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THE AMERICAK BEE-KEEPER 



June 



Langstroth frames are used, but it is- 

 not necessary to leave them out, if 

 you particularly desire them. 



March 26 I began going over my 

 transferred colonies for the first time. 

 Every one contained plenty of bees, 

 honey, brood, sealed and unsealed, and 

 some young bees just hatched. Con- 

 sidering the fact that bees were more 

 than a month later than usual getting 

 to work this spring I have been quite 

 successful. 



Hurricane, Ark., April 19, 1902. 



AN OFFICIAL SEAL. 



THE GUARANTEE OF PURITY AND MERIT. 



MR. EDITOR.— Sometime ago you 

 asked me what the duties were 

 of our honey inspector. As your 

 readers may be interested in my reply 

 I beg to present it through the col- 

 umns of The Bee-Keeper. 



Some years ago the Ontario County 

 (N. Y.) Bee-Keepers' Association de- 

 cided to place their good, white honey 

 under the seal of the association. It 

 was thought that a reputation for On- 

 tario county honey could thus be bulit 

 up. I do not know that it occurred to 

 the instigators of the scheme at that 

 time, that this seal might act as a guar- 

 antee of the purity or genuineness of 

 the article. In these times of mistrust 

 against even the genuine product of 

 the bee it would seem all the more de- 

 s'rable that we should enact a scheme 

 by which we could strengthen or re- 

 gain the confidence of consumers of 

 an article that we know is not, and 

 never can be, successfully imitated. I 

 do believe that, if a goodly number 

 of the bee-keepers' societies all over 

 our land would act in unison, adopt 

 our system of sealing their honey, it 

 would go a long way towards rees- 

 tablishing the lost confidence. 



Our rule is, not to send out any in- 

 ferior honey under the seal of the as- 

 sociation. Fancy and No. i white only 

 are admitted. This rule is all right if 

 the object is to create a reputation for 

 a No. I article: but it is a question 

 whether this is the best course to fol- 

 low, when we consider that all honey 

 is to be guarded against any possibility 

 of suspicion. If I send out a part of my 

 honey without a seal, would not the 

 purchaser naturally think this to be 



an adulterated article? I confess I do 

 not know what is the wisest thing for 

 us to do. 



The seal we use consists of a strip 

 of glazed turkey red paper 4x14 inches, 

 having the gold seal attached at the 

 right of the reading matter with the of- 

 ficial seal of the association impressed 

 thereon. The reading is as follows: 



"Ontario County N. Y. Bee-Keepers' 

 Association Honey Stamp. This case 

 of honey has been inspected by the 

 honey inspector of the Ontario County 

 N. Y. Bee-Keepers' Association, and 

 the honey within, if seal is attached and 

 these stamps remain unbroken, is 

 guaranteed to be grade No. i white.'' 



From the reading it appears that the 

 stamp or seal is pasted around the case 

 of honey in s'ich a manner that the 

 honey cannot be removed therefrom 

 without breaking the seal. 



The honey inspectors' business is to 

 go to the different honey producers, on 

 solicitation, and inspect the honey. If 

 he finds it all right and up to the stand- 

 ard he attaches a seal to each case. 

 For this service he receives from the 

 owner of the honey eight cents per 

 case, and fifteen cents from outsiders. 

 He also receives mileage. 



I am sorry to say not many mem- 

 bers of our association have availed 

 themselves of the privilege of sending 

 out this honey under the seal of the 

 association; but those who have, say 

 they are well pleased with the success 

 they have had. Freidemann Greiner. 



Secretary Ont. Co., N. Y. B. K. As- 

 sociation. 



Naples, N. Y., May 3, 1902. 



We have recently, through the kind- 

 ness of the manufacturers — The W. T. 

 Falconer Mfg. Co. — been permitted to 

 test a new smoker — the "Ferris." It 

 is finished in the neatest style of any 

 smoker we have seen; has an unique 

 device for extinguishing the fire, by 

 excluding the draft: a novel shield for 

 protecting the operator's hand from 

 the hot stove, and throws a good blast 

 of smoke. The sample to hand has a 

 stove nearly four inches in diameter, 

 an ample valve and splendid bellows. 

 It is doubtless another brain child of 

 C. G. Ferris, the versatile inventor, 

 who gave us the steam wax extractor 

 which is now becoming so popular, and 

 the wax refiner. 



