AUGUST 15, 1914 



adnlteratefl. Tlie honey in (lucstion bore the 

 hihol of :i well-known producer in I he West, 

 who, we knew, would go out of business 

 before he would ever stoop to adulterate. 

 We wrote the g-entleman to that effect; but 

 it was hard to convince him, simply because 

 the honey did not taste like honey that he 

 usually had eaten. This only goes to prove 

 (hat honey is honey to most people; and 

 that it may have any one of a good many 

 different flavors, depending upon the flowei' 

 from which the bees make the honey, is 

 astounding news. Just the other day a lady 

 told us that she had bought some of our 

 honey, but that it was spoiled. We asked 

 her what was the matter with it, and she 

 said it had gone to sugar ! 



In Part IV. of the Annual Report of the 

 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion for 1913 is a short paragraph bearing 

 the simple statement in reference to honey : 

 "The three samples examined were not found 

 to be adulterated." Presumably the three 

 samples were suspected of adulteration ; 

 and while this statement by itself is not 

 especially significant, the fact, however, that 

 it is exactly the same kind of statement that 

 appears in almost all cases when honey is 

 examined, does prove that honey is a reli- 

 able food that is uniformly pure. 



Not Poison, 



The following letter from Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 Washington, D. C, will explain itself: 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Mr. E. R. Root .- — I understand, indirectly, that 

 there has heen considerable complaint in Colorado 

 this year of losses to beekeepers, through incorrect 

 spraying. This has evidently also come to the at- 

 tention of the National Beekeepers' Association, and 

 I rather suspect that it was through you that they 

 took up the work. You will be interested in know- 

 ing that I have .just received a letter from Mr. R. W. 

 Ensley, Read, Delta Co., Colorado, sending a sample 

 of brood No. 4389. Mr. Ensley asked that this be 

 examined for the presence of arsenic. When I .saw 

 the sample I decided that it should first go to the 

 bacteriological laboratory. A report of the examina- 

 tion has just been received showing that Euroiiean 

 foul brood is present in the sample. I think this 

 will explain the trouble, which they have had in 

 Colorado, although we had not previously suspected 

 the presence of European foul brood in that State. 

 As you will remember, from previous conversations, 

 I told you that we frequently get reports of losses 

 due to spraying; and after an examination of the 

 sample we find that the real trouble is brood dis- 

 ease. In most cases, also, this is European foul 

 lirood. I trust that the beekeepers of Colorado will 

 take immediate steps to get this disease under con- 

 trol and will quit looking for poisoning. Of course, 

 they may have suffered some loss from poisoning; 

 but European foul brood is a great deal more serious 

 than a little surplus arsenate of lead. I have noti- 



615 



tied Mr. Ensley, as well as Mr. Wesley Foster, <on- 

 cerniug this sample, and I trust that the inspectors 

 will get to work to get this disease under control and 

 will inform the beekeepers as to the best means of 

 doing this. ■ E. F. Phillips, 



In Charge Bee Culture Investigations. 

 Washington, D. C, Aug. 5. 



Dr. Phillips has held that some, at least, 

 af the so-called cases of poisoning on ac- 

 count of improper spraying fruit-trees have 

 been due to the work of European foul 

 brood. At all events he has seen numerous 

 cases of this, and the one above is a case in 

 point. 



From a recent conversation with Dr. 

 Phillips we understand that he does not 

 claim that bees may not be killed by spray- 

 ing-liquids applied while the trees are in 

 bloom. Indeed, if we are correct, experi- 

 ments are now under way by the Bureau to 

 determine whether bees can be or are de- 

 stroyed in any such way. The result of this 

 work will doubtless be made public later on. 

 The beekeepers of the country will await 

 with interest the report. 



The Net-w eight Law Cauigimg Incom- 



Thanks for the advance copy of your editorial on 

 the net-weight law, and also for your answers to my 

 questions in this regard. 



There is one thing more I should like to know. 

 I keep a local store supplied with comb honey. I sell 

 the honey " by the case," and the storekeeper retails 

 the sections by the piece. Must the storekeeper weigh 

 and mark each individual section before handing it 

 over to a customer, or must I do it before delivering 

 the honey ? I could do it with a comparatively few 

 cases in the course of the year, but how is one to 

 take time for it when the crop runs up into tons, and 

 he is pushed to get it all ready for market ? 



I fear that this net-weight law is going to do great 

 injury to the bee business. Many comb-honey pro- 

 ducers will become so disgusted with its unreason- 

 ble regulations that they will change to raising 

 extracted honey. The result will be an overproduc- 

 tion of the latter article, and consequent fall in 

 prices, until the bee business will not pay at all, and 

 the law will be to blame for having killed it. 



Wm. Muth-Rasmussen. 



Independence, Cal., July 4. 



Our editorial on this subject in our July 

 15th issue, page 528, practically covers your 

 incjuiry. We may state, however, in answer 

 to the question whether the storekeej^er or 

 the producer must mark the net weight on 

 the sections that, in our opinion, that duty 

 devolves on the producer. The dealer or the 

 consumer, under the law, can require the 

 net weight or minimum net weight of each 

 section. If, however, the dealer buys honey 

 without the net weight being marked on it, 

 it will be up to him to sujDply that deficiency 

 before he can sell it to the consumer. At all 

 events, it is very clear that the consumer 

 can demand. every package of comb honey 

 he buys shall have the net weight marked on 



