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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Nov. 2 1905 



have been received from bee-keepers repre- 

 sentiDg many of the States of the Union, ex- 

 pressing a desire that the standard should be 

 changed so as to avoid the exclusion from 

 standard honey of all honeys that contain 

 honey-dew. In support of this plea, it is 

 urged that the bee-keeper is unable to prevent 

 the introduction of some honey-dew, whether 

 taken directly from the plant or from the 

 aphis, and that small quantities of this mate- 

 rial are not injurious to the honey. 



These requests being brought to the atten- 

 tion of the Committee on Food Standards at 

 its meeting in Chicago, beginning May 29 last, 

 the committee adopted the following minute: 



"The standard does not in any way exclude 

 small quantities of honey-dew from honey. 

 We realize that bees often gather small quan- 

 tities of honey-dew thit can not be detected 

 in the finished product by chemical means, 

 and does not damage its quality. It is only 

 when relatively large amounts are gathered 

 that the quality of the honey is impaired, and 

 it fails to meet the requirements of the stand- 

 ard. It is generally agreed that such a large 

 amount of honey-dew is injurious lo the 

 quality of the product, which can not then be 

 properly regarded as honey." 



Bee-keepers have reason to be thankful for 

 this ruling, which seems evidently to have 

 been framed with a sincere desire to be fair to 

 the producers of honey, and at the same time 

 to protect the interests oi the consumers. 

 Indeed, whatever is to the interest of the con- 

 suming public is, in the final analysis, to the 

 interest of the producer. 



It now lies with bee-keepers to be so careful 

 as to the quality of the honey they put upon 

 the market that the confidence of consumers 

 may constantly be more firmly established 

 that when they buy anything under the name 

 of honey they are buying the pure article 

 from the laboratory of the busy little denizens 

 of the hive. 



There is no disputing the fact that there 

 are exceptional cases in which bees store 

 that which is not desirable as an article of 

 food ; also that the best of honey may be so 

 treated as to be unpresentable. But no com- 

 plicated analysis is necessary to distinguish 

 such product. It is only necessary to taste 

 it; and the man who puts it on the market is 

 a fool or a knave, or both. 



Fencing Bees with Barb-Wire 



Mention is made in the Australasian Bee- 

 Keeper of an apiary thus enclosed. The hives 

 are placed with their entrances close up to the 

 fence. This does not obstruct the flight of 

 the bees, but allows cattle and horses to eat 

 down the grass close up to the entrance of 

 the hives, and also allows a smaller space of 

 ground to be enclosed. 



Possibly some one on this side of the globe 

 may have tried this, and will be kind enough 

 to give us the advantages and disadvantages 

 ol the practice. 



The Truth About Honey. — A few 



changes have been made in the reading of the 

 Comb Honey Guarantee Circular for shipping- 

 cases gotten up by The Honey-Producers' 

 League, so that it will be suitable for bee- 

 keepers to use in their correspondence, put- 

 ting one in with every letter they write. It 

 is headed, " The Truth About Honey," and is 

 printed on both sides of a light manilla card- 

 board. It is sent postpaid in lots of 50 for 10 

 cents, 100 for 30 cents, etc. Every bee-keeper 

 should use it, as it will undoubtedly help to 

 popularize the use of honey. 



The Guarantee Circulars for putting in ship- 

 ping-cases should be used by every beekeeper 

 who sells comb honey by the case. These 

 circulars are the same price — 10 cents for 50 

 copies, postpaid. Send all orders to the 

 American Bee Journal office. 



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IHtsccIIancous Heips 3tcm5 



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Home-Apiary of Otto Luhdorflf.— On 



the first page are shown some pictures sent us 

 by Otto Luhdorff, of Tulare Co., Calif. When 

 sending them he wrote thus: 



I am enclosing 3 pictures. No. 1 is my 

 home apiary, consisting of some 75 colonies 

 on a lot in a city which has about 5000 inhabi- 

 tants. I never had any trouble with my 

 neighbors on account of my bees; they are 

 very tame — I mean the bees, not the neigh- 

 bors. The hives are standing in the shade of 

 fruit-trees. 



No. 2 is a hive on scales which weighed on 

 Sept. 15, 235 pounds, now (Oct. 7) over 240 

 pounds — the limit of the scales. In front of 

 the hive is a frame of honey which shows how 

 white the bees cap their combs. 



No. 3 is the same hive and a frame of queen- 

 cells. The bees accepted every cell ; rather 

 unusual, at the same time a very strong col- 

 ony. All brood was capped and young brood 

 always hatching, which was favorable for the 

 development of cells. 



The bees are a little side-issue with me, as I 

 drifted into bee-keeping for pleasure. 



Otto Luhdorff. 



Illinois Fair Premiums. — The winners 

 of premiums in the bee and honey department 

 of the recent Illinois State Fair are as follows: 



Display of comb honey — 1st, Aaron Coppin ; 

 2d, C. Becker; 3d, Geo. M. Rumler. 



White comb honey— 1st, Jas. A. Stone * 

 Son ; 2d, Aaron Coppin ; 3d, C. Becker. 



Amber or dark comb honey — 1st, C. Becker; 

 2d, .Jas. A. Stone it Son ; 3d, Aaron Coppin. 



White clover comb honey — 1st, Jas. A. 

 Stone & Son; 3d, A. Coppin; 3d, C. Becker. 



Sweet clover comb honey — 1st, Louis Wer- 

 ner; 2d, Jas. A. Stone & Son; 3d, A. Coppin. 



