1S8.5 



GLKANINGS IK BEJi CULTUKE. 



67a 



eat thou honey, because it iS good; and the honey- 

 comb which is sweet to thy taste.' The Easterns, 

 v.hen they wish to describe the advantages and 

 fertility of a countiy, speak of it as ' a land flowing- 

 with milk and honey.* And therefore it is that we j 

 lia\ <• so decided an f)bjection that this grand super- ; 

 lati\f word should be degraded to that of a humble 

 positive by its association with such adjectives as 

 •artilieial' ctr ' manulactnr.M].' Arc bees to be su- { 

 pf-rseded in futtiri' by tlic ilcs irc^ di esi r-nif'iMling ' 

 Many Are we to pronounce ilmi l heir • ricciipat ion I 

 is gone"/ Is lione.\- to b.- paled licforc llic liylit of 

 this new jjroduetiony Not yet, we opine. Never 

 was there a time when the culture of bees was • 

 more attended to; and never was there a time ^ 

 when men's minds were so exercised as to discover 

 iresli (iiitleis ami ik'w iiiilitie- tor honey in the I 

 sliape (,t c<nilectinii-.,.li iiik~, 1 ic ■. I i<-i ues, etc. We be- ' 

 lievctlutl \.' tlieic i~a lii-eal In 1 0]-c in store for the ' 

 products (, I ihe hoiiey-bcc; and we trust that pure 

 unadulterati'd lionev will ever liold its ijosition. and 

 tluit our friends of 'the Uritisli Honey and I'ruit- 

 farniiui;- Companies will (lut inrlli e\ery ettf)rt to 

 penetrate to c\er.\ licarth and home, and to estab- 

 lish the \ii-tucs (if pure honey, and lo prove to a 

 discernint" pulilic the suiieriorily o! British hone.\', 

 not only to the ' manufaet urcd article,' but also to 

 that which is so largely imi)or1e<l from foreign 

 countries." 



\Ve wisli e.speeiiilly lo call atttMition to one 

 point ill tlic iihovc e.xcellent paper ; and that 

 is. the absiii'dity of labclino; a luaiiiifactiired I 

 article Ikhuii. Cjill it table synip. iiectav. ' 

 f^okleit thij). Of what yoii clioose, l)iit doji't , 

 call it honey. It it is <^-oo<l and wholesome, i 

 iiiid peoi)le aie satislied with it. let them 

 iiave it ; Init for pity's sake don't tell a false- 

 liood on'.the label. The writer of the al)ove 

 jtistly declares that honey has been, and 

 ought to l)e now. an emlileni '■ of all that is 

 sweet, pure, and i)erfect."" And now why 

 not let it be so still? 1 i)iesun)e our gooJl 

 <ild friend J.aiigstroth never dreamed of 

 niakiii<i- a bad precedent when he sjxike 

 abotit a •• lecijie for making' a beautiful 

 licpiid honey.'" Certainly he never thotight 

 of encouraging the idea of labeling gddds 

 fal.sely. If anybody wants corn s\rtip lla- 

 vored to order, let him have it : btit by all 

 means have the laitel plain and honest. ■ j 



1 inclose a sli|) cut from Ililtne Xcwn, Urin Mawr, j 

 I'a., on honey adulteration. N. J. TsuAEf-. 



IJeallsville, (». 



ItOfaS IIO.NKV. 



The Maine FiDiiin- is oi)posed to fraudulent prae- j 

 tices, whethei- by the larnier or the li\ iiig creatures 

 uiwicr his care. In regard to the practice of mak- 

 ing honey out of snuar b.\- the siniple process of 



If the bee can gel a living (iTi his front doorstep! 

 he will go no further for il.e\en though acres of i 

 white closci- aie near. II sugar and water, or any I 

 jilaccd in the liixc, or near it, 

 n coiiili as long as it is )u-o\-i<l- 

 ill>-, and pack it away 



1 handsome while bo.\- 



is a|)paient l\- pure hone\ . Is it not a shame 



he bee should be cmplovc'd to carrv on such 



inable swindling? The beekeeper who uses 



ietlir)d says: "Most jiersons can not tell by the 



whether it be honc.v or not." This ina.v be 



he<au>e honey is not on the table often 



ugh to make itself known. Plvperts, even, have 



eil sometimes to detect a counterfeit piece of 



nev, but thisd^ ' ' ' ' ■' -..■■.- 



It to iail asso( 



saecharine mat 



the hees will stoic it ji 

 ed. 'I'hej- handle it a> 

 as n(/atly, as though ii 



that 



tast( 



help 



nuiterfeiter, who 



as found guilty. 

