THE AMERICAJSI BEE JUURNAL. 



423 



through our long, cold winters with 

 safety ; I found it out more tlian 20 

 years ago, and I liave told tlie readers 

 of the Bee Journal the place to 

 keep them at least twice if not more. 

 Why you have not succeeded is be- 

 cause you have never put your bees 

 in a warm cellar, as was described 

 years ago. 



I do not consider 42° warm enough. 

 Cold is the cause of the largest share 

 of all our losses in winter. J5ees can 

 pile in all the pollen they see tit to, in 

 the winter they can eat all they care 

 for, and what" is left over after the 

 long, cold winter, they can throw out 

 of the hives, and it will do no man's 

 bees any harm if they are properly 

 cared for in winter. I have no time 

 now to tell Mr. Heddon how he can 

 winter his bees on honey and pollen, 

 and save all the labor and expense of 

 feeding sugar ; but next fall I will be 

 at the National Convention, at De- 

 troit, if I am alive and well, and I 

 hope to meet Mr. Ileddon and hosts 

 of other Western bee-keepers that I 

 have long known by reputation. 



De Kalb Junction, 5 N. Y. 



For the American Bee JouraaL 



Honey and Comb to Order. 



A. A. FRADENBURfi. 



At about the close of theOliio State 

 Convention, last winter, we were dis- 

 cussing the article on page S3, when a 

 middle-aged gentleman remarked that 

 we would have to tight the manufac- 

 tured comb honey pretty lively, for 

 the country was full of it. We asked 

 him what he knew about it, and he 

 said that he had seen lots of it. Upon 

 being asked when and where, he said 

 that for 2-5 years he had been a com- 

 mercial traveler, and had for 7 years 

 traveled for one lirm in Columbus, 

 where he lives, and he had often seen 

 the stuff in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 

 and Kansas, and that he knew it to 

 be manufactured, by its having a 

 smooth and almost polished surface, 

 while the genuine article always pre- 

 sented a rougher appearance. He 

 said that it was found in little, square 

 boxes holding about one pound each. 

 He is not a bee-keeper, but he thought 

 of getting bees in the spring, so he 

 came in to hear and learn. 



Of course we had a lively time for 

 awhile, asking questions. He tinally 

 said that on seeing us all so earnest in 

 our belief that it could not be true, 

 that he almost doubted it himself, 

 and that he must in some way have 

 been deceived. 



The conclusion which I then came 

 to, and still liold. was, that the gen- 

 tleman was mistaken ; and if he does 

 again come across the article, it will 

 turn out to be a line specimen of pure 

 honey in sections. He said that he 

 had talked with the dealers about it, 

 and they said that they did not care, 

 as scarcely any of their customers 

 could tell it from pure honey, and 

 they could sell lots of it just the same. 



A year ago last fall I was talking to 

 a commercial man about the difficulty 

 in selling extracted honey, and he 

 said (and I believe in all sineeiity 



too), that it was liecause there was so 

 much artiticial comb honey on the 

 market, that tlie people were sus- 

 picious of any kind of honey. 

 Port Wasliington,o Ohio. 



[The following paragraph on the 

 same subject, taken from the Ameri- 

 can Cultivator, VI as sent us by Clarence 

 M. Weed, of Chicago, Ills. It is a 

 digest of several articles taken from 

 the Philadelphia Times and other 

 newspapers, which were forwarded 

 by Mr. Marion Miller, of Le Clair, 

 Iowa, and others. Having repeatedly 

 exposed these and similar fabrications, 

 we deem it unwise to reiterate such 

 foolish stories : 



"The Neto York Sun says that much 

 of the fine comb honey exhibited in 

 glass boxes in New York City merely 

 represents Yankee skill; the comb 

 and the honey never saw bees. They 

 were manufactured by human hands, 

 the comb of parafifine or beeswax, and 

 the honey, which is also false, blown 

 in by machinery. Another kind of 

 honey which is put up in glass cups, 

 with a small piece of comb in the 

 centre, is made from cane sugar, glu- 

 cose or syrup." 



[Mr. Wm. Robson, of Rolla, Mo., 

 who has also sent one of these articles 

 from the St. Louis Qlobe-Democrat, 

 adds the following : 



"The writer has carefully withheld 

 his name ; of course, a genuine and 

 deceiving liar does not want the 

 world to know his habitation. Every 

 bee-keeper who may chance to read 

 the description of the spurious honey 

 knows full well of the truthfulness of 

 such statements ; but the ignorant 

 are being deceived and led to believe 

 that man's ingenuity has almost super- 

 seded that of our natural mechanics — 

 the honey-bees. 



"I would like to see some of the fine 

 samples alluded too, and examine tlie 

 cells, cappings, and the line finishing 

 touches given to keep the honey in 

 place, etc. I imagine it a leaky job, 

 and like the truthfulness of such a 

 report, w'ill " leak " out to be known 

 as a genuine falsehood." 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Texas State Convention. 



