278 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



is a task. If there is any way of rob- 

 bing it of its unpleasant features, let 

 us know it. A writer in the Progres- 

 sive Bee-Keeper gave an excellent plan 

 about a year ago. It is simple, and, 

 perhaps well-known, but there are 

 always new men coming into the ranks, 

 so no harm will come if it is printed 

 once more. Here is what the writer in 

 the Progressive had to say on the 

 subject: — 



"I presume that nearly all bee-keep- 

 ers know that if there is a time when 

 bees are vicious and dead bent on 

 stinging, it is in the late Autumn when 

 there is little or no honey coming in, 

 and to attempt to take the combs from 

 the hive and brush them one at a time 

 is a task that takes considerable nerve. 

 To avoid this I have an assistant to use 

 the smoker, go to a hive, give a few 

 puffs at the entrance, pry off the upper 

 story, place it on the wheel barrow, 

 remove the excluder and put on the 

 cover, this is done so quickly that the 

 robbers have not discovered which hive 

 j'ou are working on. Have the assist- 

 ant keep watch of the honey on the 

 wheel barrow and smoke away any 

 robbers that may attempt to pilfer. 

 When the barrow is loaded, wheel it 

 into the honey house and stack the 

 hives up near a screen door having an 

 escape. It would be better if the door 

 had several escapes, let each body ex- 

 tend a little over the end of the one be- 

 neath it, so that the bees may escape 

 without going clear up to the top. In 

 this way you can pile them up six or 

 seven high and almost as close together 

 as the hives will stand. The bees will 

 collect on the screen faster than they 

 can escape and when quite a number 

 have collected on it push the screen 

 door partly ajar and strike it on the 

 inside with the hand, this will dis- 

 lodge nearly every one. Be quick 

 about it and close the door before many 

 robbers can enter, for they are sure 

 to be there looking for a chance to 

 enter. 



A HONEY CIRCULAR. 



One That is to be Placed Where it will do 

 the Most Good. 



The Honey Producers' League has 

 not accomplished all of the things that 



it hoped for when it was organized, 

 but it has, in a humble way, made a 

 start along the road that it had laid out. 

 Grocers and their clerks, if well-in- 

 formed and willing, can do much to- 

 wards killing off the artificial comb 

 honey canard, but the truth of the mat- 

 ter is that some of them are wofully 

 ignorant, and, even if well-informed, 

 generally, are not well prepared to 

 combat this damaging story. For this 

 reason the Honey Producers' League 

 has prepared a circular, a copy of 

 which maybe sent out in each shipping 

 case of honey. Here is a copy of the 

 circular: — 



TO THE PURCHASERS OE THIS HONEY. 



The producer of this Comb Honey, 

 and also the undersigned, guarantee 

 that the product in tliese sections, or 

 small frames, was all made by honey- 



There is no such thing as manufaclured 

 comb honev. It never was made and 

 never can be, newspaper and magazine 

 articles to the contrary. If any one 

 says there is such a thing as manu- 

 factured comb honey on the market, 

 just tell that person that the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, an organ- 

 ization of over 2000 members, through 

 its General Manager, N. E. France, of 

 Platteville, Wisconsin, will pay $1000 

 for proof of machine-made combs filled 

 with glucose or any other cheap syrup, 

 and capped over by machinery without 

 the aid of bees. Also, a corporation 

 capitalized at $300,000, all paid in, has 

 had for many years a standing oflTer of 

 a like sum for the same so-called 

 manufactured comb honey as described 

 and the offer is still good. In addition 

 to this, the bee-expert, a life-long bee- 

 keeper, now in the employ of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washing- 

 ton, has repeatedly, in government 

 bulletins and in public addresses, 

 denied the existence of any such pro- 

 duct. For evidence of this fact refer 

 to the report of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture for 1904, page 83; also to Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin No. 59, for 1905, pages 32 

 and 34, also issued by the Depertment 

 of Agriculture, entitled "Bee-Keeping, ' ' 

 by Frank Benton. 



It may be well to state that the basis 

 of these comb-honey canards is ]iossi- 

 bly due to the fact that the flavor of 

 honey in one locality may be very dif- 



