Mar. 14, 1907 



211 



American Vae Journal 



^^^^^^3 



discussed by those present, and Mr. J. S. 

 Young explained liis system of queen- 

 rearing. It was voted to ask the State 

 for an appropriation for a Pure-Queen 

 Breeding Station at the College at Man- 

 hattan. Pres. Bohrer appointed Dr. H. 

 A. Warner and O. A. Kecne to investi- 

 gate the matter. 



At 7 :30 p. m., a banquet for all the 

 members of the .'\ssociation was given 

 at the National Hotel, after which an- 



other session was held, during which 

 many important questions were dis- 

 cussed. 



This was the largest and most in- 

 structive meeting ever held by the As- 

 sociation. It is hoped that there may be 

 even a larger attendance at the next 

 meeting, which, as above mentioned, is 

 to be held at Hutchinson during the 

 State Fair. 



O. A. Keene, Sec. 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Some Practical Uses of Honey 



Some time ago Miss Wilson requested 

 that the sisters give some practical 

 uses for honey. Ever since then I 

 have had it in my mind to comply with 

 said request to the best of my ability, 

 but have kept putting it off uutil a 

 more convenient season — until now, the 

 convenient season having arrived, I 

 will drop a few suggestions right here 

 before the subject further eludes me. 



Sisters, do you have " Boston baked 

 beans " of your own manufacture at 

 your homes? If so, try the use of 

 honey in place of molasses. /?^-licious ! 



Quite a variation of coatings used in 

 the making of cakes may be obtained 

 by wholly or partially substituting 

 honey for the amount of sugar re- 

 quired. Personally, I prefer a partial 

 substitution. 



The use of honey in the manufacture 

 of home-made candies renders them 

 more palatable, and adds greatly to the 

 keeping qualities of all kinds, which 

 are inclined to harden rapidly. Cookies 

 also retain their moisture, and remain 

 soft and of apparent freshness much 

 longer when honey is used in their 

 make-up. 



In the use of honey in cooking one 

 must be guarded in reference to burn- 

 ing, as it burns more easily than sugar, 

 and a double boiler or similar arrange- 

 ment comes into play nicely. 



We see honey-cured meats advertised 

 as something superior. (Indeed, when 

 did we ever hear of anything which 

 had the most remote connection with 

 honey, advertised as of any quality ex- 

 cept superior, from the expression, 

 "The land which floweth with milk 

 and honey," an expression indicative 

 of all sufficiency, down the whole pro- 

 cession 7) As I said, these meats are 

 pronounced superior, but as honey is 

 so easily converted into vinegar, I have 

 never ventured along this line, but in 

 cooking meats I have added a little 

 honey with appreciative results. 



I am satisfied that the chief reason 

 that honey is not more generally used 

 in cookery, lies not in that it fails to 



be an improvement, but that it is gen- 

 erally conceded to be too delicate a 

 luxury for so common a use. 



The use of honey instead of sugar 

 doubles the value of any cough syrup, 

 and the family having access to honey 

 in plenty that can not concoct cough 

 syrups equal, or superior, to those 

 found on sale is indeed in straits. The 

 foundation of these may be a decoction 

 of any herb or herbs of known value, 

 with honey added to the strained liquor 

 to form a syrup. One of the most sim- 

 ple is to boil 3 medium-sized potatoes 

 (with their jackets on), and when done 

 remove and pour into the potato water 

 yi cupful of honey. Strain, and drink 

 while hot. This preparation m^ay be 

 varied by the addition of anything you 

 know to have been beneficial to your- 

 self or to any of your friends. 



Lemon-juice, flax-seed tea, or the 

 two together, flavored and sweetened 

 with honey, are great aids in the way 

 of alleviation and prolonging life in 

 the case of consumption. 



A raw egg beaten in a pint cup, and 

 the cup filled with hot water, sweet- 

 ened liberally with honey, furnishes 

 both nourishment and medicine in case 

 of colds. 



