1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



153 



lieve that if the two existing societies were united, it would mean 

 a grander organization than either of them is now. If " In union 

 there is strength," it seems it would apply most beautifully in this 

 instance. 



Unless there is an amalgamation, and a broadening out of the 

 usefulness of the Bee-Keepers' Union, we feel almost certain there 

 never can be a large membership; and without a good-sized mem- 

 bership very little can be done in the line of securing the legisla- 

 tion that the industry of bee-keeping needs so badly. If an organ- 

 ization composed of some 10,000 live members were to present a 

 petition to any State legisl.ature, think you they would receive a 

 cold shoulder ? Or, if they were to ask something reasonable and 

 evidently needful, from the hands of the United States Congress, 

 think you they would not be heard ? We firmly believe that if 

 American bee-keepers were fully organized, and alive to their own 

 best interests, they would receive more justice than they have 

 been in the habit of getting. 



In conclusion we would say, that so long as the present good 

 objects of the Bee-Keepers' Union are not in the least interfered 

 with, but are to be incorporated into the constitution of the pro- 

 posed new society, we cannot understand why any one should 

 oppose the amalgamation. 



Free Analysis of ■>i-inking--^Vater. — The depart- 

 ment oi chemistry of the University of Illinois, at Champaign, has 

 been engaged during the year on the analysis of drinking-waters. 

 The last Legislature made an especial appropriation for this pur- 

 pose, and the work is being carried on very thoroughly and sys- 

 tematically. Already over .500 analyses have been made by the 

 department. The only expense to the individual is the actual cost 

 of expressage. Purity of drinking-water is so important to- the 

 health of a community that the water in every well in general use 

 should be carefully examined at least once a year. 



An Event in l^ondon, says a " stray straw" in Glean- 

 ings, was a presentation, to the Lady Mayoress, of a representative 

 collection of native honey, contributed by women bee-keepers, or 

 the wives and daughters of bee-men in various parts of Great 

 Britain. Object, to popularize the use of British honey " as an 

 essential article of the household dietary." Might do that here, 

 but who would be the Lady Mayoress ? If she of New York were 

 selected, there might be trouble with Mrs. Swift, of Chicago. 



Iiii|>iii*lties on the bottom of a beeswax-cake can be more 

 easily scraped off while the cake is still hot. So says the British 

 Bee Journal. 



Future of Bee-Keeping. 



Of all the humbugs palmed off on a susceptible and long- 

 suffering public the glucose syrups and candies made of the 

 same material — or a cheaper and more inferior — are the worst. 

 Another reason why honey is not so generally used as formerly 

 is the common belief that it is adulterated. 



And there is no use to deny the fact. I frequently see in 

 grocery stores an article offered for sale as e.Ktracled honey 

 which has all the outward appearance and internal evidence 

 of being " made" in a laboratory very much larger than a bee's 

 stomach. Consumers buy this stuff, but its use doesn't popu- 

 larize honey. 



Right here let me digress far enough to say that in my 

 opinion the invention of the extractor was the worst i?nproi'c- 

 raent (?) that ever happened to this industry. With the ad- 

 vent of the extractor began the necessity for the bee-keeper to 

 defend the purity of his product. If the article is to be pro- 

 duced hereafter in the same generous quantities as formerly 

 there is a rich field for the labors of the Bee-Keepers' Union. 



Legislation must be procured in the interest of pure food. 

 Every offender must be prosecuted to the full extent of the 

 law. There is no use of trying to produce honest honey in 

 competition with syrup made of 15-cent corn. 



Perhaps you think my liver is disordered, and you may 

 ask if there is no bright side to the picture. 



To convince you that I am no pessimist I have the follow- 

 ing prescription to offer in addition to the above suggestion 

 regarding legislation : 



1st. Produce only comb honey, and put it up in such 

 " taking " packages that it will find its way onto the tables of 

 those who can afford to pay for luxuries. That's what comb 

 honey is and always will be. 



2nd. Encourage small bee-keepers (the adjective has ref- 

 erence to numbers of colonies). — Hon. Eugene Secor, in Review. 



Currants Preserved in Extracted Honey. 



Considerable quantities of white currants preserved in ex- 

 tracted honey have been imported lately from France, and are 

 selling freely, at long prices, to dealers in fancy groceries. A 

 glass containing hardly a gill retails at 25 cents. Evidently 

 only the best selected white currants are used, slightly cooked 

 — just enough to take off the raw taste but not injure the fine 

 flavor — and preserved in nice extracted honey. This confec- 

 tion is not too sweet, but has the most captivating flavor, and 

 is destined to wide popularity. Here's a point for some one to 

 make a profitable little business putting up such preserves for 

 market. — American Agriculturist. 



Does the Food Affect the Temper of Bees ? 



It is a mooted question among bee-keepers, as to whether 

 the food which is given to the larv;r of a colony determines 

 their character; or, in other words, whether the larviB from a 

 gentle queen, when placed in and fed by a vicious colony, will 

 become less gentle, and vice versa. Mr. Bertrand formerly 

 believed in this kind of so-called " heredity," but he takes it 

 all back now, after experimenting in this line with his gray 

 Caucasian queen. He selected a very bad and vindictive col- 

 ony of his, killed their queen, and replaced her by the Cauca- 

 sian queen on Aug. 24, 1894. She laid splendidly, and her 

 colony was the strongest and most advanced of all in April, 

 1895. And her bees ? well, they were remarkably gentle; 

 and, although Mr. Bertrand never used any smoke or veil 

 when he worked with them, yet he never received a solitary 

 sting from them. The experiment, of course, is only a single 

 instance, and "one swallow does not make a summer ;" yet 

 Mr. Bertrand's prior opinion is thoroughly shaken by it. The 

 force of the argument, I might add, is increased by the fact 

 that these foreign races, when transferred to other countries, 

 often lose their gentleness. The Egyptian bee, for instance, 

 hardly ever uses its sting " at home," while, when taken to 

 Europe, it becomes very bad (Revue, page 211).— Charles 

 Norman, in Gleanings. 



Getting Others Into Bee -Keeping. 



J. D. Evans, Islington. — I would like to know if it is ad- 

 visable for the Bee-Keepers' Association to encourage an in- 

 crease in the number af bee-keepers. I notice in the journals 

 that a large quantity of honey is being wasted, and I want to 

 know if we as bee-keepers, who desire to make something out 

 of the business, should desire to increase the number in the 

 profession. 



The Chairman — What do you think about it yourself ? 



Mr. Evans — I do not think so. I do not think the doctors 

 and lawyers go around seeking to get more in their profession. 

 It makes me red-hot when I see this. I think it is simply com- 

 mitting suicide, and therefore think it is a mistake on our part 

 to encourage other people to leave any business and take up 

 bee-keeping. 



Mr. Frith — I think there is another feature of the question 

 — Can we produce, or over-produce, a good quality of honey, 

 and can we have too many qualified progressive bee-keepers? 

 Take the dairy industry ; butter brings just as much to-day as 

 it did 25 years ago, that is, taking it for a number of years. 

 Take the cheese industry ; very little was produced in this 

 country 25 years ago, and it didn't bring any better price than 

 it does to-day, yet the production of cheese has Increased 100 

 per cent, in this country. It seems to me Mr. Evans is mis- 

 taken in his remarks, and there is room for qualified bee-keep- 

 ers all over the country. My experience leads me to this con- 

 clusion, that if we have qualified bee-keepers just the same as 

 in any other industry, it will increase our market rather than 

 overdo it. — Ontario Convention Report, in Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



