142 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fkb. 15 



Dr. Miller; and I have just learned that the 

 Stockman has published his article in full, 

 in addition to the previous retraction. 



Editor York, of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal; Editor Abbott, of the Modern Farm 

 and Busy Bee; Editor Hutchinson, of the 

 Review; Editor Hill, of the American Bee- 

 keeper, one and all, have been taking- a 

 hand in this. 



But one of the most important articles 

 that has been so far published was 

 one by our Mr. W. P. Root, the man who 

 is almost constantly at my elbow. His 

 brother is publisher of the American Gro- 

 cer, New York, undoubtedly the leading- 

 paper of the trade, and of course goes to 

 all the principal and progressive grocers 

 in the country. This article, in the Feb. 6 

 issue, with certain illustrations supplied 

 from this office, not only tells how comb 

 honey is produced by the bees, but shows 

 conclusively that it can not be manufactur- 

 ed. This, going- as it does to all the gro- 

 cery trade, just now is of immense impor- 

 tance, for it will enable the grocers to tell 

 their consumers (just the people we want 

 to reach) theit comb honey is not and can 

 not be manufactured, and why. 



There are two or three papers that have 

 not yet retracted, so far as I know. A de- 

 partment editor of the Des Moines Home- 

 stead, under the 7iom de plume of Practical 

 Farmer, put out a statement some time ago 

 to the effi'Ct'that comb honey was manufac- 

 tured; then when he got a bombardment 

 from boe-keepers he modified his statement 

 in a subsequent issue by saying that he 

 had kept bees for twenty years; but th.-it 

 he had "bought both extracted and comb 

 honey, and found both to be adulterated. . 

 . . Comb honev is not so readily adulter- 

 ated, but it is possible to do this. The 

 bee-keeper has to help do the mixing when 

 comb huney is adulterated; and I am not 

 going to say how it is done." Our friend 

 professes to know, and insinuates that bee- 

 keepers have a part in this nefarious busi- 

 ness. That's a slander on the business 

 and the men in it. As to "how it is done" 

 he has probably got the idea into his head 

 that glucose can be fed to bees so they will 

 store it in the comb. If any one undertakes 

 to do a thing of that kind he will find it is 

 exceedingly unprofitable. The fact is. 

 Practical Farmer does not know what he is 

 talking about; and I hope our readers will 

 bombard the Des Moines Homestead in such 

 a substantial way that the editor of that 

 paper will conclude that he has got into a 

 bees' nest. I have alreatiy written to the 

 editor of that paper, but no attention has 

 been paid to my letter. It is evident that 

 the Homestead will have to be given a dose 

 of letter-writing such as the Chicago Trib- 

 une and other papers have received of late; 

 so, brother bee-keepers, you know what to 

 do. 



Now, no one should suppose that the battle 

 we have been waging is won. The general 

 public are much more ready to believe sen- 

 sational lies than sober and tame truth. 



The lies have found lodgment, and I ven- 

 ture to say that the great mass of consum- 

 ers still believe that comb honey is manu- 

 factured. What we need to do is to start 

 out on a campaign lof education. That 

 means that every bee-keeper who has a lit- 

 tle "pull" or influence with any particu- 

 lar paper is requested to write a short 

 clean-cut item about comb honey. It should 

 be interesting as well as a simple narra- 

 tion of facts. When possible, put the arti- 

 cle in tj'pewriting. When that can not be 

 done, if you can not write a good clear 

 hand then get A'our wife or daughter or 

 your best girl to copy your article. Let us 

 flood the papers with facts. There is no 

 more important work that bee-keepers can 

 do for themselves than this, and it should 

 be done right nozv. 



As an illustration of what bee-keepers 

 can do in the way of getting articles pub- 

 lished in the papers that have not slander- 

 ed the comb-honey business, I give a bright 

 pithj' paragraph from Mr. W. E. Head, in 

 the Utica Press, published in Utica, N. Y., 

 a paper of considerable influence and cir- 

 culation. Mr. Head says: 



ABOUT THE BEE BUSINESS. 



To the Editor oj the Utica Daily Pi ess: 



An article is going the rounds of the pre^s that by 

 all means should be corrected It rel tes to bogus 

 comb honey, it is a vvell-ki.o n fact that extracted 

 honey is sonietiii'es adulterated but the National Bee- 

 keep ts' Association works hard to maintain he puri- 

 ty of such honey But when some per^ons start the 

 story of bogus comb honey, and furtliermore state that 

 The A I Root Co , of Mec.ina, O , who are the 1 rgtst 

 manufacturers of bee-hives in the woild. have been 

 for some lime manufacturing bogus coml) and filling 

 the same with glucose, I say that such is not the case, 

 as there are no stronger workers for ihe bee-man's 

 rights than E R and A I. Root When a person 

 brii gs a single pound of artificial comb honey that 

 can not be told from the genuine, thtn the Root com- 

 pany will pay that persun a note of $ 000, and I will 

 indorse the note If such dies were made to slamp 

 comb, then all combs woidd look just alike. To the 

 grocers of Utica who deal in comb honey I will pay 

 $iO for two one-potmd section^ of honey that look just 

 alike Of all the leaves on our trees, no two are nlike. 

 I„et me advise those who inte d going to work mak- 

 ing counterfeit comb honey that they'd better change 

 their dies to make $W bills They would be much 

 easier to counterfeit and a great deal easier to pas-. 



Palis Station, Jan li. 190-2. W E Head 



"a comb-honey FACTORY." 



Mr. Head, in sending this to us, very 

 properly remarked that " a stitch in time 

 saves nine," and then adds that he takes 

 pleasure in sending a photo of the only 

 " f.ictury " where comb honey is made. The 

 picture, he says, was taken while the 

 "workmen" were "in front of the main 

 entrance." 



It is a "factory," and no mistake. It 

 represents a bee-hive with the bees flying 

 around at the entrance, appjirently busj' at 

 work in and out of their "factory." In the 

 upper right-hand corner Mr. Head pastes a 

 cut of a queen-bee, and dubs her " Mrs. Q. 

 Bee, General Manager and President." 



I wish to refer particularly to the excel- 

 lent statement made by Mr. Head for the 

 Utica Press. There is no immediate prob- 

 ability now that that paper will help pass 

 around the usual lie. 