I am forcibly reminded of "carrying 

 coals to Newcastle," when I see a bee- 

 keeper coming out of a drugstore with 

 a bottle of world-wide heralded " honey 

 and tar," or " hoarhound, honey and 

 tar," and I can scarcely further ana- 

 lyze my feelings more than to say they 

 are a queer mixture of downright sym- 

 pathy, not unalloyed, because, as I said 

 before, mixed with vain regrets over 

 the short-sightedness of some people, 

 and vain attempts to repress my risi- 

 bilities altogether when the ridiculous 

 point of view looms up. Just to think 

 people will do such tricks to the amuse- 

 ment of even the clerk who makes the 

 sale, when an equally efficient remedy 

 might be had at home, by the use of 

 his own unadulterated honey, and 

 hoarhound of his own raising, and 

 that, too, almost without price. But 

 he will tell you there are other ingre- 

 dients in world-renowned cough reme- 



dies which are not, and can not be, 

 produced on the farm, or within the 

 bee-yard. What of it ? A few cents 

 worth of the products of the apiary 

 will secure them at a much cheaper 

 rate than when bought already com- 

 pounded. 



Many families eat honey daily as a 

 preventive of colds, and claim its use 

 renders them almost exempt. 



How many sisters know that the use 

 of honey in the water used for toilet 

 purposes prevents and cures chapped 

 hands, keeping the cuticle soft and 

 free from dryness, so that it is of 

 almost a satin finish ? Honey, almond 

 meal, and lemon-juice, form a fine 

 complexion paste. In fact, honey forms 

 an important factor in all emollients. 

 A little each of honey and flour mixed 

 together, and spread on cloth, applied 

 to boils and similar afflictions, will 

 soon number their days. 



Beeswax is a controlling ingredient 

 in many of the most popular salves 

 that have been placed on the market. 



I think I now have about performed 

 my duty relating to this subject ; and 

 if I have failed to enumerate some of 

 the pet uses of honey with the other 

 sisters, let them make it known. 



This is one way to advertise our 

 products, and if all keep their mouths 

 shut, as if it were a sin to herald the 

 value of our commodities, while every 

 other class of people put forward not 

 only claims which can be depended 

 upon, but some which are largely im- 

 aginary, we can but expect they will 

 be kept hustling while we stand with 

 our hands in our pockets, as it were, 

 and " nothin' doin'." 



In this connection the Pure Food 

 Law will no doubt aid greatly. Dealers 

 are only too glad to buy of the pro- 

 ducer, fearing the effects that have so 

 generally borne upon honey that 

 passed through several hands in the 

 past. This tends to cut off the career 

 of the artificial product and make cor- 

 responding room for the natural. The 

 new Law will do more for our industry 

 than acting as a good salesman, in the 

 way of compelling bee-keepers them- 

 selves to look to the condition and 

 quality of their honey. The publishers 

 of Gleanings took the trouble to inter- 

 view two of our leading dealers as to 

 its effect on honey sales. R. A. Bur- 

 nett concluded his answer with this 

 sentence : " If the bee-keepers will let 

 their honey ripen before taking it off^ 

 the hives, it will do more than any law 

 passed in furthering its consumption." 



Truth, if ever it was uttered; but is 

 it not humiliating, that we must be re- 

 minded there are those among us who 

 are so careless, thoughtless, or dishon- 

 est, as to offer such inferior honey ? 



How long would we ourselves patron- 

 ize an institution that would insult us 

 by offering us fermented or sour food 

 of any kind? If not already in this- 

 latter condition, no one knows better 

 than a bee-keeper how quickly unripe 

 honey will reach this stage. How fre- 

 quently we meet with those who dare 

 not touch honey, and many times I 

 have thought the trouble from which 

 they claimed they sufl'ered might have 

 been caused by unripe honey. 



One of my best customers, at one 

 time, could not be prevailed upon to 

 taste honey, but once his scruples had 



