44 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 9, 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN, 



KMTOK AND PlIOI'KlETOB, 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEB. 9, 1881. 

 Accumulating Disasters. 



will be principally in bitter experience. 

 Opinion has been greatly divided as to 

 the best method of wintering— whether 

 Oil the Bummer stands or in the cellars ; 



Food Adulterations. 



It is gratifying to contemplate the 



general interest being awakened on the 



all 



whether with chaff-packed hives, air- subject of food adulterations, m 



walls, over-absorbents, lower ventila- parts of the country. >ot only are the 

 Hon ,„• no ventilation at all. New masses of the people, individually, fall- 

 theories will be promulgated, and old , ing into line, and closing up the ranks 

 ones abandoned or confirmed, while of the great army of opposition to fraud 



the " I told you so" class will be more 



Artificial Comb Honey. 



From every point of the compass,— 

 north, south, east and west— come tales 

 of losses and disaster in wintering. The 

 poor honey yield of last season, com- 

 bined with the early advent of cold 

 weather, and its long continuance with- 

 out even a slight intermission to admit 

 of a " fly, '" is telling with fearful mor- 

 tality among the poor bees; and many 

 bee-keepers who met with discourage- 

 ment in the spring, and with whom 

 there was no encouraging yield during 

 summer or fall, and now have lost even 

 the few they had left, may well be par- 

 doned for becoming " blue " over the 

 prospect m future. Many fed their bees 

 enough to last till the traditional " Jan- 

 uary thaw " took place: but January 

 has come and gone, and iw moderation 

 of the weather has taken place of suf- 

 ficient length to give the bees a good 

 flight, or allow of feeding. In this lati- 

 itude cold weather set in during Octo- 

 ber, and caught most of the bees not 

 yet properly prepared for even an ordi- 

 nary winter, and too many are in that 

 condition yet. Ordinarily, there is 

 plenty of good weather in November for 

 feeding and packing bees, or putting 

 them in the cellar, but this has been an 

 exception. Then, in January— certainly 

 by the 20th, generally sooner— a mild 

 spell and thaw of several days' duration 

 has occurred, when bees could be fed 

 and looked after ; but this winter one 

 cold spell has but partially moderated 

 to be succeeded by even colder weather ; 

 snowstorms have abated only to be fol- 

 lowed by stronger ones ; western winds 

 have changed only to "nor'- westers" and 

 northers ; our balmy breezes have been 

 transformed into " blizzards," and the 

 gales have assumed the proportions of 

 hurricanes and tornadoes. 



Not alone in this latitude have these 

 extremes occurred. From Canada to 

 Texas, Minnesota to Florida, Maryland 

 to California— all over the Continent- 

 come reports of weather without prece- 

 dent. One correspondent no sooner 

 complains of the weather at 15° below 

 zero in his locality, than another puts 

 him to shame by writing of the 40° 

 below in another location. Railroad 

 trains have been irregular as a rule- 

 not as the exception. From England 

 and the Continent we learn the epidemic 

 of extremes also prevails. Bee-keepers 

 there, as here, have become quite 

 familiar with the oft-repeated line from 

 Shakspeare— 



"Now Is the winter of our discontent"— 



bat the remainder of the quotation is 

 ignored, for nothing has tended to make 

 it *' glorious." With many, already, the 

 uncertainty of wintering has been re- 

 lieved by the certainty of loss, and 

 others await with anxiety the slowly 

 approaching months Of March and April 

 to put an end to their doubts and mis- 

 givings. 



It has been truly said, "there can be 

 no great loss without some compensating 

 gain," but perhaps in this case the gain 



persistent' than ever, should their 

 theories and claims be substantiated by 

 success. Should the bees all be dead in 

 an apiary, there is still the consolation 

 of having the hives and combs left, and 

 the total loss is but partial, after all. 

 Most of the sufferers will not be discour- 

 aged, but with hope of better success 

 in future will try again, and with the 

 experience of the past to guide them in 

 the work to come, must succeed in over- 

 coming all difficulties, and their labors 

 will be crowned with victory. 



It will be interesting to scan our col- 

 umswhen the result is fully known. 

 and compare the various methods of 

 wintering with the different degrees of 

 success. Of course, very many will 

 come through the winter with but 

 trifling loss, but the majority of bee- 

 keepers will, in years to come, recall the 

 wiuter of 1880-81 as the season of dis- 

 aster to bees. The Bee Journal will 

 possess a peculiar interest to all, afford- 

 ing an opportunity to avoid the errors 

 of the past, and containing timely sug- 

 gestions from its many contributors for 

 guidance in the future. 



