Published by The A. I. Root Company, Medina, Ohio 



II. H. Root, Assistant Editor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manasrer 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postofflce, Medina. Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



VOL. XXXIX 



OCTOBER 15, 1911 



NO. 19 



(^□il(o)Q°DS 



Honey continues to be a scarce article. 

 The quality this year does not seem to be 

 equal to that of former years. Even much 

 of the Western honey is a little off. 



KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLD- 

 EN EGG. 



Many are writing in that, owing to the 

 extra-high price of sugar, they will not do 

 much feeding. This may mean that many 

 will let their bees starve. Can they afford, 

 for a dollar's expense, to let four or five dol- 

 lars' worth of property go to waste? Old 

 bee-keepers know perfectly well that, in a 

 single year, a colony of bees will very often 

 make up for the expense and setback of two 

 poor years twice over; and on the principle 

 that it seldom happens that two bad years 

 follow in succession, and that a third one 

 never does so, then we have a right to expect 

 that the year 1912, with the splendid rains 

 we have been having this fall, will more 

 than retrieve the loss of the off seasons. 

 Look up, brethren. If you let your bees 

 starve now, you will be kicking yourself 

 next summer when your more provident 

 neighbor harvests his crop of honey. Then 

 you will be in the market to buy bees at 

 prices a great deal higher than it will cost 

 you to save what you now have at a small 

 figure. Don't kill the goose that lays the 

 golden egg. 



RIPENING HONEY ARTIFICIALLY. 



On page 632 of this issue Mr. Isaac Hop- 

 kins takes a stand with the late E. W. Alex- 

 ander against the opinion of most of the ex- 

 tensive honey-producers of this country — 

 that honey extracted before it is capped, if 

 ripened outside the hive, can not be detect- 

 ed from that taken from sealed combs. We 

 do not want to appear as discrediting what 

 Mr. Hopkins has written, for we are aware 

 of the extent of his experience and of the 

 vast amount of good that he has done the 

 bee-keeping industry in his country; but we 

 understand that chemists are able to tell 

 artificially ripened honey from that ripened 

 by the bees. The chief point of the contro- 

 versy, however, as we look at it, is that the 

 average bee-keeper had better err on the safe 

 side and allow the bees to ripen the honey 

 thoroughly inside the hive before it is ex- 



tracted, for the reason that, without proper 

 facilities for ripening it artificially, and with- 

 out proper knowledge of methods employed, 

 the results are likely to be disastrous. There 

 is not much inferior honey on the market, 

 perhaps; but there is enough, and strenuous 

 effort should be made to improve the quali- 

 ty of honey rather than to cheapen the pro- 

 cess of producing. 



Perhaps the difference of opinion on the 

 subject can be laid to the different condi- 

 tions existing in New Zealand and this 

 country; but the kind of honey certainly 

 has a bearing on the question. We remem- 

 ber very well sampling some buckwheat 

 honey that Mr. Alexander extracted from 

 combs that were largely unsealed and then 

 ripened artificially in the large tanks that 

 he used, and this honey certainly had a 

 good body and flavor. But sage and clover 

 honeys, with their delicate flavors, have a 

 distinctly finer aroma if allowed to ripen 

 thoroughly in the hives. 



"first lessons in bee-keeping." 

 This is the title of an old bee-book under 

 a new name, newly revised. Formerly it 

 was known as "Bees and Honey," by T. G. 

 Newman, then editor of the American Bee 

 Journal. The work, still published by our 

 contemporary, has now been revised by C. 

 P. Dadant, certainly one of the best author- 

 ities on bees in this country or Europe, and 

 for many years a large honey-producer, own- 

 ing and operating a series of outyards. In 

 glancing over its pages we notice numerous 

 changes and many new engravings illustrat- 

 ing bee culture as it is to-day. In the pref- 

 ace the reviser says, "Those who have read 

 previous editions may not recognize the 

 book in its new form; but I have, neverthe- 

 less, tried to preserve as much as possible 

 Mr. Newman's flowery descriptions, in which 

 he excelled. I have also retained such of 

 his methods as I consider safe and practical. 

 In short, I have tried to produce a book 

 suitable for beginners." 



So far as we can judge from a glance over 

 its pages, Mr. Dadant has done exactly what 

 he says. The new title is certainly an im- 

 provement and in keeping with its pages. 

 The price of the book, in paper covers, is 50 

 cts. 



