644 



TMm SMERIC^I* MBM JO^RrfSlL^. 



Poisoned Jloney.— A New Zealand 

 paper nives the fi Uowing remarkable ac- 

 count of poison existing in honey. It says : 



Mr. R. de Thierry has given the Herald 

 some imMoriant information on the subject. 

 He st<ites that on one occasion he was 

 traveliiia along the sea-coast with some 

 Maoris, wlien Ihey fell in with a store of 

 honny accumulated by some wild bees. Mr. 

 de Thierry and one of tlie naliV'-s ate heart 

 ily of the honey as they fuutjd it. Snou 

 after Mr. de Tliierry was affected with 

 giddiness, and fell down, feeiing very ill. 

 'i he native who had eaten witii hini was 

 similarly aff. cted. The Maoiis promptly 

 adopted remedial measures, such as th< y 

 had probably tried befi re lu similar ca>es. 

 Tliey kindled a fiie, piled some seaweed 

 upon it, and held Mr. de Thierry amongst 

 the fumes until he became so eick that he 

 vomited Ireely. By and by he got better, 

 and the native, uuriersimilar treatment, also 

 recovered. Mr. de Thierry says that the 

 poisoning arises from thf bees having ac- 

 cess to the karo (Plttuspnrnm crassi fo- 

 lium), a tiee or shrub which grows all 

 around the coast of New Zealand. At a 

 certa u seas^on a kind of gum exudes from 

 the liaro, which the bees use tor the wax of 

 the comb-. The poison is in the wax, not 

 in the luiney. This matter is of importance, 

 for bee-keeping is now general, and the 

 karo is being generally planted, as it makes 

 a pretty and useful hedge. It can stand 

 any aunmnt of stormy weather, and also the 

 spray of the sea. 



In the Australasian Bee Journal for 

 September, just received, we find the fol- 

 lowing comments on this subject, which 

 will be of interest to our readers. We shall 

 give further particulars as soon as the num- 

 ber for October comes to hand : 



We have received from the Rev. Father 

 Madan a full reportof all the cir^ uinstances 

 connected with the deaths of the two natives 

 who were reported to have died from tlie 

 effects of eating poisoned honey, and also 

 samples of the honey taken iroiu the same 

 beenest from which the natives procured 

 the honey they ate. The latter, immediately 

 on receipt, we handed over to Mr. Pond to 

 analyze, hut we have not received his re- 

 port. No doubt we shall have it in 

 time for next month's issue, when our 

 readers shall be placed in pns-e-sion 

 of all the facts of the case. We may 

 state that the Rev. Father Madan has been 

 at a deal of trouble in gathering all the facts 

 connected with the accidents to the natives, 

 and pmcuring the samples of honey, and 

 deserves tiie thanks of all New Zealand 

 bee-keepers for his labor connected there- 

 with. 



quented the blossoms thereon for the pur- 

 pi'SH of securing the nectar which was con- 

 tained ill theiu. 



There anpears. however, to be some good 

 negative eviilence bearing upon the prob- 

 lem, which it will be well to cmsiner before 

 forming a decid>d opinion in this really 

 important matter. 



Mr. Edwin Yenowine, a fruit grower near 

 New Albanv, iiid., is a very .stioiig advocate 

 of the use of arst-nical mixtures, as aaainst 

 both codling moth and plum curculio, and 

 is also, to a limited extent, engaged in api- 

 culture. 



Some f in-.e aso, while spending a day with 

 Mr. Yenowine, hf reminded trie that several 

 J ears aao, he lind written me as to the piob- 

 ableetfecis on bees of the use, during the 

 tilooniiiig season.of these arsen'cal mixtures, 

 and had received a very cauiionary reply. 

 It appears that instead of foUowiiig my ad- 

 vice he sprayed all soits of fiuits freely, 

 both in and out of the blooming season, and 

 instead of destroying his bees, they have 

 increased from 8 to 17 strcmg, healthy colo- 

 nies, and have furnished honey ol wfiich he 

 and his family hive partaken Ireely. This 

 conversation with Mr. Yenowine took place 

 On June 23, so that the increase shown was 

 practicallv that of an unfavorable St ajou.— 

 F. M. Webster. 



Well ! Well ! ! We are astonished ! When 

 bees get fat, strong and healthy on Paris 

 green ! Who would have thought it ? 

 Insect Life is published in Washington. 

 We wonder if Prof. Wiley has not some- 

 thing to do with it. What does Prof. Cook 

 say about it ? 



Paris Ciiv^on and tUe Mees.— In 



the number of Insect Life for September, 

 just at hand, we notice the following very 

 strange article : 



The prevailing opinion seems to favor the 

 theory, that if aiseuical mixtures are 

 .sprayed or dusted upon fruit trees while the 

 latter are in bloom, the bees which frequent 

 them will be destroyed. With this idea in 

 view, fruit-growers have very properly 

 been cautioned not to use these mixtures 

 during the blooming season, and in lact this 

 has been urged as an argument against the 

 use of these substances as insecticides. 