After all. it is refreshing to read the 

 prediction of Dr. Brown, of Georgia: 

 '■ Without consulting Vennor, or an- 

 other of the prophets, I prophesy that 

 the year 1S81 will most abundantly re- 

 ward the industrious bee-keeper." 



Colchian Honey. 



As bearing upon the frequent allu- 

 sions to poisonous honey, Mr. H. G. 

 Colwell, of Columbus, O., quotes from 

 ancient history the following in refer- 

 ence 'to the famous Colchian honey. 

 We have frequently seen allusions to 

 this honey and its singular effects, but 

 have never been favored with a satis- 

 factory solution of the problem he pro- 

 pounds. Perhaps some of our learned 

 contributors can give the information 

 desired. 



During the retreat of the famous 

 Ten Thousand from Asia Minor to their 

 homesin Greece (B. C. 401), they passed 

 through the territory of the Colchians. 

 The country literally flowed with milk 

 and honey, the soldiers were well re- 

 ceived, and refreshed themselves after 

 the innumerable hardships they had 

 undergone, by a repose of thirty days. 

 They partook of the Colchian honey, 

 and it produced a singular effect upon 

 the Greeks. It was very well flavored 

 and inviting to the palate, and when 

 eaten in small quantities caused a 

 species of intoxication : but those whose 

 gluttonous appetites lead them into 

 excesses, were seized with violent fits of 

 vomiting and diarrhea and sometimes 

 thrown into a state resembling madness. 

 Query:— Why did the ancient Col- 

 chian honey cause the above disorders? 



and swindling, but societies, corpora- 

 tions and communities are becoming 

 awakened at last, and the good work is 

 beginning to assume shape and dimen- 

 sions that will eventually demand active 

 recognition in the halls of Congress. 

 Every mail brings letters encouraging 

 us in the good work we have com- 

 menced of an unrelenting warfare upon 

 this dangerous and enormous system of 

 thieving. Meantime, let the agitation 

 be continued, and everywhere de- 

 nounce the sale of any article, whether 

 in quantities great or small, by any other 

 name than its proper one. We expect 

 shortly to be able to present our readers 

 with a perfected bill embodying our 

 views, and providing for a general 

 remedy to all classes of honest pro- 

 ducers. The matter is now under con- 

 sideration by an eminent jurist and 

 legislator of Iowa, and we have no 

 doubt it will meet the long-felt wants 

 of the public, and give our readers a 

 basis or standpoint upon which to work. 

 We are satisfied a general law will be 

 the only redress, and our former belief 

 regarding the futility of special legisla- 

 tion by State bodies, is strengthened by 

 scores of letters and congratulations. 

 In confirmation, we give the following 

 letter written by Prof. J. Hasbrouck, 

 to the Bee-Keepers' Magazine, and pub- 

 lished in the February number of that 

 paper. As it explains itself, we will 

 make no further comment at this time : 



Probably many of your readers will 

 be interested to know the fate of the 

 effort to enforce the law passed by the 

 Legislature of New Jersey in the win- 

 ter of 1878-79 against the sale of adul- 

 terated honey. In the early fall I 

 gathered 15 or 20 bottles of what is sold 

 in the groceries of Jersey City as "choice 

 honey," and, upon analysis, finding 

 them to consist almost entirely of glu- 

 cose syrup, flavored with a little honey 

 or wintergreen oil, I went before the 

 Grand Jury of the December term of 

 Court in Hudson County, and entered 

 complaints against several prominent 

 grocers of whom I had bought the spec- 

 imens. I am sorry to say that the 

 "grand inquest" failed to indict. 

 Their reasons I could judge from the 

 questions asked me. 



The Weekly Bee Journal made its 

 appearance, and I also add my testimony 

 of approval in the change. It will no 

 doubt receive all the support necessarj 

 to its successful retention as a Weekly. 