The Texas State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion met at the aiiiary of Judge W. H. An- 

 drews, McKinney, Texas, on May 7, 188.5. 



The meeting was called to order at 10 a. 

 111. by the President, Dr. Marshall, and 

 his opening address was most cheerful, 

 and seemed to Innsli away the clouds from 

 the faces of those present whose stores, as 

 lioney-producers, had not been blessed 

 during the last two years; and he asked 

 for the sympathy of those whose hives 

 had been filled to overflowing, as in the 

 case of those in the Vice-President's 

 county, and of a few other sections of the 

 btate. He looked forward with much 

 solicitude, to the development of the next 

 8 weeks ; he thought that the life of our 

 association was lianging upon those de- 

 velopments, but that our prospects now 

 were quite flattering. 



At the conclusion of his address, the 

 President, noting the Secretary's absence, 

 on niolidn appointed Jolui S. Kerr, Secre- 

 tary |iro tem. At the jiroper time, McKin- 

 ney, Tex., was selected as the place, and 

 the first Wednesday in May, IS8(;, as the 

 time for our eighth' annual meeting. Mr. 

 W. K. (iraham, of (Jreenvllle, was elected 

 President, and (i. A. Wilson, of McKin- 

 ney, \'ici'-l'ivsident ; 11. F. Carroll, of 

 Dresden, Secretary, and M. 11. Davis, of 

 Howe, Treasurer ; and W. H. Andrews 

 was appointed to represent Texas in the 

 next meeting of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society. 



After the President announced that the 

 meeting was open for discussion, ques- 

 tions were presented In an infonnal way, 

 and discussed with inneli energy and good 

 feeling, and resulted in one of the most 

 protitatile meetings ever held by the Asso- 

 ciation. The following is a part of the 

 discussion : 



"Should bee-keeping as a specialty, in 

 Texas, be encouraged ?" was discussed, 

 all taking the attlrniative, or sjilitting the 

 question, except Judge Andrews who took 

 the negative squarely, unon the ground 

 that the affirmative tended to make bee- 

 keeping less general— putting it in the 

 hands of a few— whereas he wished to see 

 it as general as the cultivation of corn and 

 cabbage; lie wanted to see all the little 

 prattling tongues sipping home-produced 

 honey as freely as liraneh water. Honey 

 is cheap if produced at home, but dear if it 

 is " bought truck." He wanted all to be 

 encouraged to keep bees to the extent of 

 their necessities — and let the honey mar- 

 ket take eare of itself. 



Mr. W. K. Graham said that he thought 

 the seasons, of late, had rendered the pur- 

 suit a little too uncertain to be relied upon 

 exclusively for a liveliliood, but still he 

 thought that those possessing proper 

 iiualiticatious should be encouraged to 

 make bee-keeping a specialty : for he did 

 not think that implied making it the chief 

 employment. 



Judge Goodlier, Mr. Davis and Mr. Horn 

 spoke upon this question, taking modified 

 artirmatives. Dr. Marshall said that he 

 held tlie affirmative in its strictest sense ; 

 that he thought that qualified persons 

 should be encouraged to make it an ex- 

 clusive business ; that there was work for 

 every day in the year, and that profitable 

 work ; and that it is the specialists who 

 bring light upon our pathway. 



Judge Andrews reulied : Let the light 

 of the specialists shine brigher than the 

 very sun, but those specialists would not 

 'put good liome-produced honey into the 

 mouths of his nelglibor's children, but 

 rather deprive them of this, the best of 

 sweets. 



" What are tlie essential points in a loca- 

 tion for an apiary ?" Mr. Carroll, Judge 

 Goodlier, Mr. Wilson, Dr. Marshall, Sir. 

 Graham and others took part in the dis- 

 cussion, but there were no material dif- 

 ferences ; but Mr. Graham made some 

 remarks relating to the subject, which, 

 thonuli a little off the point, are worthy of 

 special notice. He said : It was said by 

 an enthusiastic Texan in the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society at Cincinnati, in 

 1883, that horse-mint always yielded honey 

 in great abundance ; tliat the weather was 

 never too hot or too cold, too wet or too 

 dry for tliat wonderful honey-plant of 

 Texas. This, said Mr. Graham, is a great 

 mistake ; only last year we had the mint- 

 bloom in great profusion, but my bees ran 

 over them like a chicken over a bed of 

 hot ashes, and looked disgusted when they 

 hopped off. It requires certain climatic 

 conditions to cause the mint-bloom to 

 secrete its rich and aromatic nectar which 

 makes the Texas bee-keeper so joyous. 



"How shall we dispose of laying 

 workers ?" 



Mr. Carroll said that he thought it was 

 best to build tlieiii up with brood which 



