April 19, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



347 



(Dur*Sister 

 Beekeepers 



=\ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, MareDgo, 111. 



Use Honey Instead of Molasses 



J 



One of the most important questions that confront the 

 woman who is looking after the best interests of her family 

 is what shall be put upon the table three times a day. The 

 food must be wholesome, and it must appeal to the palate. 

 In these latter days of canned goods and preservatives one 

 has a more or less uneasy feeling lest, in studying variety, 

 there may be put upon the table that which shall sap the 

 health, if not the life, of the dear ones of the family. 

 Safety seems to lie in the direction of preparing the bill of 

 fare from articles that may be confidently counted on as free 

 from adulteration. Flour, salt, pepper, etc., we have here- 

 tofore used without any thought that there may be " death 

 in the pot." But now we may no longer feel safe as to one 

 of the articles in daily use. 



Molasses is one of the first things used as a spread by 

 the child as soon as it is weaned, and it is used in the same 

 way by the grandmother in her dotage. Many families use 

 large quantities of molasses in gingerbread, cookies, etc. It 

 seems one of the indispensables. Alas, that it is no longer 

 on the safe list. L. E. Walter, M. S., says in the April 

 number of What to Eat : 



The use of formaldehyde is is so generally associated with milk 

 that we would hardly expect to find it present in molasses, but it is 

 nevertheless a fact that some of the finest grades of molasses put up 

 by Southern firms during the past season contained very liberal quan- 

 tities of formaldehyde. We know personally of three firms using 

 formalin in their canned syrups and molasses, and have also heard re- 

 ports of othere making use of it. We recently examined two samples 

 of molasses put up during the past summer. The syrup was con- 

 tained in one-pound cans, and labeled as being thoroughly sterilized. 

 Each of these samples was found to contain about 15 times as much 

 of the preservative (formalin) a6 was actually necessary to insure the 

 keeping qualities of the goods without any sterilization whatever. 



What are we to do? Fortunately the answer is easy : 

 Honey can be used to take the place of molasses in every 

 case. All the preservative needed for honey has been fur- 

 nished by the bees themselves, so there is no temptation to 

 put in it formaldehyde or other baneful substance. As a 

 spread it has no equal, and in cookery it can take the place 

 of molasses to great advantage. The increased expense is 

 not to be cosidered in a matter so nearly concerning the 

 health of the household. 



The reform can not begin any too soon. Let the watch- 

 word be " Honey ; no more molasses." 



The proper place for the reform to begin is in the homes 

 of the bee-keeping sisters. 



How is it in your home, sister? Is it honey or molasses 

 in cookies ? It's honey at our house — has been for years — 

 and now the use of molasses for any purpose will be tabooed. 



What do you all say ? 



Trouble Among the Bees 



Mr. Jos. Hulbert gives your readers an interesting and 

 rather exciting account of a time when, in his novitiate 

 days, a simple and not very unusual mischance to a bee- 

 keeper when manipulating hives caused " a lively time " to 

 poor " Piggy " that chanced to live in a sty near at hand. 

 A somewhat similar occurrence happened in my own apiary 



3 or 4 years ago. A very heavy crate containing sealed 

 frames of honey ready for removal from one of my hives 

 was to come off, and the strong arms of him who calls me 

 wife were kindly offered to lift it for me. I did the smoking 

 (too much, I now fear), and, as I thought, got everything 

 in readiness for the operation. But I had not prepared for 

 brace-comb, which, in this case, had firmly fastened about 



4 of the frames in a lower surplus chamber to those in the 

 one being removed. My husband's powerful arms were 

 equal to the task of lifting, but he said, " My word, this is 

 heavy. You've got some honey here," when bump, bump, 

 down fell first one frame, then another (the others I saved), 

 and such a lively time as followed may be imagined. It 



was not "Piggy," it was " Hubby," for he had only his 

 slippers on, and, moreover, was clad in thin, wide summer 

 trousers, up which the bees crawled, stinging as they went ! 

 Again, readers, I ask you not to laugh. It was no laughing 

 matter ! 



A moral there is to this little story. Husbands, don't 

 go to help your bee-loving wives with feet clad only in slip- 

 pers, or legs wrapt loosely in thin garments 1 — M. S., in the 

 British Bee Journal. 



Wants Bees and Honey 



Deak Miss Wilson:— Will you please send a price-list of your 

 honey and bees. I have never had bees and know very little as to 

 price or kind. I have written to 3 or 4 different ones — all men.^I 

 would like to hear from you as soon as convenient. 



Mrs. D. L. Cantine. 



We have no price-list. We do not sell bees, our busi- 

 ness being solely the production of comb honey, and at 

 present we have no honey, as our crop was all sold early 

 last fall. By "we," I mean Dr. Miller and myself. I have 

 no apiary of my own, but for years have been Dr. Miller's 

 assistant. He rears queens merely for his own use, and 

 only occasionally sells one as a special favor. — [We would 

 say further that there are a number of advertisements offer- 

 ing bees, queens and honey in this Journal almost every 

 week. Why not patronize them? — Editor.] 



21Ti\ pasty's 

 Ctftertyougfyts 



=/ 



The " Old Reliable" as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Don't Use Propolized Smoker-Fuel Late in Fall 

 I think fuel bedaubed with propolis or wax should not 

 be used late in the fall. From all the region around it at- 

 tracts bees whose honesty is too frail to bear temptation. 

 Robbing is bad enough in the fall without helping it on 

 any. Bee-hunters, you know, oft secure their first bees by 

 burning comb. Page 209. 



Beeswax— Origin, Composition, Etc. 



Eight scales secreted at a time when bees are secreting 

 wax. In my head I had it six. Thanks for the correction. 

 Wouldn't it be more correct to say "excretions" rather 

 than excrement of the young bee that renders the new comb 

 dark ? More comprehensive. Cell too evenly darkened 

 throughout to be wholly the latter. So the three waxes in 

 beeswax are not equal, or even sub-equal, in amount. Two 

 big ingredients and one slight ingredient. And the slight 

 ingredient melts easily. But 60 degrees Fahrenheit would 

 keep it melted all the time except in quite cold weather— 

 and it would be an oil instead of a wax. Wonder if the 60 

 isn't an error, else meant for Centigrade or something. Of 

 course 96 percent of solid waxes might soak up 4 percent of 

 oil, if that is really it— but we want to know, you know. 

 But as usual Mr. Getaz gives us a meaty article— don't 

 waste his space at merely parading words under the impres- 

 sion that it's literature we want. Page 211. 



Value of Old Combs 

 C. P. Dadant is right in the main about old combs be- 

 ing good indefinitely. Apparently bees in winter pull out 

 the cocoons and residual matters and nibble them up for 

 food— and that's the main reason why bees winter so much 

 better on old combs. But an occasional colony (I know not 

 why) will plaster on more and more wax upon the cells in 

 the lower part of the combs until they are nearly solid— not 

 only unfit to rear young bees in, but unfit for holding any- 

 thing. Page 212. 



" Plum " Potatoes in Germany 



Sad that Germany, which leads the entire world in the 

 amount of potatoes raised, should make its city laborers eat 

 those which are of the size of plums, and pay 45 cents a 

 bushel for them. That's what Prof. Cook finds over there. 

 'Spects it's largely the zeal of our seedsmen in producing 

 new varieties that has saved us from the like. Think of this 



