1W4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



533 



European journals about it, 3'ou would like- 

 ly agree with me. Artificial honey is ad- 

 vertised in Germanj' as it is not here, and 

 that even in one of the bee- journals. How- 

 ever it may be about adulterated hone}', I 

 know that adulteration of foundation is not 

 practiced in this country as in Europe. 

 Thousands of Rietsche's foundation-presses 

 are in use there, and I used to wonder why 

 they were so common there and could make 

 no headway in this country. I think it lies 

 chiefly in the fact that it is so hard for the 

 European bee-keeper to get pure foundation 

 unless he makes it himself. One sample on 

 the market showed 28 per cent of beeswax 

 only 1 The American bee-keeper never gives 

 a thought to the question whether the 

 foundation he buys is pure. [I have before 

 stated, but it will bear repeating, that all 

 Weed foundation necessarily has to be made 

 of pure beeswax. The Weed sheeter will 

 not handle wax adulterated with paraflfine, 

 ceresin, nor any of the cheap mineral wax- 

 es of commerce. Some years ago the den- 

 tal trade called for a mixture of half wax 

 and half paraffine. We endeavored to meet 

 the demand on a Weed sheeter; but it balk- 

 ed, and we had to give it up as a bad job. 

 We have been able as a consequence to sup- 

 ply the dental trade with only pure wax. 

 As a very large per cent of all the founda- 

 tion made in the United States is made by 

 Weed machinery, it is simply impossible 

 that such percentage could be adulterated. 

 The remainder, made by other processes, 

 is probably equallj' pure, for the reason we 

 do not believe there are any foundation- 

 makers in the United States who would put 

 out adulterated foundation, even if they 

 could. The foundation- maker who would 

 attempt to furnish his trade with adulterat- 

 ed goods might expect to shut up his shop 

 within a year. If Rietsche wax-presses are 

 used in Germany because of the great 

 amount of adulterated foundation on the 

 market, there would be a very small de- 

 mand for the Rietsche presses in this coun- 

 try for a like reason. — Ed.] 





krA-:rj:( 



55 



In a private note to me, Mr. Danzenbaker 

 makes the following explanation of certain 

 things that need explaining. It makes ev- 

 ery thing clear: 



Bro. Stenog: — I have been for years recommending 

 Medina queens to all my bee keeping friends as the 

 best in the world; so that I acted consistently in taking 

 a Medina queen to double the joys and happiness of 

 my life and home. Was it not more a matter of fixed 

 faith than a new "theory " carried into practicing as 

 I preached ? F. D. 



St. Louis, Mo. 



A long acquaintance with Mrs. D. makes 

 it an easy matter for me to say that Mr. 

 Danzenbaker is to be congratulated on the 

 wisdom of his new move. 



A Spanish paper. El Agi icultor, pub- 

 lished in Cuzco, Peru, says: 



Children should have pure honey frequently, and in 

 liberal quantities. Warm milk with honey and brown 

 bread, or, better, unbolted flour, is an excellent lunch. 

 If you wish for long life, be sure that this favorite dish 

 of the ancients honey and milk, be never wanting on 

 your table. This is one of the most healthful and nu 

 tritious dishes. 



What is called "Columbia" foundation 

 is attracting considerable attention in Ger- 

 many. Extremely thin sheets of tin plate 

 are run between steel rollers having exact- 

 ly the outward appearance of ordinary 

 foundation-rollers. These are then dipped 

 in wax of the right temperature, and used 

 like common foundation. Just what this 

 will amount to, time will tell. 

 Vkf 



Vcela Moravska, a Bohemian bee-journal, 

 gives in its May issue a list of 139 bee- 

 books, dating from 1759 down to the pres- 

 ent time, none of which I have seen before. 

 They are nearly all German. What the 

 total number is I do not know. This shows 

 not only the great amount of literature the 

 bee has drawn around itself, but the won- 

 derful amount of study the Germans have 

 devoted to apiculture. All the books pub- 

 lished on bees, from the very beginning, 

 would make an immense library. Strang- 

 er still, the number shows no sign of de- 

 creasing. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Old Reliable is full of intt rest as 

 usual, and Mr. York is evidently doing his 

 best to make a first-class bee- journal, and 

 he is succeeding. 



The editor clips the following from the 

 Chicago Record- Herald: 



Honey is a valuable medicine, and has many uses. 

 It is excellent in most throat and lung affections, and 

 is often used with great benefit in place of cod-liver 

 oil. Occasionally there is a person with whom it does 

 not agree, but most people can learn to use it with 

 beneficial results. Children who have natural appe- 

 tites generally prefer it to butter. Honey is a laxative 

 and sedative, and in diseases of the bladder and kid- 

 neys it is an excellent remedy. 



Mr. C. W. Blakly, of Illinois, says, "I 

 will say I have tried the plan of making 

 my own hives, but found out that it cost me 

 more to buy the lumber and hire men to 

 make them than they cost me at the factory; 

 and then they would not be cut and fitted 

 like the hives we get at the factory." Right 

 in the same line a correspondent of the same 

 journal, writing from Iowa, asks, "Who 

 ever saw a plea for home-made hives in a 

 bee- paper whose editors were engaged in 

 the supply business? " I have. The sub- 

 ject has been discussed with perfect fair- 

 ness in Gleanings for a long time. The 

 lack of fairness is more apparent in the in- 

 sinuation involved in the question. If some 

 are so situated as to be able to make their 



