180 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



winter stores. This fact is noticeable 

 when sections of honey, in bright, new 

 combs, are taken from the hives as soon 

 as filled an 1 capped, and when allowed 

 to remain over the brood apartment 

 until the close of the season. The flavor 

 of honey in the comb, that has remained 

 on the hive through the season, is modi- 

 fied more by the odor of the pollen in 

 the brood-combs than any other way, 

 and, in many instances, very agreeably 

 so. The musky odor from the bees may 

 have something to do with the ideal 

 quality — the subtile "twang" purported 

 to exist in "sucjar-honey,'.' after it has 

 passed through the bee's honey-stomach 

 and received the benefit of the " diges- 

 tive " process. But as the theory of 

 digested honey appears to be somewhat 

 metaphysical, perhaps the alimentive 

 propensitives of the narrator may pos- 

 sess attributes outside of the sphere of 

 common mortals, and is therefore better 

 qualified to judge of the merits of his 

 favorite sweet than those who do not 

 have " it on their tables every day." 



If the advocates of sugar syrup prefer 

 it to honey, they have an absolute right 

 to use it, and no one has a right to ob- 

 ject to their doing so ; but when they 

 attempt to purloin the merits of honey 

 to foster their intents, when offering 

 their preparation for sale, they should 

 receive a decided condemnation from 

 every bo7ia-fide bee-keeper in the land. 



The plea of a honey famine is no ex- 

 cuse for dishonesty, or a movement "of 

 the kind advocated by the would-be 

 votaries of " sugar-honey." If the foun- 

 tains of nature are insufficient for their 

 greed, why not " step down and out ;" 

 and adjure the pursuit of bee-keeping, 

 thereby freeing it from the odium of a 

 masked insincerity ? 



On page 160 of Prof. Cook's "Manual 

 of the Apiary," 3rd edition, may be 

 found the following, viz : 



" In all feeding, unless extracted honey 

 is what we are using, we cannot exercise 

 too great care that such feed is not car- 

 ried to the surplus boxes. Only let our 

 customers once taste sugar in their comb 

 honey, and not only is our reputation 

 gone, but the whole fraternity is in- 

 jured." 



If the foregoing admonition from the 

 Professor was sound 15 years ago, it 

 seems that an explanation is needed 

 from him to reconcile his teaching then 

 with those purported, on page 20 of the 

 Bee Journal, to have been uttered in 

 the 27th annual convention of the 

 Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, viz. : 



"Pres. Taylor — I would like to ask 

 Prof. Cook, if he were producing sugar- 

 honey, would he sell it for honey f 



" Prof. Cook— I should. I agree with 

 the essayist [Mr. Hutchinson] in every 

 point," etc. 



There is an old adage, that " every 

 house has its skeleton." Should this be- 

 come a reality with the bee-keeping fra- 

 ternity, they may find that, like Ban- 

 quo's ghost, " it will not down." 



P. S. — Since the foregoing was writ- 

 ten, I have received the Bee Journal 

 for Jan. 12th, and I find, on perusing 

 its contents, that my position on the 

 "sugar-honey" question is well fortified. 

 The latest outcrop of scientific labor in 

 the interest of bee-keeping, is likely to 

 prove an abortion. 



Success to the "old reliable" Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. 



West Cumberland, Me. 



Coovention Reports — Bees and 

 Pollen, Etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 DR. C. C. miller. 



A report of a live bee-convention may 

 be the most interesting part of a bee- 

 paper, and it may be made the very 

 poorest. Some secretaries report all the 

 part that the general reader wants to 

 know, omitting that which is of no par- 

 ticular interest to any except members 

 of the convention, while others omit en- 

 tirely that part that outside bee-keepers 

 want to hear, and give exactly that part 

 which has no interest at all for outsiders. 



In reading a report of a convention, 

 the principal thing, if not the only thing 

 that interests generally is the bee-talk. 

 There are other things of prime impor- 

 tance to be kept in the Secretary's book, 

 as the names of members and the pas- 

 sages of resolutions demanding action 

 at the next meeting, but that doesn't 

 interest the outside reader. In fact, if 

 the discussions are fully reported in any 

 of the bee-papers, there is little need to 

 enter them on the Secretary's book, in 

 which case there is little entered on the 

 Secretary's book that is worth printing, 

 however valuable it may be to the 

 society. 



I am not greatly interested to know 

 that a vote of thanks was given to the 

 landlord for the excellent manner in 

 which his parsnips were cooked, nor do 

 I care much to read the Mayor's speech 

 of welcome to the beautiful town of 

 Skeezington, but I am very much inter- 



