134 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



•oleomargarine. Indeed, through it much in- 

 jury had already been done when dairymen 

 arose, and, through letters and petitions to 

 Congress, they succeeded in getting a law pass- 

 ed which did not prohibit the sale or manu- 

 facture of oleomargarine, but forced it to be 

 labeled and sold for what it is, and this was 

 sufficient ; and the same would be true in re- 

 gard to glucose if any food product that con- 

 tained it had to be plainly labeled so that peo- 

 ple would know what they are buying and eat- 

 ing ; and although comb honey can not be 

 adulterated, the adulteration of extracted does 

 in an indirect way greatly injure and affect the 

 sale and price of comb honey. One of the 

 many ways in which it does this is because it 

 lowers the price of extracted, and this causes 

 a larger amount of comb honey to be produc- 

 ed than would otherwise be the case. This 

 naturally has a tendency to lower the price of 

 comb; and much of the adulterated stuff sold 

 for honey is so vile that but a small propor- 

 tion is sold to what there would be if it were 

 pure. This causes what I think might be call- 

 ed under-consumption, and helps to lower the 

 price of both kinds. 



No bee-keeper should lack interest in this 

 matter because he has a home market for his 

 product ; for in a short time bee-keepers in 

 his locality may increase, and his home mar- 

 ket become glutted to such an extent that he 

 will be forced to depend on the general mar- 

 ket for the sale of his crop. It takes but a 

 short time to oversupply any rural home de- 

 mand, when others near get started in the busi- , 

 ness. Besides, city prices as a rule have con- 

 siderable influence with prices that can be ob- 

 tained at or near home. 



I have now very imperfectly expressed what 

 I should like to say on this subject ; but per- 

 haps it will cause others more able to lay the 

 matter before bee-keepers in such a way that 

 it will receive some of the attention that its 

 great importance warrants. 



Southern Minn. 



[It is impossible at this time to form any 

 idea of the probable effect of Cuban honey on 

 the American markets. If the present duty 

 should be removed it is easy to see that it 

 might be a serious competitor, because the 

 Cuban bellflower honey would doubtless com- 

 pete in flavor and color with any sweet clover, 

 and might in some markets be taken in 

 preference, especially if it were sold for less 

 money, as it could be with the duty removed ; 

 but for the present, at least, I have no fear 

 along that score. So far Uncle Sam has made 

 no move to annex Cuba ; and unless he, does, 

 there is no reason why the duty should not 

 remain on Cuban honey ; and even if annexa- 

 tion should take place it does not necessarily 

 follow that Cuban honey will come here free. 



But glucose — yes, that is the real competitor 

 we now have. It is a competitor because it 

 enters so largely into many of the so-called 

 strained-honey samples purporting to be pure 

 stuff. Sometimes I feel almost discouraged 

 while in the markets in the different cities, 

 when I call for strained or extracted honey. 

 If I call for extracted, the clerks hardly know 



what I mean ; but if I ask for' strained — oh, 

 yes ! they have " plenty of it." In nearly all 

 the large stores I have been in, where such 

 goods have been on sale, I seldom find pure 

 honey put up ; and it does not take a chemist, 

 either, to decide that the goods are adulterat- 

 ed — almost pure glucose. Let those of our 

 friends who fear we are making too much 

 noise on the subject of adulteration go into 

 some of the large grocery and department 

 stores in the various cities. Let them ask for 

 "strained honey," and then see what they 

 get. If they do not find exactly what I have 

 found, glucosed honey, in five cases out of 

 ten, then I shall be surprised. This stuff is 

 usually put up in bottles and tumblers, and 

 can be retailed in single packages at a good 

 deal less than the average bee-keeper can 

 afford to wholesale pure goods in large lots. 

 As friend Davenport says, it is these goods 

 that are the real competitor of pure extracted 

 honey. In the first place, they cut down the 

 price of pure honey ; and in the second place 

 they disgust consumers with all honey put up 

 in liquid form, whether adulterated or pure. 

 It is like burning a candle at both ends ; and 

 unless we can do something about it pretty 

 soon, the average bee-keeper, I am afraid, will 

 find there is little profit in producing extract- 

 ed honey. As it is, no one complains that his 

 profits are too large. 



Glucose is cheap because it is used so ex- 

 tensively in the liquor business. Glucose and 

 poor beer go naturally together, and the twain 

 are the enemies of the honey business. — Ed.] 



TWO -STORY EIGHT -FRAME LANGSTROTH VS. 

 TEN-FRAME QUINBY. 



Arguments in Favor of the Former. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



I have always felt just a little anxiety as to 

 whether giving room with Langstroth frames 

 in two stories would answer precisely the same 

 purpose as the same amount of room in one 

 story with larger frames. Mr. Dadant's si- 

 lence on that point has been somewhat mark- 

 ed, and I've been watching for a long time for 

 some expression from him upon the subject. 

 On page 871 he puts himself squarely on rec- 

 ord as preferring the one-story with the large 

 frames. 



I have some fear that he is right, mixed 

 with a strong desire to believe him wrong. 

 That desire comes from the fact that it is so 

 much more convenient and easy to have the 

 smaller S-frame hive when it comes to han- 

 dling, especially for one who takes his bees 

 back and forth to an out-apiary or puts them 

 in cellar. So, by way of whistling to keep up 

 my courage, I'll attempt some reply. 



The footnote has replied to the argument 

 that dummies belong only to the large hives. 

 In hives with frames at fixed distances, such 

 as all my newer hives are, the dummy is not 

 only a convenience but a necessity. 



As shown by the editor's footnote, the two- 

 story can be limited to exactly the same capaci- 

 ty as the one-story with larger frames. But I'm 