The following appeared in the Toron- 

 to a lnh, vesterday and surprised me nota 

 little, and as I could not believe a word 

 of it. I wrote to the editor and contra- 

 dicted it, for could there really be such 

 an institution in existence without your 

 knowing it? You would certainly not 

 think of leaving the bee-keeping fra- 

 ternity in such blissful ignorance. Well 

 here it is : 



^" The editor of the Bee Journal 

 is now absent. He left Chicago on the 

 3ist ult., to attend the Northeastern 

 Convention, at Utica, N. Y., on the 2d, 

 3d and' 4th inst., and will return via 

 Ohio, to attend the Convention at An- 

 dover, O., on the 8th and 9th inst. lie 

 left in a snowstorm, which prevailed 

 during the whole trip to Utica, where 

 he arnvedOhours behind schedule time. 



are sorry to learn of the misfor- 

 tunes of Mr. A. F. Moon, and feel con- 

 fident our readers will all sympathize 

 with him. His has indeed been a trying 

 time. The following is an extract from 

 a private letter recently received : 



The past has been a most unfortunate 

 season with me. I have received no 

 honey, and had no queens or bees to sell. 

 and have not been able to transact any 

 business, on account of my lameness, 

 which ended in the loss of my limb. In 

 fact, I was compelled to go on crutches 

 all the season. 1 am somewhat better 



now, but have not been to our postoffice 



since the 11th of last May. which is only 



•^blocks from me. This, you know, is 

 hard for a man accustomed to walking 

 and stilling around. I live in hopes 

 that this year will be a good one for 

 both bees and honey. We had a few 

 cold days in December, but the weather 



is warm now; the bees are flying, and 

 some are carrying in bee-bread. By the 



way, the Wce'klv came in to-day's mail, 

 which just tills the bill; it is just what 

 all bee-keepers want— a Weekly Bee 

 Journal. Long may it live, with suc- 

 C6SS to its editor. A. F. MOON. 



Rome, 6a., Jan. 10, 1881. 



■■ Some unsophisticated purchasers of 

 honey imagine that by buying honey in 

 the comb they are sure of getting an 

 unadulterated article. A great mistake. 

 There is an establishment in Boston 

 where artificial combs— not foundation 

 merely, but combs— are made in such 

 perfection that it would require an ex- 

 pert to detect the fraud, Faraffine, not 

 wax. is the material used. When the 

 nl is are made they are tilled with imi- 

 tation honey made from glucose, worth 

 3or 4 cents per lb., and flavored to taste. 

 A hot iron is then passed over, the cells 

 are sealed, and the 'comb honey' is 

 ready for sale." 



What use will there be for your much 

 cherished coming bee. Apis Ami rieana, 

 in the face of such comb honey— mak- 

 ing by automatic process in your midst. 

 I hope for a cheerful rejoinder from 

 your pen on the above. 



In your number for Jan. 19, your cor- 

 respondents. Greiner Bros., refer your 

 readers in one of their paragraphs to 

 page 355 (1879), where he has recourse 

 to the what he calls "shaking off pro- 

 cess." but I cannot tind anything in that 

 Journal on that point. Will he please 

 explain V I am much interested to 

 know how done, &c. I have gone 

 through all the same processes to pre- 

 vent swarming with the same results as 

 he has. and not only removed every 

 queen-cell, but at the same time took 

 all the honey away from 28colonies in 

 1879, arid everyone swarmed within 2 

 .lavs after the operation. Colonies that 

 [ ran for the extractor, I never had one 

 vet to swarm. I have had them pre- 

 paring queen-cells and capping it, and 

 vet not swarm, and this all in a good 

 flow of honey, ami its preparation not 

 being a supeisedure either, for the cells 

 had all disappeared inside a week, and 

 no honey removed from the hive during 

 the time. Of course the colony had all 

 the combs they could cover. 



C. WllisTEII. 



Kleinburg, Ont.. .Ian. 25. 1881. 



Mr. Wurster was right in denying the 

 article in the Toronto Globe. We fre- 

 quently hear, from the unsophisticated, 

 doubts as to the purity of comb honey, 

 and it is not to be wondered at. when 

 almost every delicacy, and, in fact, 

 nearly every necessary in the food line, 

 is adulterated ; but the manufacture of 

 artificial comb has never yet been ac- 

 complished. Neither do we believe 

 that bees have been seduced into mak- 

 ing combs from paralline wax. So that 

 all may rest assured of the purity of 

 the wax composing the combs in which 

 the bees store their honey. As to in- 

 ducing bees to store glucose for honey, 

 it is a matter of doubt whether it can be 

 done with sufficient profit to tempt the 

 cupidity of any dishonestly-disposed 

 bee-keeper; and it would require a very 

 skillful bee-keeper to succeed in having 

 it stored anil Capped over. Again, the 

 feasibility of capping or sealing honey 

 with a hot iron— well, the writer of the 

 paragraph referred to might put in a 

 few weeks very industriously experi- 

 menting in that line, and, after repeated 

 failures, he would conclude that the 

 success of the fraud existed only in his 

 inventive imagination. Of course, we 

 make no allusion to the difficult task of- 

 depositing the glucose in the cells, 

 Which will be found a work requiring 



