1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



139 



(From Progressive Bee Keeper;. 



AETIFIOIAL COMB 



Will Bring Evil Results. Its Use Will 

 Not be Practical. 



Improvements That Are Not Improve- 

 ments. 



BY J. W. ROUSE. 



It is with some trepidation that I 

 read in the different bee journals of 

 the so-called artificial comb, for I am 

 not sure, even if it can be made, that it 

 will prove a boon to the production of 

 comb honey. I have never seen any 

 of this "artificial comb," but have 

 this to say : Even if it can be success- 

 fully made, and then put on the mar- 

 ket at a price that bee keepers could 

 afford to use it, and supposing that it 

 would take nothing from the delici- 

 ousness of pure comb honey — if one 

 person can make it what is to keep 

 others from making it? I notice Mr. 

 Doolittle congratulates the bee keep- 

 ers that a patent is to be obtained, and 

 if it should prove a detriment it can 

 be generously suppressed, but I have 

 an idea that what one person can do 

 opens a way for others to do the same 

 thing, and while a patent may cover 

 the manner to produce a certan thing, 

 I have noticed that all things (so far 

 as I know of any importance) made 

 can be and are made by someone else, 

 even if it has to be made in some 

 other way. 



I have had certain reward cards in 

 my possession for some years which I 

 have used a number of times to help 



me to down the adulteration of honey. 

 The reward cards referred to read 

 something like this : 



" $1,000 is offered for one pound 

 of Artificial Comb, filled and seal- 

 ed over." 



This is not all there is on the card, 

 but enough to show what it was de- 

 signed for — namely, that it was then 

 thought a mechanical impossibility to 

 make honey comb by artificial means; 

 but if a way is found to make artifi- 

 cial comb it seems to me that the 

 hardest part is accomplished, and it 

 will be a comparatively easy job to 

 fill the artificial stuff and seal it over, 

 and then good bye to the general mar- 

 ket on honey. 



I do not wish to appear as a need- 

 less alarmist, but must confess I feel 

 apprehensive in this rnatter. I have 

 also noticed what several others have 

 had to say, pro and con, but I think 

 some of the criticisms and comments 

 on the so-called product are well 

 founded. I will not discuss these 

 points but it does seem to me that un- 

 less we as bee keepers can devise 

 some way to defeat the adulteration of 

 honey, or the sale of manufactured 

 stuff as honey that is now being sold, 

 bee keeping is almost doomed, as glu- 

 cose can be obtained for l^c per lb., 

 and that is what most of this stuff is 

 made of. I came across the following 

 advertisement recently : 



Honey without Bees. Sfrke'S^i 



honey that j'our friends can't tell from genuine. 

 Better than any syrup for pancakes and general 

 table use. Receipt and full directions for 13 cents. 



Delicious Maple Syrup ZVtlrerFoVi'c 



I will send receipt and full directions by which 

 anyone, anywhere, can make a delicious maple 

 syrup at a cost of 30c a gallon. Both receipts, 20c. 



There are many persons who do not 

 know but what this advertisement is 



