ntmm mmLmmiGmm mmm j@umn2£]u. 



87 



" if " hangs the whole argument as to 

 its real value and cleliciousness. 



As to the pleasure in eating comb 

 hone}', there is a certain gratification 

 in chewing it, but the real delight in 

 eating it is that of absorbing its deli- 

 cious sweetness ; and that is done bj- 

 the sense of taste located in the tip of 

 the tongue. It is " rolled under the 

 tongue as a sweet morsel," saj's an old 

 sage. David, tlie psalmist, also avers 

 that wisdom is "sweeter than honey 

 and the honey-comb " — by implication 

 assuming that the comb is even 

 sweeter than the honey it contains ! 



When catiug extracted honey, it is 

 carried by the spoon to the tongue be- 

 yond the tip where the sense of taste is 

 located, and much of the pleasure of 

 eating it is lost. 



Even though the wax is indigesti- 

 ble, chewing the wax and mashing 

 both together brings out that peculiar 

 sweetness which is so pleasant to the 

 sense of taste, and accounts for the 

 soothing, satisfying, and delightful 

 sensation produced by eating honey 

 in the comb, or of chewing the fresh 

 cappings. 



We sent a " proof" of the foregoing 

 article and comments to Dr. Miller, 

 and this is his reply : 



Does not the "honey-comb" in the 

 Scriptures always mean honey in the 

 comb ? See Luke 24, 42. 



If the implication is "that the comb 

 is even sweeter than the honey it con- 

 tains," then I am wrong, and comb 

 honey has an intrinsic value beyond 

 " extracted." But supply and demand 

 is what controls price. My customers 

 have always been told that extracted 

 is intrinsically better than comb, and I 

 kept the price the same as long as I 

 could, but it cannot be held there. 



We admit that sometimes the word 

 " honej'-comb " in the Bible means 

 "honey in tlie comb," but not always. 

 In the passage quoted from the Psalms 

 such a moaning would make the quo- 

 tation nonsensical ! 



That commercial " supply and de- 

 mand " control prices is true ; but pub- 

 lic sentiment and education, eitlier in 

 right or wrong channels, are very 

 potent in regulating values, and there- 

 by influencing " supply and demand !" 



The Doctor correctly told his custo- 

 mers that extracted honej' was "in- 

 trinsically better than comb," and held 



"the prices the same" as long as lie 

 could, but public sentiment had been 

 educateil tliat it was of less value than 

 comb, and " supply and demand," so 

 educated, " regulated " the price at the 

 less amount — and that is the reason he 

 has to admit that " it cannot be held 

 there." The education was erroneous, 

 and the regulation Unjust. — Ed.] 



LOVE AND HONEY. 



Love is the centre and circumference, 

 Tlie cause and aim of all things ; 'tis the 

 key 



To joy and sorrow, and the recompense 

 For all tlie ills that have been or may~be. 



Love is as bitter as the dregs of sin, 



As sweet as clover-honey in its cell. 

 Love is tlie password whereby souls get in ' 



aTo heaven— the gateway that leads some- 

 times to hell.— .S'e^ectctJ. 



EXPERIENCE. 



How I Began I lie Business of 

 Bee-Kccping. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 

 BV F. C. ERKEL. 



In the first part of July, 1885, I 

 bought a couple swarms of black bees 

 in box-hives, and moved them home, 

 about two miles, in a spring buggy, 

 before they brouglit in enough honey 

 to cause any danger of breaking down 

 the new, tender combs. They went 

 right to work, and in spite of 



A Bwarm of bees in July 

 Is not worth a fly. 



as I had been told, the}' filled up their 

 hives, and were in good condition to 

 go into winter quarters. 



I hardly knew the very first thing 

 about bees. I had found a swarm on 

 a hash four or five years before, when 

 I was a small boy, and my father had 

 given an old man a dollar for an old 

 box in which he had put the bees when 

 we took them home, and let them 

 stand until they perished the following 

 winter. We had never heard of such 

 a thing as winUu'ing bees in the cellar. 

 I do not think that before I found that 

 cluster, I could liave distinguished a 

 honey-bee from a bumble-bee, but 

 when I made up my mind to buy a 

 couple colonies, I also decided to find 

 out all I could about bee-keeping, and 

 handle them in an intelligent manner, 

 or not at all. 



I talked with all the old bee-keepers 

 that I met, and got all the information 

 possible ; most of them told me that I 

 had better get movable-frame hives, if 

 I had really decided to keep bees ; but 



that I would be sorry I liad ever turned 

 my attention toward that industry. 

 One man with whom I talked the most, 

 and who supplied most of the market 

 round about, told me that he had been 

 keeping bees for a number of years, 

 and during all that time he had kept a 

 strict account, and that the bees were 

 in debt to him after all tliat time. I 

 must confess that that discouraged me 

 some, but I decided that I would not 

 back out until I found out for myself, 

 if there was any profit in tliem. 



In the winter of 1885-86, I put 2 

 colonies in box-hives in one corner of 

 tlit^ c(dlar, which I had divided oil' with 

 building paper. I turned the hives up- 

 side down, and removed the bottom- 

 board, which left them without a top, 

 but with plenty of air. There I left 

 them until sjiriug, when I took them 

 out of the cellar and placed them on 

 the summer stands ; but may be I did 

 not have an interesting time of it, 

 placing Ijack the bottom-boards on 

 those old box-hives with the tops of the 

 combs all covered with bees, which 

 acted in a very hostile manner, I 

 thought, toward one who was trying 

 to work for their own good ; but I got 

 them out, just the same, even if the 

 folks did hardly recognize me for the 

 next few days. 



The bees went to work with all their 

 little " mights," bringing in pollen, 

 and by May 1, both swarmed, the two 

 large swarms going together, making 

 about three pecks of bees. Then I was 

 in a pretty mess. I had ordered some 

 new hives to put the swarms into, but 

 they had swarmed long before I ex- 

 pected it, and the hives had not yet 

 come. Then, what an idea for them 

 to go together in that way ! I had 

 never heard of such a thing. 



I nailed together two box-hives, put 

 them on a table which I put under the 

 limb on which the bees clustered ; then 

 I shook the bees oft' the limb in front 

 of the hives, and with a wing I guided 

 about half the bees into each hive, in 

 hopes that there was a queen in each 

 hive, for I wanted to increase my num- 

 ber of colonies, and I thought that it 

 would be a great detriment to have 

 them go together in that way ; but it 

 did no good, for although I had them 

 divided quite equally, it was but a 

 short time before they were all in one 

 hive again. I think that was the 

 largest swarm I have ever seen, and 

 they made good use of the time, for in 

 a few days tlicy had the hive full of 

 comb, and swarmed, and they and the 

 old ones kept on swarming, so that in 

 the fall I had 3 colonies in box-hixes, 

 and 7 in Simplicity hives. I had in- 

 creased the 2 colonies to 10, and had 

 taken some comb honey. 



During this time I made prettj' good 

 use of bee-books, and decided to rear 



