128 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



indebted to them for. wliich was unanimous- 

 ly adopted, after which the Association ad- 

 journed to meet in Kalamazoo the first Wed- 

 nesday in December. 1875. 



Hereut a. Btrch. See'y, 



B88-Ke:pi!ig and its Interests. 



The following paper was read before the 

 Outagamie Agricultural Convention, held in 

 Bertscliy Hail, Thursday and Friday, March 

 4:th, and 5th, by A. II. Hart : 

 jl/r. President, LmlicH <ind Goitlcincn of 



this Convention. 



The fsiibject given me for discussion be- 

 fore you at the present time is of so much 

 importance, it seems a pity it was not as- 

 signed to some one better qualified to do it 

 justice. Why I say of so much imiiortanc«, 

 because I consider the little insect and its 

 products amongst the greatest blessings be- 

 stowed by our Heavenly Father on the liu- 

 nian family, and yet perhaps there is no one 

 more neglected or less appreciated. Perhaps 

 I ought to say in America ; it may seem 

 strange tliat 1 make the excejition, it is 

 nevertheless true, that while imjnxivements 

 in most of the arts and sciences in this 

 country exceeds many other civilized coun- 

 tries, yet from historv it seems tiiat most of 

 them are far aliead of us in the science of 

 Bee-Culture, and they are not as far advanc- 

 ed as they were centuries ago. if history 

 tell us right. Bee-Keeping never flourished 

 in any age of the world as it did from 1200 to 

 KJOO. During that time the true value of 

 honey for food and medicine seemed to be 

 well understood, or Itetter than at any other 

 time previous or even since, we may go back 

 to Bible times and learn some tiling of the 

 value of honey as food and medicine also 

 fur religious ceremonies. It was used to ]my 

 tribute, among the first fruits for sacrifices, 

 the Greeks and Romans brought honey as 

 an ol'fcriug to their gods, and every animal 

 sacrificed on the altar was sprinkled with 

 honey, it was used for entbalming their 

 dead and to sjn-inkle on their graves. 



The Bible tells us in Genesis -to— 11, honey 

 was among the first fruits sent as a present 

 to Joseph in Egypt by his Father, and Levit- 

 icus 2 — 11, honey was an offering but not be 

 burned on the altar. Judges 14 — 8— IS (Sam- 

 son. Bees and honey he found in the dead 

 lion's carcass, we ail know what a distur- 

 l)auce Samson made among the young Phili- 

 stines. There are some very singular pass- 

 ages in the Old Book. I will not take up 

 your time to refer to but a few. Isaiah says 

 a child shall be born, and his name shall be 

 called Emanuel, Butter and Honey shall he 

 eat that he may know how to refuse the evil 

 and choose the good. 



Matthew says another prominent person- 

 age was coming, whose food should be Lo- 

 custs and Honey, we might infer from the 

 language used that honey was a very effi- 

 cient agent in the development of the intel- 

 lectual organs. Numerous other passages 

 might be spoken of, but we will leave them 

 for you at your leisure to look up if you 

 Avish. We gather from history that ab'imt 

 the 12th to the lOth century. Hee-Keei)ing 

 Avas fostered by the government in which it 

 flourished; in some countries it was foster- 

 ed by the crowned heads, and their forests 

 were called Bee-gardcus. lu some countries 



Bee-keeper's Associations were organized, 

 and bv jmying large tributes were licensed 

 to Legislate for their order ; a member join- 

 ing the order had to pass an examination, 

 to see if he was qualified for a Bee-master, 

 to use their phrase. 



The disposition made of Honey at that 

 time was as follows: First, second and 

 third qualities— first quality was used for 

 medicinal purposes and was hermetically 

 scald and kept tor that purpose. No. 2, was 

 used for culiimry purposes, and was the 

 principal sweet for food. No. 3. was the 

 jioorer quality, and used for wine making. 

 Tiie question might arise here. Why has 

 Honey lost its honored place in the medi- 

 cine chest and on the table? I might an- 

 swer the question by asking another. Why 

 has the cultivation of flax on almost every 

 farm, and the nice durable fabrics in almost 

 every farm-house manufactiu'ed by skillful 

 hands. I say. why has all this lost its honor- 

 ed place ? The answer is easy, cotton, and 

 the cotton gin, will tell the story, the linen 

 manufacturer could not compete with the 

 cotton manufacturer and gradually lost its 

 place. Now. if a process was found where- 

 by linen could be produced cheaper than 

 cotton it is easy to what the result wotild be. 

 A. similar condition of things took place 

 about the ItJth century. .Sugar cane was ex- 

 tensively introduced so tiiat it became the 

 principal sweet. The Honey producers 

 could not comitete ; the organizations went 

 down ; the farmers no longer considered it 

 a very necessary article to raise ; they 

 ceased to raise bees extensively. Those 

 that kept them, or dealt in honey' were in- 

 clined to adulterate it as some dealers are 

 now dointj. Consequently, the value of it 

 was lost as a medicine, and finally it settled 

 down to an article of comparative little 

 value except as a luxury and as sivect can 

 he used too frceli) the Old Book says it is not 

 good to eat mi'ich honey, it is like other 

 sweets taken too freely. Housewives with a 

 little experience can tell you its value for 

 food. But where is the nian or the doctor 

 that prescribes or druggist that puts up the 

 prescriiiti(^n and uses honey as a part of the 

 same, can tell you what the medicinal prop- 

 erties are of the honey generally in the mar- 

 ket, and unless understood can the pre- 

 scription be considered judicious. It is 

 known that honey as gathered from the 

 blossoms contains the essence of the med- 

 icinal jn'operties of the herb, plant, or tree, 

 that is gathered from and nmy contain a 

 considerable narcotic, emetic or cathartic 

 properties, and unless understood it is not 

 safe to j>rescriiie. Our ancestors, if we may 

 call them so.understood this. They kn^w the 

 quality of their honey and for what diseases 

 s^iould be used. 



But perha]>s there may be some doctors 

 here that nmy think I ani crowding the pro- 

 fession a little. It is not my wish to expose 

 the ignorance of any man or class of men. 

 I stated in my renuirk at the conunencement 

 that accoi'diiig to the history we had. honey 

 was better understood for medicinal pur- 

 poses from the years 1200 to looi). than at 

 any previous tiiiu^ or were since. But 1 have 

 bcH'U showing you the darkest side of the 

 picture. Nowfor the other ; Bee ukmi have 

 reason to feel as St. Paul did when he came 

 in sight of the three taverns, to thank God, 

 and take courage; the signs of the times in- 

 dicate a great reformation. The new pro- 

 cess of working bees has alreatly distuiijed 



