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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



vt Hunt's honey was sold early to a local 

 dealer in Riverside. The greater por- 

 tion of the honey from the apiary that I 

 worked was sent under my own name to 

 a Boston firm, Mr. W. E. Clark, Mr. H. 

 E. Wilder, and myself, loading a car. 

 To the certain knowledge of us three, 

 there was never a drop of glucose within 

 five miles of that carload until we carted 

 it through the streets of Riverside, and 

 then the only chance of it being near 

 glucose is that there might have been 

 some in confectionary shops ; and it left 

 California as did all of the honey in San 

 Bernardino County— the pure, unadul- 

 terated sweet. When I say " all of the 

 honey in San Bernardino County," I 

 wish people to understand it just as I 

 put it. 



It is possible that in our large centres, 

 like Los Angeles and San Francisco, it 

 is adulterated, and there are rumors to 

 that efifect. If it is, it is adulterated for 

 local markets in near-by States, and I 

 do not believe our honey is adulterated 

 to much of an extent, to ship across the 

 continent ; and for the very good and 

 sufficient reason that it would hardly 

 pay to ship glucose out here to ship back 

 again. 



Nearly all of our large dealers have 

 houses in the East, and when they pro- 

 ceed to adulterate, the honey is shipped, 

 and mixed on your side of the Rockies, 

 saving quite an item of freightage on 

 the adulterant. 



Now while I speak in full vindication 

 of Mr. Hunt on this side of the conti- 

 nent, I am srue I cannot say what he 

 has been doing since he went East in 

 August. I am aware that a carload of 

 comb and extracted honey was shipped 

 to him after he had been in the East a 

 few weeks, and I was informed that it 

 was shipped to St. Paul, Minn.; further 

 than that I know nothing about his 

 operations, for there has been no corre- 

 spondence between us since he went 

 East. I sincerely hope Mr. Hunt can 

 clear his skirts of this grave charge, not 

 only for his own sake, but also for the 

 sake of his family and friends here. 



During my acquaintance with Mr. 

 Hunt the past two years, I have found 

 him strictly honorable in his dealings 

 with me. 



I think at least in one case, in the 

 Von Dorn controversy, that Mr. Hunt 

 was exonerated ; at least I was so in- 

 formed and made such a statement in 

 my description of Messrs. Wheeler & 

 Hunt's apiaries, in Oleaninys for De- 

 cember, 1892. 



I wish also to speak a word for Mr. 

 Wheeler, being a partner with Mr. 



Hunt ; and if Mr. Hunt is guilty of the 

 charge of adulteration, then Mr. W. 

 might come in for a part of the censure. 

 Mr. Wheeler is merely a capitalist in 

 the business, and not a bee-manager. 

 He lives in Riverside, and is Superin- 

 tendent of the Victor gold mine, and if 

 any adulteration has been practiced his 

 name cannot be connected with it. Mr. 

 Wheeler's name stands well with busi- 

 ness men, and he is a very honorable 

 man. 



I think that California bee-keepers 

 will be aroused to defend the fair name 

 of their product, and will stand by the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union in all efforts to pun- 

 ish the guilty parties, be they friends, or 

 anybody else. And if they do arouse, 

 may God have mercy on the culprit. 



Bloomington, Calif. 



A Non-Swarming; Strain of Bees 

 -Tiie Other Side. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY S. E. MILLER. 



I fear when the reader's eyes fall on 

 the above heading, he will be tempted 

 to pass it by, as the subject seems so 

 threadbare ; but as most of the writers 

 on this subject favor the idea of event- 

 ually producing a non-swarming strain 

 of bees, perhaps something on the nega- 

 tive side would not be amiss. 



The prevention of increase seems to 

 have been desirable almost as far back 

 as the history of the honey-bee extends 

 — at least by certain bee-masters and 

 under certain conditions ; and from then 

 down to the present day, it has remained 

 an unsolved problem. 



Who has ever tried to produce a strain 

 of cattle, hogs or chickens that would 

 not increase if given the opportunity ? 

 I think I hear some one say, "Ridicu- 

 lous ! who would want such cattle," 

 etc. ? I answer, no one, of course; but 

 suppose such was desirable, how would 

 we attempt to produce such strain ? Has 

 not the Groat Master, who made the 

 cattle, made the bee also? Has He not 

 placed within it the same instinct to 

 multiply, in order that its kind may not 

 become' extinct ? Why do bees swarm ? 

 is another question often asked, and one 

 often answered with a long-winded at- 

 tempt at wisdom or science, while the 

 answer is simple, short, and definite. 

 Simply because the Almighty God in- 

 tended that they should swarm — in- 

 crease. 



We might as well ask why the Canada 



