AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



265 



style as shall remind the honorable 

 Washington gentlemen of the sweetness 

 of the labors of the " blessed bees," and 

 shall cause them to yield to the entreat- 

 ies of so deserving a cause. 



Later. — Since the foregoing was put 

 in type, we have received Gleanings for 

 Aug. 15, and we would call attention to 

 what Rro. Root says further in regard 

 to Mr. Larrabee's return to " his position 

 as experimenter in apiculture :" 



In our last issue, we announced that 

 J. H. Larrabee had been discontinued 

 from his position as experimenter in 

 apiculture to the United States Govern- 

 ment. It will be remembered that Prof. 

 Cook requested bee-keepers to write to 

 the Department, asking that Mr Lar- 

 rabee be retained. Besides sending a 

 marked copy, we sent a personal letter, 

 and have just received word from the 

 Department this morning, informing us 

 that the employment of Mr. Larrabee is 

 quite out of the question, as the appro- 

 priation by Congress has been reduced 

 from $27,500 to $17,500, and that the 

 latter sum is insufficient to carry on the 

 more legitimate work of the Division. 

 Mr. Frank Benton, however, is retained 

 on the force at present, so apiculture 

 will not be entirely neglected. 



From this, of course, it will now be 

 useless to write to Washington asking 

 for Mr. Larrabee's return. We are glad 

 that Mr. Benton is to be retained, -so 

 that our pursuit will have at least one 

 representative at " head-quarters." Mr. 

 Benton will faithfully watch the inter- 

 ests of bee-keepers, as he is fully com- 

 petent, and intensely devoted to the 

 work. 



Feeders and Feeding: is to be 



the special topic of the September Bee- 

 Keepers' Review. The July and August 

 numbers were devoted to " Smoke and 

 Smokers." Those two issues couldn't 

 have been said to be "smokeless" or 

 " smokerless ;" so it was not entirely a 

 "smokeless battle," even in a bee-peri- 

 odical. 



Don't Fail to read all of page 261. 



Sugar-Honey in Germany. 



— It seems that a new enemy has arisen 

 to deceive the over-credulous and annoy 

 the producers of honest honey — this 

 time, according to " reports," from 

 " over the sea." We shouldn't wonder, 

 however, upon a thorough investigation, 

 that it will prove to be like many 

 another statement — merely the foolish 

 imaginings of a notoriety-seeking scrib- 

 bler. Mr. W. M. Barnum wrote us as 

 follows concerning the new would-be 

 enemyof our pursuit, on Aug. 5, 1892, 

 from Belmont, N. Y. : 



Friend York: — You, and our old 

 friend Newman, have done yeomanry 

 service to the bee-keeping cause, in de- 

 fending it from the spurious and danger- 

 ous attacks of the cranks and fools who 

 dare, in the face of their better judg- 

 ment (let us hope !) to send out to the 

 world such ridiculous messages as the 

 enclosed. They are nothing more than 

 an attack upon apiculture — and an ex- 

 tremely dangerous one at that. The 

 one I send you is far worse than the 

 average, as it comes from one of the 

 leading " plate companies" of the coun- 

 try (Century Press Co., Washington, 

 Nashville, Albany, etc.), and is sent out 

 this week to their hundreds of news- 

 paper patrons. The assumption they 

 make of the possibility to make a " per- 

 fect substitute," or artificial honey, 

 should be counteracted or withdrawn 

 without delay. Let the bee-keepers 

 awake to the danger — financially and 

 morally — of this subtle enemy. 



Fraternally Yours, 



W. M. Barnum. 



Here is the paragraph referred to by 

 Mr. Barnum in the above letter : 



A substitute for honey has been intro- 

 duced in Germany under the name of 

 " sugar-honey," and consists of inverted 

 sugar, water, minute amounts of min- 

 eral substances and free acid. It has 

 the characteristic taste and odor of bee- 

 honey. An examination shows that the 

 artificial product is both chemically and 

 physically a perfect substitute for bee- 

 honey. As the article can be produced 

 at a lower price than honey, the only 

 product left to the bee-grower is the 

 beeswax. 



What next ! We are no sooner rid of 

 the unfortunate and careless "manu- 

 factured comb honey" statements and 