Basswood comb honey— 1st, Jas. A. Stone 

 & Son; 2d, Aaron Coppin; 3d, C. Becker. 



Display of extracted honey — 1st, Jas. A. 

 Stone it Son : 2d, C. Becker; 3d, A. Coppin. 



Honey extracted on the grounds — 1st, Jas. 

 A. Stone iS: Son ; 2d, C. Becker. 



Frame of comb honey for extracting — 1st. 

 C. Becker; 2d, Louis Werner; 3d, A. Coppin. 



Display of candied honey— 1st, C. Becker ; 

 2d, Jas. A. Stone & Son; 3d, Aaron Coppin. 



Display of beeswax — let, C. Becker; 3d, 

 Jas. A. Stone & Son; 3d, Aaron Coppin. 



Dark Italian bees— Ist, Aaron Coppin; 3d, 

 Louis Werner; 3d, C. Becker. 



Golden Italian bees— 1st, Aaron Coppin; 2d, 

 Louis Werner; 3d, C. Becker. 



Carniolan bees — 1st, Louis Werner; 3d, C. 

 Beckerr 3d, Aaron Coppin. 



Honey-vinegar, 3^ gallon, with recipe for 

 making— 1st, Jas. A. Stone & Son; 2d, C. 

 Becker; 3d, Aaron Coppin. 



Display of designs in honey— 1st, Geo. M. 

 Rumler; 2d, Aaron Coppin; 3d, C. Becker. 



Display of designs in beeswax — 1st, Jas. A. 

 Stone A Son; 2d, Aaron Coppin; 3d, C. 

 Becker. 



Prime German Candy Honey.— This 



nation is frequently credited with being chief 

 in the matter of humbuggery and adultera- 

 tion. Of late, however, at least in matters 

 that specially interest bee-keepers, the Yan- 

 kee nation is in danger of losing its dizzy 

 eminence as faker-in-ohief. In Europe, thou- 

 sands ot wax-presses are in use by bee-keepers, 

 who make their own foundation, a chief rea- 

 son tor this being the fact that it is diflicult 

 to buy foundation that can be relied upon as 

 unadulterated. Some specimens on the mar- 



ket show upon analysis 73 percent of paraffin 

 and only 38 percent of wax. In this country 

 the difficulty would be to find any sample of 

 foundation not absolutely pure. 



There is no attempt to dispute that in this 

 country glucose has been used to a large ex- 

 tent as an adulterant. But too great publicity 

 is not courted by those who sell something 

 under the guise of honey which contains in 

 it nothing that has ever been in the honey-sac 

 of a bee. Dealers in pure honey in this coun- 

 try are not likely to be approached with offers 

 of bargains in the adulterated stuff. For 

 brazenness in that line, pre-eminence must be 

 accorded to adulterators across the water, as 

 is shown by a letter received at this office 

 direct from the "' North German Honey and 

 Wax-Works." Enclosed with the letter was 

 a " Price-list of prime candy honey " — very 

 queer tasting stuff — sold in wooden casks, 

 wooden pails, tin boxes, enameled pails, 

 glasses, and tins, at prices varying according 

 to style of package from %% to "K cents a 

 pound. 



" The Honey-Mouey Stories." — This 

 is a 64page-andcover booklet, 5?:4x8)^ inches 

 in size, printed on enameled paper, entitled, 

 "The Honey-Money Stories." The cover has 

 a picture of a section of comb honey, S'j 

 inches square, the comb being in gold-bronze, 

 which gives it a very attractive appearance. 

 Then on the gold-bronze comb are printed 

 these words: "From Honey to Health, and 

 from Health to Money." 



It is edited by Earl M. Pratt, and contains 

 a variety of short, bright stories interspersed 

 with facts and interesting items about honey 

 and its use. The manufactured comb honey 

 misrepresentation is contradicted in two 

 items, each occupying a full page, but in dif- 

 ferent parte of the booklet. It has in all 31 

 halftone illustrations, nearly all ot them being 

 of apiaries or apiarian scenes. It also con- 

 tains 3 bee-songs, namely, " The Hum of the 

 Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom," " Buckwheat 

 Cakes and Honey," and an entirely new one, 

 called, "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby." This 

 last song has not been published before. The 

 songs alone ought to be worth more than the 

 price of the whole thing. 



It is a booklet that should by placed in the 

 hands ot everybody not familiar with the 

 food value of honey, for its main object is to 

 interest people in honey as a daily table arti- 

 cle. It is thought that it will be just the 

 thing to sell on railroad passenger trains, on 

 news stands, etc. The stories and items are 

 all so short and helpful, and the pictures so 

 beautiful, that it likely will be kept by any 

 one who is so fortunate as to get a copy ot it. 

 Its postpaid price is only 35 cents, but the 

 health-value ot its contentswould run up into 

 dollars. We mail 5 copies tor .?1.00, or club 

 it with the American Bee Journal — both for 

 .?1 10. It would be very nice for a gift to a 

 friend. Send us a six months' nem subscrip- 

 tion for the American Bee Journal with 50 

 cents, and we will mail you a copy ot " The 

 Horey-Money Stories " free as a premium. 



Comb Honey Not Machine-Made. — 



We have a fair supply of the typewritten 

 letter on this subject, which appeared in the 

 Chicago Daily News of June 21, 1905. It is 

 just the thing to have published in every bee- 

 keeper's local newspaper. We mail it for a 

 3-cent stamp. Better order several copies, 

 and request as many newspaper editors to 

 publish it. It will certainly be a good thing 

 for both the reading public and the bee- 

 keepers. 



