THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



443 



though I have not observed that point 

 carefully. I do not think it possible 

 to induce the bees to build cells in 

 vertical rows without the use of cells 

 of full length.— James Heddon.] 



Bees Bringing in Basswood Honey. 



—Joshua IJull, Seymour, oAVis., on 

 July H, 18S6, writes : 



My bees have done fairly well thus 

 far. Wlien white clover should have 

 been at its best, it was so hot and dry 

 that it could not yield much nectar ; 

 then came a rainy week, and by the 

 time the weather got settled again, 

 the best of the bloom was gone. I 

 think the bees are bringing in bass- 

 wood honey to-day. and the prospects 

 are good for an excellent harvest, if 

 the weather should continue favora- 

 ble for the ingathering thereof. We 

 have had some extremely hot weather; 

 on the <)th inst. the mercury was up 

 to 98° in the coolest shade that could 

 be found. The heat was very oppres- 

 sive, thrifty growing plants wilted be- 

 neath the scorching rays of the snu, 

 and bees spread over the outside of 

 their hives. 



Prolific Bees', Lots of Honey, etc. 

 — J. M. liambaugh. Spring, ^o Ills., on 

 June 29, 188(1, writes : 



This has been one of the most won- 

 derful years in the history of the 

 country, for increase of bees. Every- 

 body's bees are swarming, swarming, 

 swarming, until old nail-kegs, boxes, 

 etc., have been resorted to, and many 

 have absconded to the woods, and the 

 consequence is, the woods are full. I 

 have managed to hold my own level — 

 in about 125 colonies I have had 1.5 

 swarms, and extracted nearly 3.000 

 pounds of lioney, and ],.500 pounds 

 more waiting. Forty-nine colonies 

 produced 1,065 in 6 days, and partially 

 sealed the same. Cool weather has 

 checked the flow at the present. 



More Misrepresentations about 

 Honey. — K. M. Ilayhurst, Kansas 

 City,*o Mo., writes thus : 



On page 420 of the " Home Hand- 

 Book of Domestic Hygiene, by J. H. 

 Kellogg, M. I)., of Battle Creek, 

 Mich.," I Und the following unquali- 

 fied statements, under the head of 

 " Adulterated and Artificial Honey :" 



" A large share of the strained 

 honey in market is adulterated with 

 glucose, as well as are syrups. In 

 some cases so-called honey contains 

 not a particle of the genuine article, 

 being simply a flavored syrup of glu- 

 .cose. We have examined specimens 

 in which considerable quantities of 

 sulphuric acid were present. * * * 

 It is stated that another very ingeni- 

 ous form of adulteration of honey has 

 been quite extensively practiced. 

 What is termed the foundation of the 

 comb is made of paraffine, a wax-like 

 substance made from petroleum. This 

 saves the bees much labor, as they 

 have but to build up the cells on the 

 foundation furnished them. Then to 



still further economize their time and 

 labor, they are abundantly supplied 

 with glucose in solution, which they 

 have but to transfer to the comb, thus 

 avoiding the trouble of gathering 

 sweets from distant fields. * * * 

 This certainly caps the climax of 

 adulterations." 



Dr. Kellogg, the writer of the above, 

 is also Physician-in-Chief of the Sani- 

 tarium, at Battle Creek, Mich., and 

 editor of their periodical, Oood Health. 

 The copy from which the extract is 

 made, is of the 13th thousand, 1885. 

 Dr. Kellogg"s publications have a 

 wide-spread influence, and the fore- 

 going statements, which are mislead- 

 ing iiiulpracticaUi/ false, are calculated 

 to do great damage to the interests of 

 bee-keepers — an industrious and hon- 

 orable class of people. 



[As General Manager of the ISfation- 

 Bee-Keepers" Union, we have sent the 

 above to Mr. Kellogg, with the fol- 

 lowing letter : 



Ot't'iCE OF THE National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, Chicago, III., 



Dr. J. II. Kellogg : Bear Sir.— By 

 the enclosed " proof " of an article for 

 the American Bee Journal, you 

 will see that we have a " bone to pick" 

 witli you. You have simply repeated 

 the falsehoods of Prof. Wiley, who 

 has admitted that he wrote them as 

 " scientific pleasantries," never think- 

 ing that any intelligent person would 

 imagine them to be facts ! ! 



