524 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



THE ACTUAL RELATIVE PRICKS OF BEESWAX 



AND HONEY IN MEXICO AND THE 



UNITED STATES. 



There appears in the American Bee Journal 

 of April 29 an advertisement for the sale of a 

 home In Mexico. Elsewhei e a statement is made 

 to the effect that wax sells at 50 cis. per pound, 

 and extracted honey at 10 to 12 cts., and from 

 fruit alone on this placa he should realize $2.iO 

 to f300 this year. Nuw, don't let any one be 

 misled by such statements, as you well know 

 Mexico deals in depreciated money, and one 

 dollar of our money will buy two of theirs; 

 consequently 50 cents for wax is not as good as 

 35 cents is in the U. S.; 10 and 12 cents for ex- 

 tracted honey is not as good as 5 and 6 cents in 

 America, because flour, one of the staples, is 

 worth more than double in Mexico what it is 

 in this country; besides, there is no society to 

 speak of but Mexicans, and I know whereof I 

 speak. To any that may be looking for a home 

 in the beautiful land of sunshine, there is lots 

 of room in Southern California, and the finest 

 honey-producing section In the world. I have 

 55 colonies of bees, and up to this date have ex- 

 tracted two tons of the finest water-white honey 

 I ever saw, and shall, without doubt, take two 

 or three tons more before the flow ceases, which 

 will be about the middle of July, if nothing 

 happens to prevent it. Please bear in mind I 

 had, spring count, only 20 colonies, and bought 

 12; the rest is increase. M. H. Dunn. 



Fallerton, Cal., May 30. * 



IS COMB HONEY REALLY BETTER THAN EX- 

 TRACTED? , 



Dr. C. C. Miller:— I wish you would write up 

 the reality of a fondness of som" people for e it- 

 ing comb honey. It is nice on the tabl<% and 

 looks very templing. I like comb honey, but 

 get tired of it. and catch myself extracting the 

 honey from the wax, eating the syrup, and 

 leaving the wax on the side of my plate, and I 

 see others at the same game. 



Now, what is the reality in this? Do I like 

 it better in the comb, or is it a notion, which 

 seems to be proven by the wax by my plate? 



Dadant says, page 430, Langstroth Revised, 

 that people go to a great expense in raising 

 comb honey to enable the owner to eat his 

 honey with the wax, when, as every one well 

 knows, wax is tasteless and indigestible. It 

 sells for more than extracted honey, but that 

 may be owing to scarcity or demand. How is 

 it when they claim to like comb honey better 

 than extracted, and deny they like the wax? 



Nt'well,N. C. JosiAH W. Hunter, 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



I think I don't need to do much writing up 

 after what Mr. Hunter has said. I think it is 

 true that a good deal is foolishly said about the 

 delicious flavor of beeswax pure from the bees 

 without any intervention of man. A few days 



ago I took a piece of freshly built comb, pure 

 and white (it was drone comb that I had brok- 

 en out), and no amount of chewing ould ex- 

 tract from it the delicious flavor talked about. 

 A pine stick has a good deal more flavor, and 

 perhaps of just as good quality. I think the 

 mistake has been made in some cases by com- 

 paring comb honey with extracted. It is prob- 

 ably true that the average sample of comb 

 honey is of better quality than the average 

 sample of extracted— not because the honey in 

 one case is intrinsically better than in the oth- 

 er, but because so much hnney is rxtracted be- 

 fore it is fit. Usually the best honey can be 

 found in the comb; but it isn't the comb that 

 gives the flavor, and I suppose the best sample 

 of comb honey ever produced would be im- 

 proved for the purpose of taste by having the 

 wax removed. C. C. Miller. 



[In addition to what the doctor has said, and 

 which I indorse, the general public, to a great 

 extent, are suspicious of extrai-ted. No matter 

 how pure and eood it is, they are apt t*^ think 

 it is adulterated; but honey in the comb they 

 havp confidence in. If we think a thing is bet- 

 ter It tastes better, no matter whether it rfally 

 is or not. Mr. Hutchinson has suggested 

 that it is the crushing of the comb with i'ts de- 

 licious sweetness that tickles the palate.— Ed. J 



THE NEW DRAWN FOUNDATION— A BOON TO 

 BEE-KEEPERS. 



The samples of deep cell foundation came to 

 hand in good shape. You must understand the 

 mail -bag is thrown from an express train going 

 at the rate of 50 miles an hour by our way sta- 

 tion. I expet'ted to see it crushed. I consider 

 it a goo<i test of strength. 



Having read the criticisms I was desirous of 

 comparing it with natural drawn comb. I 

 have before me several sections from last sea- 

 son, full sheets and starters, drawn from U to 

 }4 inch deep; and even where the bees have 

 built natural comb containing the starters two- 

 thirds down, your deep cell excels it in trans- 

 parency and whiteness. I am satisfied that, if 

 you can make this new improvement a com- 

 mercial success, it will be a boon to bee-keepers. 

 Please send me samples of deep cell, }s' in., as I 

 propose to make an experiment, alternating 

 each kind with starters and full sheets in one 

 super. 



Bees are in fine shape — brood-frames full of 

 brood and honey, and supers on. 



B. F. Onderdonk. 



Mountain View, N. J., May 7. 



[We should be glad to have you give us the 

 results of your experience later on. — Ed.] 



YELLOW-.TESSAMINE honey; HAVING EYES BUT 

 SEEING NOT. 



Please tell Mr. Ernest that I am now here to 

 sift that yellow-jessamine story, as I am one of 

 those who do not believe in poisoned honey. 

 People will drink water after eating honey, and 