The writer, while in Louisiana, was told 

 by planters that dusting Paris green upon 

 the cotton-plants, killed the bees which fre- 



I)r. J.J. O^vens, of Waterloo, Iowa, 

 gave us a call a few days ago, as he was in 

 Chicago on business. We were pleased to 

 see tliat he contributed an article for the 

 Waterloo Courier, refuting an article which 

 that paper copied from Harper's Bazar, 

 asserting that " syrup and parattioe" was 

 taking the place of " wax and honey," in 

 which he says : 



Now, as a producer of gilt-edge comb 

 honey, I hereby reluteand deny the ahove 

 in toto, and lirand it as a na,se falsehood and 

 gross slander upon the honey industry of 

 the couuiry. In other words, it is a plain, 

 unvarnished lie, pure anl simple. I also 

 protest against tlie publishing ot the same 

 by the local press as facts, as it is doing a 

 hard-working class of men who are consid- 

 ered to be as honest as the general run of 

 mankind— a great injustice and Injury. It 

 also lias a tendency to prejudice the general 

 public who are not cognizant of the true 

 facts relating thereto, against the honey- 

 producer. I will lurther state in vindication 

 thereof, that Mr. A.. I. Knot, of Medina, O., 

 has a standing offer of Sl.OOO open to the 

 world, to any one who will tell or show him 

 where artihcial comb honey is manufac- 

 tured. Up to the present time no one has 

 come forward to claim the reward. 



I assure you, Mr. Editor, and your many 

 readers,in all sincerity and candor, as a fact 

 (and facts are stubborn things), which must 

 and will tie admitted by every candid mind, 

 that there is no such thing as artificial comb 

 honey, never has been any made, and I fed 

 sate in saying there never will be. 



Poultry and Pets.— The American 

 Poultry Journal is one of the best periodi- 

 cals published in the poultry interest. It is 

 a large quarto monthly, and is illustrated. 

 We club it with the BErf, Joukn-vi,, and 

 send both periodicals for $1.. 50 a year. 



I^o Sophistry. — " Echoes," a nice 

 monthly publi-hed by Will M. and L. S. 

 Young of Nevada, O., gives the following 

 rtbuke to papers which have published this 

 contemptible slander of the honey-bees : 



The expression, " busy as a bee " is sophis- 

 try. That honej -making humbug lives in 

 luxurious idleness nearly twotuirdsof the 

 J ear.— Ex. 



The writer of the above is talking 

 " sophistry." It is not the bees' fault if they 

 are idle part of the year. The flowers 

 furnish nectar about six months of the 

 twelve, over a large territory, and during 

 that time the " honey-making humbug" is 

 out early and late ; and duri^ig the height of 

 the honey season its life is of but a few 

 Weeks' duration, owing to the excessive 

 work done at that time to gather in the ex- 

 tra flow of sweets so lavishly stored by 

 myriads of flowers. We woulil like to see 

 ari> thing on earth tliat will equal the bee in 

 its almost ceaseless labor, as long as it fiiids 

 it to do. There is no ".sophistry" about 

 the expression " busy as a bee ;" give them 

 twelve months' flow of nectar, and they will 

 put in a full year of labor. 



Xlie Sontliern Exposition will be 

 open from Nov. .5 to 15, 1889, at Montgomery, 

 Ala. It offers $:M,000 in cash premiums. 

 For the Apiary Exhibit, Department A. 

 Group 4, the following are the premiums : 



Best eeneral exhibit of apiarian implements 



and pn.dunts $30 00 



Best 2.'i pounds extracted honey, to be shown 



iniflass 500 



Best 25 pounds tomb honey, to be shown in 



settions 5 00 



Best colony Italian bees ii 00 



Be-t ten pounds oomb foundation .*> 00 



Bet*t bee-bive tor prHcricat use 3 00 



Best and larKest.niost interesting anl int.tru-'- 

 tive exliibition in this department by any 

 inuiviuual or bee-association 25 00 



All articles entered for premiums must 

 belong to the exhibitor, and all honey en- 

 tered for premiums inu-t be from the ex- 

 hibitor's aniary. The exhibitor receiving 

 the largest amount of cash premiums is to 

 receive a diploma. 



Mr, W. H. Black, ot Montgomery, Ala., 

 intends to make a good exhibit, and will get 

 up a club for the Bee Joubnal. 



(Capital Uee-keepcrs'' Conv4-M- 

 tion.— Mr. C. E. Yocom, of Sherman, Ills., 

 on Sept. 30, 1889, gives the following account 

 of the organization of a new bee-keepers" 

 association in Illinois : 



A number ot bee-keepers of Sangamon 

 and adjoining counties met in the Super- 

 visors' Room of the Court House in Snring- 

 tield. Ills., on Wednesday, Sept. 2.5, 1K59. and 

 organized the "Capital Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation." Although the attendance was not 

 large, an enthusiasm was evinced, not often 

 seen in such assemblies. The entire fore- 

 noon was spent in organizing. In llie aiter- 

 noon, the suhjects of " Fall Bloom," " Win- 

 tering," "Prices of Hooey," etc., were in- 

 terestingly discussed. The association will 

 meet semi-annually. Any person interested 

 in bee-culture may become a member of the 

 association, and receive a printed copy of 

 the Constitution and By Laws, by sending 

 his or her name aud address, with 50 cents, 

 to the Secretary. 



The following officers were elected : 

 President, P. .]. England, of Fancy Prairie, 

 Ills. ; Vice-Presidents, Alired Lewi.s, of 

 Taylorville, and D. D. Cooper, of Sherman ; 

 Secretary, C. E. Yocom, of Sherman ; aud 

 Treasurer, Geo. F. Bobbins, of Mechanics- 

 burg. "From the acorn springs the oak." 

 C. E. Yocom, iSec. 



