1052 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



now and then would write us, asking if we 

 wei"e connec-ted with the men or concern 

 bearing the name Kellogg of Medina; and if 

 so, why we allowed such a miserable con- 

 coction as Kellogg's honey to issue from this 

 town. 



But now under the pure-food law the so- 

 called "Kellogg" will not be allowed to do 

 an intei'state business, selling any form of 

 adulterated or misbranded article, no matter 

 whether it be honey or something else. 



There were various other concerns putting 

 up what purported to ))e honey, even in 

 States that had rigid pure-food laws. Now 

 •they will have to quit the business unless 

 they reside in a State where there is no pure- 

 food law, in which case they will have to 

 confine their sales entirely within the bor- 

 ders of their State. If any of their product 

 goes into some other State, however, trouble 

 is likely to arise. 



UnfoVtunately, some States have pure-food 

 laws that are not in harmony with the na- 

 tional law; and the legislatures of the vari- 

 ous States will be urged to make the neces- 

 sary amendments so that it will be possilile 

 to sell nothing but the strictly pure article, 

 or adulterated iirand, for exactly what it is. 



The Association of Retail Gi'ocers is very 

 much pleased over the new law. Their 

 president has already expressed himself as 

 believing that the law "will result in much 

 purer food products than we have been ac- 

 customed to have for many years." 



The effect of the law can not fail of doing 

 great good ultimately to the general business 

 of bee-keeping. Consumers have been so 

 often disgusted with the nauseating produt^ts 

 masquerading uniler the name of "honey" 

 that it will be some time before they will be 

 willing to buy freely even a piare article. 

 Unfortunately a large percentage of the con- 

 sumers at least will not know that a nation- 

 al pure-food law is in force; and they will 

 be equally ignorant of the enactment of any 

 statute w'ithin their own State affecting the 

 manufacture and sale of various foods. 



Every bee-keeper should make it his busi- 

 ness to ascertain if his State has a pure-food 

 law, and, if so, whether it is enforced. If 

 he finds he has protection, both from his 

 •own State as well as from the national gov- 

 ernment, let him make a strong handle of 

 the fact that the consumer may now buy his 

 honey without fear of adulteration. 



The new national pui'e-food law will now 

 put us in a position where we can say there 

 is no manufactured comb honey. Even if it 

 were possible to make it, Uncle Sam would 

 put a stop to its manufacture because he 

 would prohiljit the maker from doing an in- 

 terstate liusiness. 



ANOTHER USE FOR BEE-STINGS. 



A FEW days ago a Mr. Jones who keeps 

 bees near Penfield, Lorain Co., Ohio, was 

 telling a little crowd of a queer customer he 

 had for bees a short time ago. The man 

 wanted a colony of bees. He said he want- 

 ed the worst stingers they had in the yard. 



Now, Mr. Jones had a hive of vicious hy- 

 brids that he wanted to get riil of, and they 

 soon made a bargain. When it was com- 

 pleted, his s ngiilar customer proceeded to 

 take off his hat, coat, roll up his sleeves. 

 unl)utton his collar, turn it back, then jerk- 

 ed the cover off the hive, gave it a kick, and 

 let the bees sting him. Jn explanation he 

 told a story that so impressed me that Mr. 

 Jones and I called on the person in question 

 — an old gentleman named W. S. Langdon, 

 of the same place, Penfield. Mr. Langdon, 

 who is a steady old farmer, said something 

 as follows: 



"For several years I had been trying first 

 one doctor and then another to see if they 

 could cure me of a troublesome form of ec- 

 zema; but doctor after doctor seemed to 

 have no success in getting rid of the dis- 

 ease. Finally one day a swarm of bees lit 

 on an apple-tree near my liome. and in hiv- 

 ing it I got severely stung on the arms, face, 

 and neck. There were so many of the stings 

 that I turned spotted all over, and came 

 near fainting; but in about half an hour 1 

 began to get over the effect, and the ecze- 

 ma left me right off from that moment, and 

 I did not have any more of it for over a 

 year. At the end of the year it came l>ack 

 again, and began to be so troul^lesome I 

 went to Mr. Jones and bought a swarm of 

 bees as he has told you." 



I then asked him if he had mentioned the 

 matter to any of the doctors, and he replied: 



"Yes, I did, and our family physician said 

 right away that one of their medical journals 

 contained an account of a woman who was 

 cured of eczema in much the same way." 



"But, Mr. Laugdon. have the bee-stings 

 proved to be a remedy since you bought that 

 stinging colony of Mr. Jones'.'" 



" Yes, in a measure; but the cure has not 

 been as complete as in the first case, because 

 I can not manage to get the bees to sting 

 me as they did then." 



It would look a little, friends, as if the 

 bees had tired of the fun as soon as they 

 found out what our good friend bought them 

 and kept them for. 1 have given you the 

 facts as I could gather them. 



While on this subject I might mention that, 

 at the Philadelphia field day. Dr. Frank 

 McGlinn came on the stand before the auili- 

 ence, and Mr. Selser explained that Mr. M. 

 had been for years obliged to go about on 

 crutches on account of rheumatism. Through 

 the use of bee-stings he had discarded 

 crutches, and was able to get around pretty 

 well without them. Mr. Selser said he would 

 now come before the audience and show 

 them how he "took his medicine." He bar- 

 ed his arm nearly to the elbow, then picked 

 bees off from a comb held by an attendant, 

 and made them sting his 'ijare arm fifty 

 times. Mr. Selser said if any one doubted 

 about taking fifty stings he could come for- 

 ward ami see the stings still i-emaining in 

 the arm. When somebody asked if it was 

 not a pretty tough remedy he replied that it 

 was not as tough, and did not last as long as 

 the rheumatism did. — A. 1. K. 



