244 



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Aclulteratiiiif Extraftert Honey 



is so little iu practice now, that it would 

 seem to be useless to mention the matter. 

 The fact that it is unprofitable to do it 

 when the price of honey is so low, is pretty 

 good proof that it is done but very seldom. 

 We admit that there is some of it to be 

 found occasionally— as we mentioned on 

 page 3 11— but it does not interfere with 

 the sale of a pure article. 



Mr. Geo. F. Robbins, of Mechanicsburg, 

 Ills., seems to have had some trouble on 

 that matter, and sent us the following last 

 January, for which we could find no room 

 until now : 



While canvassing for orders for honey in 

 Springfield, Ills., last autumn, I held a con- 

 versation with Mr. John B , of the firm 



of B & Bro., concerning adulterated 



honey. Mr. B. was certain that extracted 

 honey was adulterated to some extent, and 

 he gave me some reasons that I could not 

 well answer. He cited a certain grocer of 

 very unsavory reputation in the city, who 

 had honey to sell all last winter, when 

 honest merchants could not get it. Mr. B. 

 wrote to a firm in Chicago, who replied that 

 they could get him no honey that they 

 could warrant to be pure. I obtained their 

 address (Corbin, May & Co.), and wrote to 

 them, the burden of the letter being as 

 follows : 



I had heard that they had written to 



B & Bro. ; stated that I was a producer 



of pure honey, and I desired to know if 

 honey was adulterated and placed upon the 

 market, and asked them if they ever 

 handled spurious honey ; or if they could 

 cite me to any manufacturer of, or dealer 

 in, such honey. To this they returned the 

 following evasije reply : 



Cnicuio, lUs., Oct. 21, 1890. 

 DeakSik:— In answer to your favor of 

 the 1st, we do very little in honey. For 

 such information as you desire, we would 

 refer you to B. & W., Fourth Avenue, Chi- 

 cago. They are large dealers. 



Corbin, Mat & Co. 



It occurs to me if they never handled 

 adulterated honey, they would have been 

 willing to say so. I neglected for nearly 

 two months to write to B. & W. ; I hesitated 

 to conceal the motive for writing, and I 

 about decided that any answer that I could 

 get would be equally as evasive, if that 

 motive was made known — at least in case 

 the parties handled spurious honey. But 

 in all my history before, I have not been so 

 worried with questionings as to the purity 

 of my honey. It seems to have become a 

 popular conviction that honey— especially 

 liquid honey— is pretty generally "tink- 

 ered," and merchants themselves largely 

 share in this opinion. I finally de- 

 cided to do what may be regarded as 

 questionable, and wrote to the above- 

 named firm, in substance as follows : 



B & W Gents: — Do you deal in 



adulterated honey? or can you cite me to 

 any manufacturers of the same? 



Geo. F. Robbin's. 



I received the following reply : 



Chicago, Ills., Jan. 10, 1890. 

 Dear Sir :— In reply to your letter of the 

 9th we would say that we sell mixed 

 honey when there is a call for it, but 

 straight goods are so cheap now that there 

 is not much demand for anything cheaper. 

 We have straight goods as well as the 



adulterated, so that our customers can 

 have their choice. If you are looking for 

 something of the kiud, we should be pleased 

 to have your orders. B & W . 



It seems to me that that letter states the 

 matter pretty clearly. Mixed honey is 

 made and sold, but there is so little demand 

 for it, because the pure article is so cheap. 

 But dear! dear! how am I to convince 

 folks that they are not victims of attempts 

 at systematic fraud, and that I am not a 

 party to such transactions? When a man 

 talks about manufactured comb honey, I 

 can generally "cool him down " liy giving 

 him a " smell " of Root's offered reward; 

 but to do my best, I fear I cannot con- 

 vince them that liquid honey is not gener- 

 ally impure. 



Geo. F. Robbixs. 



The coldest day of winter will be Jan. 

 27. The brief spell of severe weather will 

 be succeeded by heavy thaws, and the 

 traditional January thaw will come in 

 February. That month will be a disagree- 

 able one, with heavy snows and rains. An 

 early and decided thaw is among the 

 promises of the bone. February will burst 

 into March with swollen mountain streams, 

 and disasters may be looked for. There 

 will be an early spring. 



Xlie ^Veatlicr Propliets, and the 



predictions of calamity are now making 

 quite a stir. A crank in California asserts 

 that several of the larger cities of the 

 United States will be swallowed up by 

 earthquakes on the 14th inst. Another 

 crank who claims to be " the Messiah," 

 predicts that Rockford, Ills., where he 

 resides, is to be destroyed very shortly. 



Mr. A. H. Noble, of Nashville, Tenn., 

 writes us as follows on the subject, on April 

 3, 1890; 



Dear Editor:— In reading your article, 

 "The Weather Prophets," of March 32, 

 prompts me to send you the enclosed, 

 which is as singularly accurate as yours 

 was wide of the mark. 



