizziness. Ill Id iiiiiiutcs one liad died and 

 within half an hour two iikhc had died. Hytliis 

 time the rcporl (d tlic iillair had ri'achcd Mry. 

 Dukes. Her entire taiiiily were just cxpciiciicing 

 (lie hist syiiiploiiis (d' Ihc troulile Ddiii which the 

 negroes had died. Dr. Ott was sent lor, and b^- ap- 

 plying antidoti'S the family was saved alter great 

 suttering. Half a dozen other families who had 

 been supplied with this hiiiie\- wcrt- similarly atfeet- 

 ed, and It was only liy eiii-iiictie w(irk that there 

 were not ;.'(> deaths instead ol three, 'f his event e.v- 

 l)lains tw(i other deaths which took place in this 

 neighborhood on Monday. .\n examiiialion of the 

 honey showed that it was iminegiiatcil with gel- 

 semium from yellow jessamine, which has been the 

 cause of many" deaths hen-tc-foie of [leisons eating 

 wild honey. 



On receipt of the above I mailed it to 

 I'rof. Cook, as our correspondent has sug- 

 gested, and below we have his reply: 



Bear Mr. Editor:— \ was much inteiest(>d in read- 

 ing the article from Hranchville, S. ("., and also the 

 letter from H. H. Geer, in reference to poison honey. 

 If you will refer to the Americnn Ber JourmtJ, 1881, 

 p. 22, you will sec that my attention was called at 

 that time toii somewhat similar case, which, how- 

 ever, was less serious in its results. Possibly the 

 outcome might have been quite as terrible liad not 

 a good physician been at hand, To summariz*' that 

 case: Mr. C, a New-York bee-keeper, sent some 

 honey to some friends in New York city, who were 

 made seriously ill by eating it. The honey was 

 sharp, like pepper, produced coughing, and soon 

 severe nausea, violent vomiting, loss of vision, and 

 a chill. A physician being at hand gave an emetic, 

 and followed this by whisky. Soon the persons 

 were all relieved. 1 secured some of this honey, 

 and proved the stinging taste and the throat irrita- 

 tion; but being averse to whisky remedies, 1 car- 

 ried the experiment no further. Mr. C. could easily 

 select out all this honey by the sharp peppery taste. 

 He said it was certainly gathered before July 10th. 

 I found this honey was also bitter, and that heating 



did not volatilize either the bitter or sharp proper- 

 ties. In the article referred to, as also in my Man- 

 ual, p. 28.5, I give other cases of this e.xceptional 

 honey poison, and refer to some common American 

 plants which are supposed to be the source of such 

 honey. As before stated, it seems to me very 

 doubtful if these plants are the source of poisonous 

 honey. The plants are common and aliundant: the 

 poisonous honey, rare and very exceptional. I 

 think the same is true of yellow jessamine (Gelsemi- 

 um Sempervirenf^). It is a common and much-prized 

 honey-plant of Virginia, and States south of that; 

 and were its nectar secretions poisonous, we should 

 have learned the fact years ago. Thus while I can 

 say with considerable assui-ance what the poison is 

 not, I am at a total loss to say what it is. From the 

 experience of the past, however, I think we have 

 no reason to fear any serious trouble from this case, 

 or the report of it. Any cases, so sporadic, never 

 have any sjH'cial weight or influence. 



Let me add to the within, that tlw Gelsemium ot 

 therapeutics is an extract from the Howers, leaves, 

 and roots. The tincture is said to induce stupor. 

 It is used as a nerve and arterial sedative, and in 

 large doses is a poison. That this was found in the 

 honey, if true (possibly the whole report is a sensa- 

 tional canard from some unscrupulous reporter) 

 was no fault of the bees, but of some one who had 

 malice in his heart. The nectar which plants se- 

 crete does not partake of the qualities of the tis- 

 sues. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., June 20, 188.5. 



Friend Cook, 1 think you have struck the 

 root of the matter in your concluding words, 

 rpon iiist reading it. I was impressed with 

 the idea thai it might be a newspaper ca- 

 nard, something ab(Uit like the one al)()ut all 

 the licjtiid honey in the market being made 

 from sour api)ie-skins. etc. Now, then, if 

 we have a subscriber living near Hranch- 

 ville, S. C.. I will pay him for his trouble for 

 investigating in regard to the matter, and 

 giving us the truth of it. We want the 

 tiiith. no matter where it hits; and if there 

 is not i\u\ tiiith in it we want to know that, 

 no matter wliat it costs to get at the truth. 

 We will mail the inclosed slip to the post- 

 master, and ask him if he can give us any 

 information in regard to it. Meanwhile let 

 us get at what other facts we can. 



HARRISON AND SOME OF HER 

 TROUBLES. 



VKS, TROllil.ES EVEN I)lUI.\<i THE .MONTH OF.IINF,. 



F frames of eggs and larvic are fre(jueiitly re- 

 moved from a colony, will it cause the (lueen to 

 be superseded? 1 have sometimes thought it 

 did. I have used all available means to build 

 up my bees this spring; but to-day 1 have been 

 trying to see how many I could kill. Inconsistent, 

 is it? I have come to the conclusion that there was 

 a score or two of bees that spent tneir time in 

 watching around the kitchen-door to sting sonic 

 person, and at last forbearance ceased to be a vir- 

 tue. Armed with a palm-leaf fan, and a large dish- 

 pan with about two inches of soap-suds, 1 sallied 

 forth to conquer. In a short time 1 had more than 

 a score in the suds. These bees all looked alike, 

 were yellow-banded, but had black, sharp-pointed 

 tails. 1 do not believe those bees ever went in 



