(Entered at the Post-Offlcc at Chicaj;o a3 Second-Class Mail-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by GeorRe W. Vork & Co., 334 Dearborn Street. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY 17, 1907 



Vol. XL VII— No, 3 



■j^ editorial ^ofes 

 and Comments 







.. ^Ste^eSi^fk-j^- -.- 



Ordering Oovernment Publications 



We have received the following relating to 

 the ordering of publications issued by the 

 Government at Washington, D. C. : 



A mistaken idea seems to have gained cur- 

 rency amorg those making application for 

 Government publications, namely : that the 

 authors of publications should be addressed 

 personally, whereas all requests for such pub- 

 lications as are distributed free by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture should be addressed 

 to the Honorable Secretary of Agriculture; 

 or, in case of special publications, to the 

 chief of the bureau under whose direction the 

 publication was prepared. Those apicultural 

 bulletins which may be distributed free can 

 be obtained by addressing letters : Bureau of 

 Efitomohfjy, adding the words Apiculture and 

 also Cniled .'States Department vf Agriculture, 

 Publications to which a price has beeo at- 

 tached should be obtained directly from the 

 Superintendent of Documents, Government 

 Printing office, Washington, D. C. 



Frank Bbnton. 



Educating Consumers on Honey 



We have often urged our readers to write 

 something on honey and its value as a food, 

 for their local newspapers. Quite a number 

 have done so, and have sent us copies after 

 publication. Dr. F. D. Clum, of Columbia 

 Co., N. Y., has done something in this line, 

 and wrote us as follows concerning it, under 

 dale of Jan. 4, I'JOT: 



Editor York: — It may interest you to 

 learn that the largest and most successful 

 apiarist in this county is Mr. James McNeill. 

 He owns nearly .500 colonies of bees, nearly 

 200 of which he has in an out-apiary on my 

 land. 



In supplying the local trade with honey it 

 was found that the great majority of people 

 knew so little about it that they raised "a 

 great hue and cry" about the honey being 

 Impure, because it granulated from effects of 

 cold. To counteract this, I wrote a few sim- 

 ple facts regarding honey, which the editor 



of our leading county paper gladly published, 

 free of charge, in both his daily and weekly 

 edition. I think if the bee-keepers throughout 

 the United States would publish similarcom- 

 munications in the local papers, it would 

 greatly increase the sale and use of honey. 

 I enclose herewith the article referred to. 

 Yours very truly, F. D. Clum, M. D. 



As what Dr. Clum has written is among 

 the best productions of its kind that we have 

 seen, we reproduce it here in full, so that all 

 may have a clear idea of the kind of honey- 

 information that should be placed before the 

 people if we would have them use more honey. 

 Here is what Dr. Clum wrote, and had pub" 

 lished in the Hudson, N. Y., Gazette: 



Interesting Facts of Honey, 



The production of honey in this county 

 and State is on the increase, and under mod- 

 ern methods has developed into a large busi- 

 ness, during the last few years, and yet the 

 general public know but little more about 

 honey than the fact that it is made by bees, 

 and is good to eat. They think " honey is 

 honey ' ' — all just alike — but this is a mistake. 



How many people know that honey has as 

 many flavors as the Bowers from which it 

 comes i or that honey may be as colorless as 

 water, or as dark as black molasses? Honey 

 should never be kept in a cellar, and yet the 

 average housekeeper is apt to keep it there. 

 The majority of people call all liquid honey 

 "strained honey," while there is no such 

 thing on the market to-day. The old-time 

 '•strained honey " was obtained by crushing 

 the comb, bees, pollen and honey together, 

 then straining the mixture through a cheese- 

 cloth. This wasteful, disagreeable method is 

 not practised to-day by any up-to-date bee- 

 keeper who produces honey for market. Like 

 the old straw-skep, it has long since been 

 abandoned. 



The liquid honey on the market to-day is 

 called " extracted honey." It is a much 

 liner and better article than the strained 

 honey of our grandfathers. Extracted honey 

 is taken from the comb by centrifugal force 

 without destroying or injuring the comb. 

 Many people prefer to buy honey in the comb 



because it looks pretty, but the pure extracted 

 honey is really the most wholesome and nutri- 

 tious. The comb, when melted, is called 

 beeswax, and it not only has no nutritious 

 value as food, but is indigestible. 



All liquid honey, if strictly pure, will 

 sooner or later become cloudy, granulated 

 and thickened, and if it becomes solid this is 

 one of the best proofs of its purity ; and yet, 

 the great majority of the public are not 

 aware of the fact, and think because the 

 honey looks " sugary " that it is adulterated. 

 It is a very serious matter to produce or sell 

 adulterated honey, and those who condemn a 

 man's honey as spurious, usually do not 

 know what they are talking about; thev are 

 not familiar with honey. 



Those who buy extracted honey in a candied 

 or solidified state may rest assured that they 

 are getting a strictly pure article. Sugar 

 syrup or glucose, while it may thicken from 

 effects of cold, will not become solid like 

 pure honey. 



Honey, both comb and extracted, should be 

 kept in a dry room as near summer tempera- 

 ture as possible. The mercury should not 

 fall below Go degrees Fahr. if it is desired to 

 keep the honey in perfect condition ; but 

 honey that is granulated and has become 

 thick and solid from the effects of cold, can 

 easily be made liquid again by placing the 

 vessel containing it in warm water and slowly 

 heating it over a fire. Some people heat and 

 liquefy a small quantity of honey in this way 

 whenever they desire to use It, and if care is 

 taken that the water does not boil, the honey 

 thus liquefied has the same delicate flavor as 

 when first removed from the hive. 



Certain flavors do not suit ail tastes, and il; 

 is possible to find honey that has an unpleas- 

 ant taste to certain people; and then, again, 

 comb honey may acquire a disagreeable flavor 

 by being kept in a damp, musty cellar, and be 

 called spurious when strictly pure. The Gov- 

 ernment has three honey and bee inspectors 

 in the State of New York, and if any one in 

 this State purchases honey which he thinks 

 impure, let him make a complaint, and if it 

 is a just one. the producer and seller of the 

 impure honey will find that under the new 

 pure food law there are heavy penalties to 

 pay, or imprisonment. 



Many hundred years before sugar was 

 known, honey was the chief sweet used by 

 the people, and it would be greatly to the 

 health of the present generation if honey 

 could be restored to its former place as a com- 

 mon article of diet, as it is the most whole- 

 some and delicious of all sweets, and contains 

 the most delicate of all flavors— that of the 

 flowers from which the nectar is taken. 



F. D. Clcm, M. D. 



Perhaps some may say, "O I can't write 

 anything as good as that !" Well, then try to 

 have Dr. Clum's article reprinted in your 

 local newspaper. Start by saying. Dr. F. D„ 