Your assertion about paraffine comb 

 being filled with glucose is a little im- 

 provement upon Prof. Wiley's ; he 

 had it made " complete comb, filled 

 with glucose and capped by ma- 

 chinery." You assert that it is sim- 

 ply comb foundation, built out by the 

 bees and by them filled with glucose, 

 etc. 



l"ou should be well aware that bees 

 will not take glucose when hon«y is to 

 be obtained, and only when starving to 

 death will they touch it. 



You ought to know that the comb 

 foundation almost universally used by 

 bee-keepers is to aid the bees by giv- 

 ing them wax sheets just when need- 

 ed to receive the pure honey when it 

 is found in the fiowers, or else to aid 

 the queen to keep up the strength of 

 the colony, by giving her cells to lay 

 in at the proper time— and is made of 

 pure beeswnx. If any adulteration of 

 it can be found it does not amount to 

 one pound to a thousand pounds of 

 the pure. Y'our statement is there- 

 fore not true, and o great damage to 

 an honest industry. I hope you will 

 at once retract it, and by all proper 

 means counteract its evil influence. 

 Y'ours, etc. 

 THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



General Manager. 



[We are surprised that Dr. Kellogg 

 should make such assertions— without 

 the slightest shadow of proof. If he 

 is honest, however, he will be glad to 

 make due amends, — Ed,] 



Dry Weather.— P. Sunday ,GoodeIls, 



cwMich,, on July 5, 18S(), says : 



The honey season has been good up 

 to the present time, but it is getting 

 very dry here and if we do not get 

 rain soon our honey-flow will be cut 

 short, Basswood is just commencing 

 to blossom, but I do not think we will 

 get much honey from it on account of 

 the dry weather. 



Bees in a College Building.— D. R. 



Rosebrough, Casey, o* Ills., writes : 



In a village in this county is a col- 

 lege building that was built 25 years 

 ago. It is a large, two-story brick, 

 and has old-fashioned cornice. Several 

 years ago some bees took possession 

 of it, and now they are working in it 

 at five different parts of the cornice. 

 I should like to know whether they 

 swarm, or do they move around the 

 building from the one colony. The 

 cornice is some 2 feet high. 



[I have had no experience nor op- 

 portunity for observation in this line, 

 but from' what I know of the instincts 

 and habits of bees, and from what I 

 have been told by persons that had 

 no object in deceiving, I conclude 

 that bees in these large cavities do 

 divide, becoming separate colonies, 

 each with its own queen, and some- 

 times pass out and in through a com- 

 mon entrance, as they are seen com- 

 ing from ledges of rocks along some 

 of our American rivers. If the five 

 different places of ingress and egress 

 are quite a distance apart, ajid a good 

 working force passes each, I should 

 conclude that there was more than 

 one colony and one queen in the cor- 

 nice.— James Heddon.] 



Bee-Keeping in Virginia.— J. Few 

 Brown, Winchester, 6 Va., on July 2, 

 18SG, says : 



The bees in this section came 

 through the winter stronger than tor 

 a number of years. Our honey sea- 

 son is nearly over ; hail, rains and 

 cool nights have curtailed the surplus 

 yield considerably. We have had 

 more swarms than for five years. 



Good Indications.— John Moller, 

 Sr., Fremont, o Neb., on July 1, 1886, 

 says : 



I commenced in the spring with 60 

 colonies, and increased them by natu- 

 ral swarming to 120 colonies. The 

 prairies are covered with a profusion 

 of bloom ; the weather is sultry and 

 hot. The beesare storing fast ; every 

 indication of a good honey season. 



Frank Cliesliire's new book on Bees 

 and Bee-Keepinjr, can be had at this office.— 

 Vol. I, bound in cloth, $2.50, postpaid. 



