538 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



FALSE STATEMENTS IN REaARD TO THE HON- 

 EY BUSINESS OF OUR OOUNTBY. 



As a protf ction to our btcki'eiiinK poimlalion, we propose in 

 this (lepaitnient to pubI)^sh the uajiies ot newspapers that per- 

 sist in publishinir false statements in regard to the purity of 

 honey which we as bee-keepers put on the market. 



PLEASANTHUKS THAT MAY BE DAMAGING. 



f^ HE following: is perhaps deserving of a place 

 W" in the column of False Statements. It is 

 / taken from Farm and Fireside (Spring-field, 

 Ohio), issue of May 1, 1S85, page ~HS, under 

 head of " Little Bits." 

 " Why do bees make wax?" asks a farm journal. 

 We do" not know, unless it is because no one has 

 told them that the hones' manufacturers are willing 

 to make it for them out of paraftinc. 



Of course, this is a pleasantry; but nevertheless 

 it carries the same harmful impression as if it were 

 stated in sober earnest. The publishers of Farm 

 and Fireside, R \}a.\}er so sound and practical in its 

 agricultural teachings, should not give circulation 

 to such false reports, even in jest; for the mass of 

 the people will take it as a fact, that honey is man- 

 ufactured, and will accordingly be prejudiced 

 against it. If I mistake not, they have agood many 

 bee-keepers on their subscription list; and at one 

 time you advertised with them. I think that they 

 will be ready to correct any such statements which 

 are so damaging to our business. 



Samuel A. Miller. 

 Newark, N. J., July 0, 1885. 



Friend M., I agree with you. It is wrong 

 to repeal or allude to any piece of scandal in 

 jest, even tliousH the parties who write may 

 be fully aware that it is a fraud and a hum- 

 bug. Thousands of people suppose that it 

 is so, that comb honey is made out of glucose 

 and paraffine. 



MonE about paraffine and glucose comb 

 honey. 



Imitation honey is made of paraffine comb filled 

 with glucose, according to the Scientific Americayi, 

 which has analyzed several samples. 



This paragraph needs retraction. I take much in- 

 terest in reading " False Statements," especially as 

 you put them. 1 think all bee-keepers should have 

 the eye of an eagle, to discover and point out such 

 false statements, and let us show them up and make 

 every publisher retract the libel, o)- give thorn a 

 standing advertisement in Gleanings. 



Harrlsonville, N. J., July 6, 188.5. J. D. Coles. 



Thank you, friend C. If any of our read- 

 ers have noticed any such statement in the 

 Scientific American, they will confer a favor 

 by telling us what number and page. The 

 editors of the Scifntific A)ufrir(HK above all 

 other men, ought to inform themselves of 

 the truth of such statements before giving 

 place to them. If they have actually an- 

 alyzed samples of conib honey, and foiuid 

 them as above, we want the full particulars 

 of the matter, no matter what it costs to 

 himt them up. It seems it is not the daily 

 papers alone that are searching for some- 

 thing sensational. I know it is (luite a temp- 

 tation to repeat such things as are sure to 

 create a sensation, when it is so much easier 

 to do it than to hunt up established facts. 



THE NEWSPATEK AS an EDUCATOR (V) ON MANU- 

 F.iCTUREL HONEY. 



Kc/itor Gleanings:— Can you not propose some 

 plan of management by which I can obtain new 



comb for starters in sections? I have on hand plen- 

 ty of thin foundation for that purpose, but many 

 consumers object to its use, even if they are unable 

 to detect its iircsence in the comb. Lately I have 

 been at some pains to introduce the subject of 

 manufactured honey in conversation, and I find 

 that many of our most intelligent citizens firmly 

 believe that a large proportion of the comb honey 

 sold in our market never saw the interior of a bee- 

 hive. So much for the newspaper as an "educator." 



Bees in this region have made only a living, up 

 to this date — nothing more. There is not yet 

 enough white clover growing here for us to get any 

 surplus from that source. A short jioriod of fine 

 weather three weeks ago brought out some swarms; 

 but cold rainy days followed, and 1 have had to 

 feed. Basswood gives promise of a good yield, 

 judging from the loads of buds. Z. T. Hawk. 



Donison, Iowa, June ^.5, 1885. 



Friend IF. you can obtain new comb for 

 starters by putting thin foundation in brood- 

 frames, aiid hanging them in the center of 

 the brood-nest luitil the bees get their cells 

 drawn out. Mr. W. B. House gave the plan 

 at length two or three years ago, and he ob- 

 tained an enormous yield of comb honey, 

 which he thinks was mainly secured by this 

 plan. 



PieiEg ^]\ID QUE^IEg. 



a report relative to FLAT-BOTTOMED FDN. 



HAVE been using flat-bottomed foundation, 

 thin, 14 feet to the pound, in small quantities, 

 about one to two inches deep in sections, and I 

 find when I spread it on bread or cakes (I mean 

 pan-cakes) I can not break up this foundation. 

 I have never used any of yours; but if such is the 

 case, I do not like artificial comb for sections- 

 only a very small piece. G. A. Mathews. 

 Katonah, N. Y. 



Bees drop with a thud on the alighting-board. 

 Bates, III., June 19, 1885. I. R. Morrison. 



STRAWBERRIES BY THE BARREL. 



Those strawberries in the barrel that you request- 

 ed me to report about (p. 213) were a complete fail- 

 ure. They froze out entirely. W. S. Dorman. 



Mechanicsville, la., July 7, 1885. 



UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE OF A BLACK QUEEN IN 

 A NUCLEUS. 



In my last I mentioned a nucleus which swarmed 

 out and then returned to the same hive. It was 

 without a queen, and I asked you if you could ex- 

 plain their doing so. You can imagine my surprise, 

 two days after, to find they had got a black queen 

 in with them. Now, how is this to be explained? I 

 will guarantee there were no queen-cells in the hive; 

 and besides, I have no bees except what I have got 

 this spring from Viallon and yourself, and there are 

 no black bees in the immediate neighborhood. If 

 you can, please help a novice by explaining how 

 this came about. J. N. Kendall. 



Ilderton, Can., July, 1885. 



I Friend K., I think you are mistaken about the 

 queen being of black blood. She is small and dark 

 because she was raised under unfavorable circum- 

 stances; but when you come to see her progeny I 

 think you will say they show the Italian blood. Or 

 she may have been a queen that got into the hive 

 by mistake on her return from her wedding-trip.] 