The traditional goose-boue must still 

 claim some merit, and the man who inter- 

 preted it, to say the least, has done some 

 very good guessing. If it is worth publish- 

 ing, it may be of interest to the bee- 

 fraternity, who are always speculating on 

 the weather prospects. This was cut out of 

 one of our "dailies" four or five months 

 ago: 



What a Bone Tells of The Coming 

 Winter. — A New Haven special to the St. 

 Louis Glohe-Deynocrat says : Henry Still- 

 man, of Woodstock, Windham's county 

 weather prophet, has made his annual 

 forecast of winter by a goose-bone. He 

 says the bone shows clearly that we will 

 have an open winter. The goose-bone is 

 accepted by many Windham county people 

 as a better authority than Wiggins or 

 Devol, or even old David A. DaboU, the 

 Connecticut almanac-maker. In many 

 farm-houses it will be found hanging in the 

 hall, where it is frequently examined. 



The true prophetic bone, it is said, can 

 only be obtained from a goose that has a 

 trace of wild blood, and that was hatched 

 out in the spring. A bone taken from a 

 goose hatched in May, by Mr. Stillraan, 

 shows a row of dots around the keel of it, 

 indicating the probable temperature. The 

 darker the spots are,the colder the weather 

 is sure to be. It is asserted that the marks 

 dividing the bone indicate the three winter 

 months, December beginning at the front. 



Mr. Stillman says he has read the bone 

 closely, and finds that it indicates more 

 regular weather than last year, and not so 

 severe as even the last mild winter. There 

 will not be many days during which run- 

 ning water will freeze. The coldest weather 

 will occur during the latter half of January, 

 and during that time there will be several 

 days of freezing. Near the point of the 

 bone is a marked discoloration, showing 

 that the first day of winter will give proof 

 of the season's change. Christmas will be 

 "green," but wet and cold. January's 

 entrance will be marked with warm days, 

 growing gradually colder. 



Xlie Xfnie tor Spring' Work wiU 



soon be here, and those who need a guide 

 for all the operations in the apiary, should 

 procure a copy of Dr. Miller's book entitled 

 "A Year Among the Bees." Its descrip- 

 tions commence with the necessary work in 

 the spring, and run through the entire 

 year, detailing the methods of doing, as 

 well as telling when to do, all that should 

 be done in the apiary. We have only a 

 limited number of copies left, and those 

 who want it should send for it at once. We 

 will hereafter mail it, bound in cloth, to 

 any address for 50 cts., until all are gone. 



Cliapnian Honey-Plant Seed.— 



This plant has been commended by some of 

 the most experienced bee keepers in 

 America, as being " a most valuable acqui- 

 sition to the list of bee-forage plants." The 

 seed may be scattered in waste places, or 

 it may be sown in driUs or hills like onion 

 seed. We can furnish the -seed, postpaid, 

 at the following prices ; Single ounce, 40 

 cents; 4 ounces, SI. 00; 10 ounces, $3.00; 

 or one pound for $3.00. 



Frank ■..eslio's Illustrated News- 

 paper of April 3, contains thrilling and 

 graphic pictures of the great fioods in the 

 West and Southwest, made by a corps of 

 artists especially for the paper. The hor- 

 rors of the flood at Louisville and other 

 cities and towns along the Ohio and Miss- 

 issippi vaUeys are vividly portrayed; the 

 scenes of the disaster clearly presented, 

 and the frightful nature of the calamity is 

 evident at a single glance. 



Convention Notioes. 



t»- The next meeting of the Carolina Bee Keep- 

 er^ Association will be held in Charlotte, N. C, on 

 Thursday, July 17, 1890. N. P. Lyles, sec. 



IW The spring meeting of the Northern Illinois 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will meet at the residence 

 o|d. a. g'uller, ,n Cherry Valley IHs.. on May^Oth. 



rw The next regular meeting of the Houthwes- 

 tern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association will be 



Sla"m^°''°'^'-^'^- °° '""nifJ^'i^^i-l-S^' 

 ry- The 12th annual session of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will be held at Green- 

 ?nfe jaunt CO., Texas, on May 7 XuvSTEn'slr 

 terested are invited. J. N. hcinter, sec. 



Of-Thespringmeetlngof the Capital Bee-Keepers' 

 As^ciation will be beld in the Supervisor's Room 

 off he Court House at Springfield, Ills., at 10 a.m., 

 S^May^Ji^a The following subjects will bedis- 

 oSssed- "Proiluction and Care of Comb Honey, by 

 l»s A Stone; "Prevention of After-Swarms." by A. 

 lewis"; and ••Creating a Home Market," by G F. 



Attend"'- ^" "'"""' "" ""cTyoclTsec'" 

 SW- The spring meeting of the Missouri State Be^ 

 Keepers' Association, will be held at Marsha 1 Saline 

 Co Mo , on Wednesday and Thursday, April 16 and 

 V? 18HO in the County Court Room. Reduced rates 

 at the hotel, for bee-keepers, have been secured, and 

 a committee is at work to secure rates on the rail- 

 roads A cordial invitation is extended to bee keep- 

 ers every where, and especially to those ot Missouri. 

 A number of essays from prominent bee-men are 

 expected, and an interesting ""J'^'"'^'^^!^^"'^;, 



