THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



67 



WEEKLY EDITION 



OF THE 



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PUBLTSriKD TIV 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



I'^IHTOU AND PkoPKIETOR, 



925 WEST MADISON-STREET, CHICAGO, ILL. 



Weekly, S2 a year ; Monthly, &0 cents. 



Vol. XXI. February 4, 1885, No. 5. 



1^ Dr. L. .James, Atlanta, 111., had 

 a severe stroke of paralysis on Jan. 3, 

 which left him speechless and insen- 

 sible ; since which he has not spoken 

 a word or recognized his family. Our 

 readers are familiar with his articles, 

 and will sympathize with him now. 



1^" The Canadian Farmer, the oflS- 

 cial organ of the Ontario Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, has been sold to the 

 Hural Canadian, which now becomes 

 the organ of the Association, and 

 promises to devote two pages each 

 month to the bee-keeping interests. 



<^ Professor Lazenby will lecture 

 on the " Natural History of the Honey 

 Bee " at the Ohio Bee-Keepers' Con- 

 vention, at Columbus, Ohio, on I'eb. 

 17. It will be a treat to all those who 

 can attend. 



1^ As a means of recognition, bee- 

 keepers going to New Orleans should 

 wear Badges. It will help to make 

 acquaintances, and add much pleas- 

 ure to the trip. We have made a lot, 

 having, besides the gold bee, the 

 words " New Orleans Bee-Keepers' 

 Congress " in large gold letters. Price 

 10 cents ; also some with a rosette and 

 gold fringe, price 50 cents. 



Fruit Gkowing.— We have re- 

 ceived a copy of an illustrated pamph- 

 let of 64 pages, entitled " How to 

 Propagate and Grow Fruit," by Chas. 

 A. Green, editor of the Fruit Grower, 

 Rochester, N. Y. Price .50 cents. To 

 any one sending us a new subscriber 

 for the Weekly or 4 for the Monthly, 

 besides his renewal for either edition, 

 we will present a copy of this book. 



Distribution of the Sense of Taste. 



Grant Allen, in the Popular Science 

 Monthly for l^'ebrnary, gives the fol- 

 lowing particulars concerning the 

 sense of taste and its distribution on 

 distinct regions of the human tongue : 



Taste, however, is not equally dis- 

 tributed over the whole surface of the 

 tongue alike. There are three distinct 

 regions or tracts, each of which has to 

 perform its own special ofDce and 

 function. The tip of the tongue is 

 concerned mainly with pungent and 

 acrid tastes ; the middle portion is 

 sensitive chiefly to sweets and bitters ; 

 while the back or lower portion con- 

 fines itself almost entirely to the fla- 

 vors of roast meats, butter, oils, and 

 other rich or fatty substances. 



There are very good reasons for this 

 subdivision of faculties in the tongue, 

 the object being, as it were, to make 

 each piece of food undergo three sep- 

 arate examinations (like "smalls," 

 "mods" and "greats" at Oxford), 

 which must be successively passed 

 before it is admitted into full partici- 

 pation in the human economy. 



The first examination, as we shall 

 shortly see, gets rid at once of sub- 

 stances whicli would be actively and 

 immediately destructive to the very 

 tissues of the mouth and body ; the 

 second discriminates between poison- 

 ous and chemically harmless food- 

 stuffs ; and the third merely decides 

 the minor question whether the par- 

 ticular food is likely to prove then and 

 there wholesome or indigestible to 

 the particular person. 



The sense of taste proceeds, in fact, 

 upon the principle of gradual selec- 

 tion and elimination ; it refuses first 

 what is positively destructive, next 

 what is more remotely deleterious, and 

 finally what is only undesirable or 

 over- luscious. 



This accounts, perhaps, for the fact 

 that some, though they enjoy the eat- 

 ing of honey in the comb, do not like 

 to eat that which is extracted from 

 the comb. 



Honey in the comb is taken by the 

 teeth and masticated — the tip of the 

 tongue getting the full benefit of the 

 delicious morsel, passing it to the sec- 

 ond region, which is so sensitive to 

 sweets, and thorouglily enjoyed, and 

 then given to the latter region where 

 its richness is fully appreciated, and 

 it is then sent on its mission to build 

 up wasted tissues, and nourish the 

 entire system. 



On the other hand, honey not in the 

 comb must be taken up by a spoon 

 and is placed at once on the centre of 

 the tongue, escaping the teeth and tip 

 of the tongue, which is the most sen- 

 sitive portion of this extremely sensi- 

 tive organ, and to some this precludes 

 the " great wealth of pleasure " which 

 attends the mastication of honey in 

 the comb. Solomon anciently men- 



tioned something that was " sweeter 

 tlian honey, or the honey comb." 

 This great sage, who also said, " My 

 son, eat thou honey, because it is 

 good," well knew the ineffable pleas- 

 ure of eating honey and masticating the 

 honey comb, for his land (Palestine) 

 was said to " flow with milk and 

 honey," which was not only exten- 

 sively used by all the inhabitants, but 

 also employed in the temple services. 



1^" From an exchange we learn 

 that a farmer in Wisconsin, who 

 evidently does not understand the 

 proprietory rights of those who own 

 birds, winged insects, etc., proposes 

 to sue a neighbor, who keeps bees, 

 for damages done by them. The 

 farmer claims that the bees trouble 

 his sheep and other stock and prevent 

 them from feeding on the clover pas- 

 tures ; also, that the honey belongs to 

 him, and that the bees are tresspass- 

 ers on his farm, and furthermore, 

 injure his other farm products. As 

 the honey would be wasted by evapo- 

 ration, or consumed by other honey- 

 loving insects, if not gathered by the 

 bees, he should keep bees himself in 

 order to satisfy his seljishiiess. But 

 in that case, his bees might trespass 

 on the property of others, if his posi- 

 tion be true ; for the bees know no 

 human law, and will work on sweets 

 wherever they can be found, no mat- 

 ter who owns the title deeds to the 

 soil. Such seljiishness is pitiable. 



®° These are some hints for the 

 times that are given by Mr. F. L. 

 Dougherty in the Indiana Farmer: 



Those who would be successful 

 with bees must always be ready in 

 the proper season to attend to their 

 necessary wants. The neglectful, 

 heedless and indolent are as sure to 

 make a failure in this business as in 

 any other calling. No person should 

 ever expect to be successful with bees 

 who is not willing to give the subject 

 at least a reasonable amount of time 

 and careful study. Lovers of nature 

 and those who have a fondness for 

 these little marvels of industry are 

 sure to be the most successful. There 

 are many people who own a few colo- 

 nies of bees that seldom, if ever, re- 

 alize any thing from them in the way 

 of pleasure or profit, yet with a little 

 exertion and study they could be 

 made to yield both. 



There can be no more profitable 

 way for bee-keepers to pass these 

 long winter evenings than by read- 

 ing up on the subject of bees. While 

 practical knowledge is the most 

 potent necessity for anythingi,like 

 success, it is also very necessary that 

 we keep in our minds the success or 

 failure at the attempts for advance- 

 ment made by our brother bee-keepers. 



