April. 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



tliat ho believed the food value of hoiu'y to 

 be no greater than any other sweet of the 

 same calory value, that the ash content had 

 absolutely no value, that honey was no eas- 

 ier to digest than any other sweet, that 

 honey should be considered a delicacy rather 

 than an important food, that he could see 

 no reason why corn syrup should not be 

 mixed with honey if it were so labeled, that 

 it might even be an advantage in jirevent- 

 ing granulation, that he did not know 

 whether or not there were vitaniines in 

 honey. 



At this jioint a young man arose and an- 

 nounced with an air of finality, ' ' There are 

 no vitaniines in honey," and went on to cite 

 the rejjort of the feeding experiments of R. 

 Adams Dutcher, w^hich proved that the 

 amount of water soluble vitamine was neg- 

 ligible in honey. 



I nearly burst a blood vessel just then. You 

 see, altho I adopted California after my visit 

 here a year ago, it has never adopted me; 

 and, therefore, I had no right to speak in a 

 California beekeepers' meeting, even if 

 brave enough to attempt it. 



However, after the meeting I had a pleas- 

 ant talk with Prof. McCharles, and came to 

 tl'.e conclusion that he did not mean quite 

 all he said, that he thought honey producers 

 wore a bit chesty over their product and 

 enjoyed shocking them. I imagine, anyway, 

 he is slightly cynical about the need of more 

 vitamiuos and soluble mineral salts in the 

 modern diet. 



MANY people have the delusion that a 

 person who can write a little can also 

 speak in public, and the committee 

 therefore invited me to talk on Friday eve- 

 ning. Of course my subject was ' ' Vitamines 

 in Honey; ' ' and I am going to say right here 

 that if my brother, E. R. Root, finds many 

 such friendly, appreciative, and intelligent 

 audiences I don 't wonder he has formed the 

 habit of speaking at beekeepers' meetings. 

 One of the first to come to me and introduce 

 himself, after the meeting was over, was the 

 young man who had announced in an earlier 

 session that there are no vitamines in honey. 

 He is a professor of chemistry, physiolo- 

 gical chemistry, I think, in the University 

 of California, and his name is Clark. He 

 seems keenly interested in bee culture as 

 well as chemistry, just the sort of man who 

 can be invaluable to the industry. He said 

 he was familiar with the research work of 

 Philip B. Hawk as well as that of Dutcher; 

 but, believing that the fat soluble content 

 of comb honey is the wax, he felt justi 

 fled in saying there is none in honey, and 

 ho sj)oke with that air of finality because it 

 was his classroom manner. It is funny now, 

 but it spoiled the better i>art of a night's 

 sleep for me at the time. 



One can always learn something valuable 

 in talking with sucli a man. Here is a point 

 he brought out; Wlien excessive amounts 

 of honey aie eaten laboiatory tests show 

 that the svstem is unable to make use of 



it and the kidneys eliminate it. I have al- 

 ways felt that tlioro is danger in urging peo- 

 ple to eat honey in large amounts at a time. 

 The best of foods should be used in modera- 

 tion. 



Let me add that Prof. Clark by no means 

 shares the views expressed by Prof. Mc- 

 Charles concerning the food value of honey, 

 its digestibility as compared with sugar 

 syrups, etc. And you and I know that many 

 eminent chemists and nutrition experts have 

 also endorsed honey as an easily assimilated 

 sweet of high food value. 



THERE were a number of enthusiastic 

 women attending the beekeepers' meet- 

 ings in spite of the fact that I was told 

 there are comparatively few women bee- 

 keepers in the State, that honey producing 

 is now largely in the hands of specialists who 

 do it on a large scale. Some of these women 

 apparently were successful amateurs, and 

 some were efficient partners of their bee- 

 keeping husbands. One of the latter (Mrs. 

 Stuart) being unable to appear in person on 

 the program, sent her paper on "The Uses 

 of Honey in the Home." It told many of 

 her experiences in retailing honey from hor 

 home and was very interesting, humorous, 

 and valuable. When I heard it read I said 

 to myself, ' ' Stancy P., here is where you 

 take a back seat; " for she uses honey in her 

 household to an extent I have never dream- 

 ed of doing, and am afraid never shall, as 

 neither my family nor myself like honey 

 combined with certain fruits and flavors. 

 I believe Mrs. Stuart stated that she bought 

 no sugar whatever for household use. 



She wrote about sunshine preserving with 

 honey. Doesn't that sound appetizing and 

 so api:)ropriate? Her instructions were to use 

 a pound of honey for every pound of fruit, 

 mix them, spread on platters, put the plat- 

 ters in a box slightly higher at the back 

 than the front, cover with glass, and place 

 in the sunshine on a bench or chair with its 

 legs in w^ater to prevent the entrance of 

 ants. Small fruits could be preserved whole, 

 but large fruits should be cut in convenient 

 pieces for serving. When the preserves are 

 thick they should be put into sterilized jars 

 and sealed or covered with melted paraffin. 



Sunshine preserving is doubtless easier to 

 do in California than the East, but I am 

 suiely going to try some honey sunshine pro- 

 serves next summer. 



ASIDE from the meetings in the audi- 

 torium the visiting beekeepers were 

 royally ontortained by the Alameda 

 Beokoepers ' Association. Automobiles, in- 

 cluding the mayor's official car, were at our 

 disposal for rides thru the various. Bay cities. 

 We were taken to the University of Cali- 

 fornia and escorted about its beautiful cam- 

 pus and thru many of its departments, and 

 finally wo were entertained at luncheon in 

 the Hotel Oakland, in honor of the j)resi- 

 (lont, J. n Pleasants, and the members of 

 the State Association. Mr. Pleasants, by the 

 (Continued on page 243.) 



