Feb. 28, 1907 



American Hee Journal 



on the safe side, and be sure the honey 

 was well ripened. 



Comb Honey or Extracted? 



"Which is best — comb or extracted 

 honey?"- 



Mr. Hershiser said no difference. We 

 should try to educate people so that 

 they will be willing to pay as much for 

 extracted as for comb honey ; was in 

 favor of small packages, and showed 

 a tumbler which, on being emptied of 

 honey, made a handy drinking glass. 



Mr. House agreed with Mr. Hershi- 

 ser. He could, in the clover-flow, pro- 

 duce as much comb as extracted. In 

 the fall there might be a difference in 

 favor of extracted. 



Mr. Chrysler — Sell small packages 

 now, and in lo years the people will be 

 buying in large packages. The Toronto 

 Fair deserves more credit than has been 

 given, for distributing small samples of 

 honey among the people. 



In answer to the query as to whether 



we should iLli^ucfy honey that had 

 granulated in the store, the opinion was 

 brought out th.it if the work is prop- 

 erly done at lir>t, there will be no call 

 for the second <ipcration. 



Mr. Armstrong — The secret in keep- 

 ing honey litiuid is in heating it after it 

 is scaled. 



Mr. House mentioned an extensive 

 apiarist of his acquaintance, who had 

 put up 10 tons in .)4-pound jars, without 

 the least trouble of its granulating again. 



Mr. Hershiser thought there might be 

 something in Mr. Chrysler's idea of 

 bailing customers with small packages. 



Mr. Trinder favored large packages 

 and incidentally put in a plea for buck- 

 wheat honey. 



Mr. Holtermann — Greater uniformity 

 of packages for both comb and extract- 

 ed is desirable. 



Mr. E. R. Root came in just as meet- 

 ing was adjourning, and was heartily 

 applauded. 



(Continued ne.Kt weelt.] 



Conducted by J. L. Bvek, Markharu, Out. 



Number of Ontario Non-Bee- 

 Paper Readers 



A year or so ago the statement was 

 made at an Ontario convention, and 

 again repeated at the Brant County 

 convention, held last month, that about 

 8000 bee-keepers of Ontario do not take 

 a bee-paper. I questioned the accuracy 

 of the statement both times, and since 

 coming home from Brantford, I have 

 been looking into the matter, and I am 

 thoroughly convinced that this (York) 

 county has not its proportionate 

 amount of that 8000. To be sure, we 

 have had a county association for a 

 number of years, and there is no ques- 

 tion but that is a powerful factor in 

 the dissemination of bee-culture ; and 

 I more than suspect if there are any- 

 thing near 8000 bee-keepers in Ontario 

 who do not read bee-papers, that the 

 bulk of them reside in counties that 

 have no organization. 



Black Bees vs. Italians 



S Do you know, Mr. Editor, I have an 

 idea that quite a large number of 

 American and Canadian bee-keepers 

 will be inclined to sympathize with the 

 views of Mr. Macdonald (page 195) rel- 

 ative to the merits of the black or Ger- 

 man bees. At any rate, there is no 

 question but that a host of our exten- 

 sive apiarists do not want the Italians 

 in their purity. The Italians have 

 been lauded to the skies (sometimes by 



interested parties) to such an extent 

 that it is considered almost a crime to 

 write anything in opposition to them. 

 Certainly the black bee has its failings, 

 but who will say that the Italians in 

 some respects are not also found want- 

 ing ? 



By far the largest yields in three suc- 

 cessive seasons in one of my apiaries, 

 has been from a colony of German 

 bees, as pure, judging from general 

 characteristics, as it is possible to get 

 them. I might add that in this same 

 yard, each season, there has been a 

 numiser of Italians bred from the most 

 aristocratic blood in America. 



Personally, I think that if half the 

 attention had been given in the past 

 towards eliminating the objectionable 

 features of the blacks, as has been 

 spent in trying to improve the Italians, 

 today the former bee would be in 

 every way as desirable as the latter. 

 The majority of my own bees are a 

 cross of Carniolans and Italians, with 

 a considerable admixture of black 

 blood; and, to tell the truth, I am in 

 no particular hurry to get rid of this 

 mixture. 



The U. S. Pure Food Law and Its 



Effect on Honey— Unripe 



Honey 



According to press reports. Dr. Wiley, 

 Chief of the Chemistry Bureau of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, appears to be one of the chief 



figures in conducting the present agi- 

 tation for "pure food." In fact, the 

 good work he is doing in that direction 

 will have a tendency to cause bee- 

 keepers to forget the "joke" perpe- 

 trated on them some years ago, rela- 

 tive to the manufacture of comb honey. 

 From a lengthy article in the Toronto 

 Globe, I take the following appetizing 

 morsel. Speaking of gelatin. Dr. 

 Wiley said : 



" It is made from the scrapings of 

 hides. These hides go into the tan- 

 ner's vats, and these hides that smell 

 to heaven, arc treated and trimmed, 

 and the trimmings used to make gela- 

 tin. The Marine Hospital service 

 found the tanner's germs in gelatin." 

 The best of this gelatin is used in glue 

 factories, and what is not fit for glue is 

 made into commercial gelatin, which 

 " is used for putting into ice cream and 

 candies, and for making capsules that 

 you take your medicine in.'" 



If conditions are to be remedied, well 

 and good. If not, according to some 

 of the old adages, such as, " Where 

 ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise," 

 and " What the eyesdon't see the heart 

 does not grieve for," Dr. Wiley, in 

 giving this information to the public, 

 has performed a doubtful service. Seri- 

 ously speaking, though, I believe the 

 present agitation can not help but bear 

 fruit, and we as bee-keepers should do 

 our part towards helping the good work 

 along. 



One thing is certain, as the public 

 gainsconfidence in other food products, 

 to a corresponding degree will they 

 cease to suspect honey as being a mix- 

 ture of glucose and other ingredients. 

 As has been pointed out quite fre- 

 quently, lately, honey and glucose, 

 when labeled as such, will not sell as 

 readily as the same mixture labeled 

 "pure honey;" consequently, if the 

 new law is enforced, bee-keepers are 

 sure to be greatly benefited. 



At the same time, I can not help but 

 think that United States bee-keepers 

 are expecting too much for the first 

 installment of good things being 

 brought them by the Pure Food Law. 

 One would think from reading the api- 

 cultural press of the United States, 

 that the Glucose Trust was killed and 

 decently buried, whereas, it appears 

 as viewed by the writer, to be simply 

 in a trance, and likely to be resurrected 

 at any time. Personally, I look for 

 the Glucose Trust to die hard, and be- 

 fore his demise we look for more spas- 

 modic kickings than have been mani- 

 fested as yet. 



Aside from the matter of adultera- 

 tion of honey, the bee-keepers of Can- 

 ada and the United States alike, have 

 another obstacle in the way of selling 

 their honey to the best advantage. I 

 refer to the large quantities of unripe 

 extracted honey thrown on the market 

 every year by unscrupulous or ignorant 

 bee-keepers. R. A. Burnett & Co., of 

 Chicago, hit the nail squarely on the 

 head when they wrote the following to 

 Gleanings : 



" If the bee-keepers will let their 

 honey ripen before taking it ofif the 

 hives, it will do more than any law 

 passed in furthering its consumption." 



I have tested good honey mixed with 

 glucose, and also have sampled more 

 than once unripe pure honey. Neither 



