1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



97 



quarters of this country. These letters were courte- 

 ous, acrimonious, and blasphenions They were warm, 

 hot, and red-hot. They were reasonable, sensible, and 

 sensele.ss. It seeme i that every bee-keeper in Ameri- 

 ca h d 'swarmed, " and all were being pursued with 

 the dust and noise of a cyclone. They acted as though 

 Tlie harmer's (iiiiile had a most powerful influence to 

 the detriment of bees and honey, and if a well-filled 

 waste-ba^ket could stop the paper or turn the editor 

 into the right channel they would contribute to the 

 basket's fullness. Poor basket ! Imagine what it 

 must bear ! 



Just read that over once more, brother 

 bee-keepers, and then follow up some of the 

 other papers that have not j'et published 

 retractions. It seems that the editor of the 

 Faruicr''s Guide linallj^ appealed to the De- 

 partment of Asrriculture, and in reply re- 

 ceived a very strong letter from Professor 

 Frank Benton, Apicultural Investigator. 

 It is needless to say that our friend " at 

 court" furnished indisputable proof that 

 comb honey could not be manufactured. 



I do not like to keep on ad tiauseam, urg- 

 ing bee-keepers to write, write, write, to 

 these offending editors; but that is the 0}ily 

 way we can counteract the evil effects that 

 have been already suffered. Let me now 

 urge that every one of our subscribers send 

 in a short item to his local paper, telling 

 the truth about comb honey, and denying 

 the stories that have been afloat, and see 

 that it finds its way into print. It does not 

 matter whether the paper has published 

 any thing agaitist the business or not. C. 

 B. Howard, Secretary of the New York 

 State Association of Bee-keepers' Societies, 

 has written a splendid article setting forth 

 the truth about comb honey, in the Fai-)ii, 

 Field, and Fireside, a paper of an immense 

 circulation and influence. That's right, 

 keep it up. Let us get the truth prominent- 

 ly before the consumers in such a way they 

 will begin to btlieve the truth that the 

 comb honey they see in the groceries is not 

 bogus. 



We have already assurance that another 

 farm paper with a circulation of two mil- 

 lions is going to publish an itern denying 

 the usual comb-honey lie, and telling the 

 truth. As soon as the item is published 

 we shall place it before our readers. 



Regarding the paper against which our 

 attorney began proceedings, I can only 

 state that its editor has promised to make 

 a satisfactory retraction. Our attorney 

 made a trip of a thousand miles to begin 

 his action; but before doing so I think he con- 

 vinced the editor in question that he " had 

 put his foot in it pretty deep." 



OREL L. he;k.shiser. 

 During the closing days of last year, 

 Mr. O. L. Hershiser, of Buffalo, Vice- 

 president of the National Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation, and Superintendentof the apicultu- 

 ral exhibits at the Pan-American Exposition, 

 paid us a visit at the Home of the Honej'- 

 bees. My first acquaintance with him was 

 at the Michigan Agricultural College, in 

 the summer of 1883, where I had called to 

 see Prof. Cook, the Professor of Zoology 

 and Entomology, and director of the model 



experiment apiar3^of the institution. Prof. 

 Cook being absent at the time, Mr. Her- 

 shiser, a student of the college, who was 

 making a special study of apiculture, ex- 

 tended to me the various courtesies of the 

 place. Again, in 1884, I met him at the 

 home of Mr. D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Cana- 

 da. He, like mj^self, had come to pay the 

 most distinguished bee-keeper of all the 

 Dominion a visit; for if Mr. H. was any 

 thing he was a bee-keeper through and 

 through. It was his policy, and has been 

 ever since, to learn all he could iibout bees; 

 and with that end in view he always went 

 to the fountain-heads for information. 



OREL L. HERSHISER. 



Since that time I have met him at various 

 conventions of bee-keepers; and so interest- 

 ed is he in the subject of apiculture, that, 

 if there is any national or State convention 

 within 500 miles of him, he is pretty sure 

 to be present. He was chosen Vice-presi- 

 dent of the North American Bee-keepers' 

 Association in 1893. 



Last year he was called in as expert wit- 

 ness at the Utter trial, Goshen, N. Y. ; and 

 at the last Buft'alo National Convention he 

 was agiiin elected Vice-president. He has 

 been recognized by the State of New York 

 as one of its leading bee-keepers, and his 

 services have been sought on numerous oc- 

 casions to superintend apiarian exhibits — 

 first at the Buflfiilo International Fair, in 

 1889, and the Detroit International Fair the 

 same year. He was superintendent of the 