 i-eport a yielil of two and three 

 undred jiounds of sui'|)lus comb from a singk- eol- 

 ny in one season, and they tell how 'twas done; 

 nd more and more, the.\' adxise others to adojit 

 heir method; namcl.N', feeding suyar and water at a 



; a-- piiri' honc\- for lwent\-ti\e and 1 hiit v cents a 

 ound. This [.i-acticc does more to.injuie and bring 

 ito disrepute the Inuiey trade than any thing else 



said about it or carried on in it. It is rank dishon- 

 esty and cheating- that, and nothing less. Bees 

 must be fed sometimes in the fall, to help them 

 through the winter, and spring feeding is practiced 

 to stimulate brood-raising, that the hives may be 

 full of workers when the honey har%"est begins; 

 but eveiy honest bee-keeper should use his influ- 

 ence against the comb-honey imposture— against 

 the turning awry of the original purpose and design 

 of the bee. 



Yery good, friends of the Maine Farmer. 

 ButlVant to take exceptions to just one 

 little statement you make — " some bee-keep- 

 ers/" etc. Xow, I am pretty well conversant 

 with all the bee-journals ptiblished in the 

 United States, and I am acquainted with 

 most of the prominent honey-produceis. but 

 I have heard of only one bee-keeiter who 

 tells how to feed siigar for getting comb 

 honev, which can be sold us honey. The 

 one bee-keeper is ^Irs. Lizzie Cotton, of 

 Maine, and 1 protest against classing her 

 among our honey-producers; and 1 protest, 

 too. against calling her " sonw honey-produc- 

 ers. '" and against using the word liioii in 

 speaking of her. Please say oik of the bee- 

 keepers, will you not. Mr. Muinc lunnti,-.' 

 and instead of using the pronoun lltai. put it 

 i<lif\, or else tell us w ho else in our broad land 

 has ever pul)lic]y advised feeding sugar, and 

 selling it for honey. Mrs. Cotton has replied 

 to some of the charges made against her, 

 but siie has never yet replied to this one. 

 nor has she changed that t hapter in her 

 book, that I know of. Will Mrs. Cotton 

 l)lease take noticeV 



WANTED-A SITUATION. 



A .NOVET. ATjVKiniSEMF.NT. 



011! iiiei)iessible friend Mrs. ("haddock 

 asks us to publish the following. We 

 would give it a place in the advertis- 

 ing columns, if there seemed to be any 

 way by which she was going to make 

 a speculation out of it. Here it is: 



I want emi)loyinent somewhere in the South, dur- 

 ing the moiuhs of .January and February next. I 

 will work for my board. I would rather act as com- 

 l)anion to some rich old lady, or be employed to read 

 to some one ; but I am not very particular. If I 

 can't get either of those positions, my next choice 

 would be to drive a mule team, and sell or peddle 

 honey. I like a mule team first late, they seem so 

 light-hearted and free ; but if a chance oflers for 

 me to sell honey for some one, T won't q nibble about 

 the kind of team. I can drive horses very well. 



Then I should like picking oranges (are oranges 

 ripe then :i and rolling them in tissue paper to send 

 north, or I could feed ))igs and pick geese, if no oth- 

 er work oH'ers. The reason I want to go south is on 

 account of my health. 



If any one thinks of employing me, I will furnish 

 i-eferenccs of good character and industrious hab- 

 its. M.\H.\i..\ 15. (_'H.\nnocK. 



P. S.— I would rather go to Florida. M. B. V. 



Xow 1 wonder if I am not Yankee enough 

 to guess what you are uj) to. my good friend. 

 Of course, when you get to driving that 

 mule team, and selling tnanges and honey, 

 you will write to some of the papers, and tell 

 us of the adventures you liave. AVell, we 

 have no objections at all. i)roviding your 

 notes bv the wav are sent to (Jleaxixgs. 



