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42dYEAR. 



* Editorial. ^: | 



Comb Honey Not Manufactured is 



the headiiif;: of an item sent to the farm 

 papers of the country by the Frank B. White 

 Co., of Chicago, who wrote us as follows: 



American Bee Jouknal — 



(ient/emeii : — You have doubtless noticed in 

 a number of daily and weekly papers a recent 

 statement t,'oing around, to the elfect that 

 much of the comb honey offered tor sale is 

 artificial, cleverly manufactured bv special 

 machinery, and filled with syrup, of which 

 the principal ingredient is glucose. This has 

 been given such publicity that it worked un- 

 doubted and deplorable injury to the honey 

 market, so that in some localities the demand 

 for comb honey has fallen off almost alto- 

 gether. A statement of this kind might be 

 e.xcused if it was founded upon fact, but the 

 truth is that there is not a particle of artifi- 

 cial comb honey on the market, and any comb 

 honey offered for sale may be purchased with 

 entire confidence that it is genuine. 



So many farmers are interested in honey, 

 commercially, that we thought a brief notice, 

 siinilartothe enclosed, would be a great favor 

 to your readers, in that it will start a counter- 

 agitation, and so restore the confidence of 

 honey-users. Will you kindly run this notice 

 in an early issue of your paper, of course 

 making no charges for it, as we are simply 

 doing this for the benefit of the honey-pro- 

 ducers, feeling that a great injustice has been 

 done them; 



Thanking you in advance for the favor, we 

 are, Yours truly, 



Frank B. White Company. 



The item referred to in the foregoing, reads 

 thus: 



COMB nONET NOT MANUFACTURED. 



A statement has been going the rounds of 

 the press to the effect that nearly all the comb 

 honey on the market is manufactured by a 

 "cute machine," that the combs are filled 

 with glucose and capped over by a mechanical 

 process. The tacts are, there is no such 

 thing as manufactured comb honey anvwhere 

 in the United States, and in proof of this the 

 publishers of leading bee-journals of un- 

 doubted responsibility offer one thousand dol- 

 lars for evidence to show that comb honey is 

 manufactured, or that such an article is for 

 sale in the open market. Although this offer 

 has been out for fifteen years and has been 

 duplicated by other responsible persons con- 

 nected with the industry of bee-keeping, no 

 one has ever seen tit to take it up. 



The United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has put out several published statements 

 denying the existence of manufactured comb 

 honey, and the American Grocer, the leading 

 trade organ of its class, assures its patrons 

 that all the comb honey on the market is ab- 

 solutely the product of the bee. 



The Frank B. White Co. have placed bee- 

 keepers everywhere under everlasting obliga- 

 tion to them for this commendable effort on 

 their part. Undoubtedly every agricultural 



CHICAGO, ILL, MARCH 6, 1902. 



No, 10. 



paper will be pleased to publish the item, 

 which places the truth about comb honey be- 

 fore its readers in a very clear and concise 

 way. 



The Frank B. White Company are agricul- 

 tural advertising agents, and are as clean and 

 " White " as their name indicates. Surely, 

 they have interested themselves in a worthy 

 cause — one in which we trust every farm 

 paper will co-operate, and thus aid in seeing 

 that justice is done fhe honorable industry of 

 honey-prod uction. 



A Spraying Bulletin has been issued 

 by the Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 the University of Illinois, giving important 

 details of spraying that are excellent, but it 

 seems a pity mention was not made of the 

 fact that for the good of the fruit-crop, if not 

 for the good of the bees, no fruit-trees should 

 ever be sprayed while in bloom. 



And this reminds us that a certain AVm. 

 Stahl, a maker of spraying outfits, gives, in 

 private letters, some spraying instructions 

 "in connection with the instruction on spray- 

 ing in catalog.'' He says: 



" Allow me to advise that you give your 

 frees one additional spraying this year [lyoi] 

 while in full bloom, using for this spraying 

 Bordeaux Mixture and adding thereto Paris- 

 green in the proportion of 1 pound to 160 gal- 

 lons of Bordeaux Mixture. Trees that have 

 been sprayed the past year while in full bloom 

 the results have been simply wonderful. In 

 most cases trees have been overloaded, with 

 scarcely a wormy or scabby apple, pear or 

 plum to be found.'' 



And this in face of the fact that practically 

 all the agricultural experiment stations and 

 experts protest against spraying fruit-trees 

 when in full bloom. Bee-keepers will know 

 how to condemn such advisers as Stahl. 



Not only is there danger of poisoning the 

 bees when spraying in full bloom, but there 

 is danger of killing the pollen of the delicate 

 blossoms, and thus preventing the full fertil- 

 ization and consequent production of a crop. 



Is Swarming Desirable ?— During the 



winter months, and before the time for active 

 work with the bees arrives, the man or woman 

 whose veins are filled with the blood of a true 

 bee-keeper will spend many an hour planning 

 for what he is going to do when old Dame 

 Nature thaws out. Among the interesting 

 problems over which many will puzzle is that 

 of swarming. Y'ears ago it seemed to be the 

 somewhat settled opinion that for best results 

 each colony should give one swarm. Now- 

 adays we hear less said in that direction, and 

 some of those who advocated it are among the 

 most earnest seekers after some plan by 

 which the bees may be thwarted in all their 

 efforts to swarm. 



If Mr. A. is in a locality where there is a 

 single (low, that flow corning comparatively 

 early, as from white clover, he will have alxjut 

 all he can do to get his colonies in condition 

 for the harvest, and when the forces of any 

 colony are divided by swarming, that means a 

 diminution of hie crop. 



If Mr. B. lives where there is a long-contin- 

 ued flow, and especially if there be a good 

 late flow, a swarm coming early will be in 

 condition fo do fine work on the late harvest, 

 and together with the mother colony the two 

 will store more for the season than the mother 

 colony alone would have done if there had 

 been no swarming. 



So the general conclusion is that in Mr. A.'s 

 locality swarming should be discouraged as 

 much as possible, while Mr. B. should do all 

 he can to encourage at least one swarm from 

 each colony. 



But is there not a general fallacy in that 

 general conclusion ; Suppose each has an 

 apiary of .50 colonies, and he has pasturage for 

 100. If Mr. A. keeps down all swarming he 

 will have more honey this year, but it he 

 allows his colonies to double by swarming 

 this year, will he not have a larger harvest 

 next year, and the years following ; So for 

 Mr. A. is it not the true policy to increase till 

 he has his field fully stocked ? 



If Mr. B. doubles by swarming, he will 

 have more honey this year than if he had only 

 the .50 colonies to store. But suppose that in- 

 stead of the swarms having only part of the 

 season in which to store, they would have 

 the whole of it, would not the yield be greater* 

 In other words, instead of having the ,-iO col- 

 onies and their swarms he could have 100 col- 

 onies without swarms at work throughout the 

 season, would he not have a greater har- 

 vest than with the 50 colonies and their 

 increase > So is not his true policy exactly 

 the same as that of Mr. A., to increase till the 

 field is fully stocked, and then, if he can, to 

 suppress swarming ! 



It will not do to be too dogmatic in such 

 matters, and the reader will notice that ques- 

 tions are rather asked than statements made. 

 The subject is one upon which it is desirable 

 to have light, and the views of any who are 

 in position to shed light upon it will be 

 gladly received. 



Basswood and Wa.x-'Worms. — S. A. 



Niver, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, says that 

 while wax-worms bore or eat holes in pine 

 top-bars they never trouble those made of 

 basswood. Have others observed this ; Seri- 

 ous objection has been made to basswood in 

 any part of a hive on account of its undesir- 

 able habit of warping and twisting. 



