THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



ter to its original position, and 

 set the cases containing tlie queen- 

 less workers in position on it, and 

 3'oa have a strong colony to finish 

 up the season's work. 



A general view of the system is 

 given by what follows. At the 

 beginning of the honey season the 

 cases are placed in position on 

 the hives, as in the prosecution of 

 the old system, and when signs of 

 swarming are plainl}^ to be seen, 

 the cases full of bees are lifted and 

 set on the recess bottom board, and 

 then the queenless system com- 

 mences, and is continued only just 

 as long as there is danger of 

 swarming, after which, the new 

 system swings back to the old, by 

 uniting the bees as described above. 



Christiansbvrg, Ky. 



AD UL TER A TION. 



By a. C. Miller. 



Of all evils that the producer of 

 extracted honey has to oppose, 

 that of adulteration is the worst. 



The producer of comb honey has 

 to fight against it also, but not to 

 such an extent, as most people 

 take it for granted that the honey 

 being in the comb is suflficient 

 guarantee of its purity. Many are 

 the ways of adulteration, and if 

 we would have our business live 

 we must fight it ; but how, and by 

 whom the war against it should 

 be prosecuted, are questions that 

 no one beekeeper can decide. I 

 might suggest several methods, 



but I will simply state how I over- 

 came it in one instance. 



In introducing my extracted 

 honey, some grocers would refuse 

 point blank to take the " stuflf," as 

 they termed it ; others would ask 

 a few questions, and then, "guess 

 the}^ would not handle it." I en- 

 deavored in many ways to convince 

 them of its purity, and also as- 

 sured them that it was "just as 

 pure as when the bees put it into 

 the combs." 



Here is just where the trouble 

 lies ; unprincipled beekeepers have 

 told them the same thing and told 

 them the truth too ; but from what 

 was it that their bees gathered 

 tlieir honey? It was from a va- 

 riet}' of fiowers known as l)ee feed- 

 ers, and the nectar was composed 

 of sugar and water, that, together 

 with what natural nectar was com- 

 ing in made a very fair sample of 

 " honey. " 



Most grocers know this, and 

 almost invariably ask me if I feed 

 mj^ bees ; of course I have to ac- 

 knowledge that I do. Then they 

 want to know how I can prove 

 that none of the food is in the 

 honey. I could not prove it, and 

 that came very near playing the 

 mischief with my honey trade. 



I fed after the usual methods in 

 vogue, and although I knew how 

 much syrup I fed, I did not know 

 how much of it was consumed, or 

 how much was stored in the combs ; 

 and until I could ascertain this I 

 could not be certain that my honey 

 w^as pure. This for a time puzzled 

 me, for unless I fed exactly what 

 would be used, and not a drop 



