1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



365 



is to spot every thing in the neighborhood. 

 This goes to show that Nature has been 

 pent up for a long time, and seeks relief. To 

 give the bees a cleansing flight during win- 

 ter is not only rational but humane. We 

 managed to keep our bees quiet till about 

 the latter part of March. Then we set 

 them out and let them have a cleansing 

 flight and put them back again, and then 

 they are perfectly contented — no doubt 

 about that. See editorials. — Ed.] 



what joyful scenes around the hives 



The springtime brings to sight ! 

 Great clouds of bees sweet tribute bring 



Like offerings of delight. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 Mr. York tells a good one in regard to 

 manufactured comb hone3'. Rev. A. E. 

 Taylor, of York Co., Pa., wrote to Mr. 

 York that he had read in the Philadelphia 

 Record a denial of the assertion that comb 

 honey can be manufactured, and that $1000 

 had been offered for a sample of said hon- 

 ey, and adds the following: 



I send it, first, to say that I manufacture comb hon- 

 ey; and, second, to say that you had better call in your 

 offer, if you made such, as some one maj' claim it. I 

 do not claim any reward. 



I manufacture comb honey because — first, I get hon- 

 ey in that way, whereas I would get none otherwise; 

 and. second, I get a better product. A. e;. Taylor. 



Mr. York immediately sent for 2 lbs. of 

 said hone3% but got the following instead: 



Messrs. George W. York & Co.— 



Yours of the (ith at hand. I do not pretend to "man- 

 ufacture comb honey by machinery, without the aid 

 of bees." That would imply that I am a creator or 

 secreter of wax, and I do neither; that I construct 

 comb; that I make a chemical change in the com- 

 pound of sugar and fruit, which I give them, into 

 honey. It would be as if a ranchman raised cattle 

 without breeding-stock. Such an effort would result 

 as did Aaron's effort at making a god. 



You would be safe in adding six units to the offer, 

 for since the world began man hath created nothing; 

 nor hath he entered into the secret of insect architec- 

 ture; all the paper-makers together could not make 

 one hornet's nest. 



I prepare the material out of which bees give me a 

 product which the best judges of honey pronounce 

 superior to the natural product in both taste and 

 keeping quality. A. E. Taylor. 



Mr. York winds up with the following: 



And so endeth another boaster. In his first letter to 

 us he distinclly said, "I manufacture comb honey." 

 In his reply he says : " I do not pretend to say I man- 

 ufacture comb hoiiey," etc. We wouldn't care to be 

 compelled to sit under his preaching, and help pay 

 for keeping him alive. He belongs in the mistaken 

 crowd instead of the Taylor family. But, thank the 

 IvOrd, there are few such as he among the preachers. 



But we will not " call in " that offer of |1000 just yet. 

 We prefer to wait and let a few more ignorant ones 

 bite on it. It's pretty good bait — a genuine offer. 

 And we are not afraid of being called on to pay the 

 money, because there is no such thing as manufactur- 

 ed comb honey — made without the aid of bees. 



Wasn't Mr. Taylor indulging in a little 

 " scientific pleasantry," after all? or per- 



haps we might call it sarcasm toward those 

 who think comb honey can be manufactured 

 by man. Although the last paragraph 

 sounds a little mysterious, no one has stat- 

 ed in more satisfactory language than he 

 the impossibility of making comb honey ar- 

 tificiall3^ 



Adrian Getaz says, " Put a piece of wood 

 in the fire and burn it. You say it is de- 

 stroyed. No, it is not; it is only transform- 

 ed. A part of it is now ashes, and another 

 part smoke and gases." Yes, the wood is 

 destroyed and annihilated, as that consist- 

 ed of a combination of elements; and when 

 that combination was destroyed the wood 

 went with it. The elements, of course, 

 were not destroyed, btit simply separated. 



In reply to a correspondent. Dr. Miller 

 restates what may be a well-known truth; 

 but as I believe many will understand it 

 more perfectly after reading his definition 

 I give it here, as it is too plain to be mis- 

 taken: 



All the eggs of the queen are unimpregnated as they 

 leave the ovaries. In its outward passage the egg is 

 impregnated as it passes the seminal sac or sperma- 

 theca if the egg is destined for a worker-cell or a 

 queen-cell. But if the egg is destined for a drone-cell 

 it is not impregnated. In the absence of a queen, 

 workers sometimes undertake the business of egg- 

 laying; but their eggs, not being impregnated, pro- 

 duce only drones, even if laid in worker-cells. 



BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



In the April issue Mr. Hutchinson has 

 the following to say in reference to the sto- 

 ries about artificial comb honey: 



Mr. F. B. .Simpson suggests that we make a tnistake 

 in not taking the public into our confidence in this 

 matter. We simplj^ say that the manufacture of arti- 

 ficial comb honey is impossible, but that is as far as 

 we go. A great many people feel sure they know that 

 it can be done — they have seen the artificial comb and 

 the machine that made it (?). What they have seen 

 is comb foundation and the machine by which it is 

 rolled out. They have seen it at some bee-keeper's, or 

 at some fair, and have not thoroughly understood — 

 have simply gotten a superficial idea of it, and then 

 when they re'ad some of these manufactured stories 

 about manufactured honey, they put two and two to- 

 gether, and that ends the matter in their opinion. 

 Mr. Simpson thinks we should explain, in our refuta- 

 tions, the nature and use of comb foundation. We 

 should tell the whole truth about the matter, and not 

 simply deny. 



I found an obstinate case of this kind at 

 the Pan-American Exposition, especiallj' 

 as the "case" was a woman. She knew 

 all about it — had seen the pictures, etc.; 

 but after showing her just what Mr. Simp- 

 son advises, she immediately saw the truth 

 and admitted she was wrong. Every gro- 

 cer should be provided with a section w ith 

 a sheet of foundation in it, and another 

 one filled with empty comb. These would 

 offset any newspaper fake ever printed. As 

 long as people know that man has some- 

 thing to do with making comb they will feel 

 sure he can make the whole thing till shown 

 otherwise. " Taking people into our confi- 

 dence " is, as Mr. Simpson suggests, the 

 best way out of the trouble. 



