THE america:n bee journal. 



567 



as I toltl you of. and then not till the 

 young queen had hatched, so there 

 were two queens in ttie hive. No 

 bees are ever placed in the casje witli 

 the queen as some have suggested. 

 and I believe it not wise to do so. I 

 belie\ e I liave now answered all of 

 the questions asked, and hope that it 

 is plain enough so that all can under- 

 stand it. 

 IJorodino. N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



"What is Itr' 



C. H. COGSWELL. 



Mr. Kemp, on page 536, attempts an 

 explanation of the phenomonon called 

 •■ lioney-dew." lie repudiates the 

 " aphida' theory "" and claims that it is 

 a result of "' aromatic exhalations of 

 flowers, etc." If I understand him, 

 he argues that there is not an •' aro- 

 matic" but a saccharine exhalation or 

 evaporation from flowers, which, un- 

 der favorable conditions, becomes so 

 concentrated as to condense in the 

 form of " honey-dew " on leaves, etc. 



Xow, will some of the scientists 

 tell us whether the saccharine sub- 

 stance of honey — the sugar — evapor- 

 ates or passes iiito the atmosphere in 

 the form of insensible vapor V or is it 

 the case with a saccharine fluid as with 

 brine, that the water evaporates leav- 

 ing a residuum of sugar (or salt) re- 

 maining V The vapor that rises from 

 the ocean returns in the form of fresh 

 water, and the vapor that rises from 

 the honey-cavity of flowers, or from 

 uncapped combs in the process of 

 •■ ripening," is probably only a sur- 

 plus of water, with no sensible trace 

 of sweetness about it. 



I will give one reasonable ground 

 for believing that Mr. Kemp has not 

 hit the true theory of "honey-dew." 

 lie says • " Honey-dew is formed 

 only on hard, smooth, glazed leaves, 

 such as the poplar, oak. and others." 

 Others probably includes maples 

 (silver), for it was very abundant on 

 some of these trees along our streets 

 this season, so plentiful as to drop off 

 and thickly sprinkle the sidewalks. 

 I noticed, however, that while it was 

 very abundant on some silver maple 

 trees, it did not appear on others 

 near, or on the opposite side of the 

 street. It it was a saccharine conden- 

 sation in the atmosphere, why did it 

 affect one tree abundantly and not 

 appear at all on another tree with the 

 same kind of leaves and only a few 

 yards distant i* I further noticed that 

 all those trees, upon which I saw 

 " honey-dew," were covered with the 

 "scales" and "cottony" substance 

 (spoken of by Prof. Cook and others) 

 on the under surface of the limbs. 

 There were no scales where there was 

 no honey- dew, and vice versa. 



Further, the foliage of the trees 

 upon which there was " honey-dew" 

 is now dark-colored and rusty, as if 

 sprinkled with soot from coal-smoke, 

 and the trees look old and sickly. On 

 my own place. II2 miles from" town, 

 which is largely given to orchard, 

 nursery and groves in which maple 

 abounds, no scale-lice nor "honey- 

 dew " appeared. 



As matters i>f theory and observa- 

 tion, I am constrained to believe that 

 the weight of evidence is still with 

 the scientists, though my neighlnir 

 says that he has seen all the leaves in 

 a Jlissouri forest covered witli "honey- 

 dew," and no lice; but then, my 

 neighbor, though positive, is not a 

 close and critical observer. 



Virden, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Is Honey Poisonous? 



DR. G. L. TINKER. 



By request I have prepared this 

 article in reply to the following ques- 

 tions concerning the effects of honey : 



Is it a fact that honey is poisonous 

 to some people V I have heard that a 

 certain lady who ate some honey, 

 died of its effects in a very short 

 time ; also, that it produces colic in 

 some people who eat it. Is there any 

 truth in these assertions V Is it pos- 

 sible for honey to produce death ? 

 and, if so, from what cause V 



A Lover of Honey. 



There are several interesting facts 

 relative to the ill-effects of honey on 

 the digestive organs of many persons. 

 It cannot be said, however, that honey 

 is in any sense " poisonous." There 

 is perhajjs one exception in the case 

 of the honey from the Ealmia laUfolia 

 or sheep-laurel, also called mountain- 

 laurel, lambkill, etc. The beautiful 

 shrub from which the honey is pro- 

 duced, is from 5 to lO.feet high, and is 

 found in all the Atlantic States. Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and 

 Kentucky, growing on rocky hills, 

 and on the bluffs along rivers, etc. It; 

 is not plentiful, but occasionally 

 forms dense thickets. The leaves are 

 evergreen, leathery, and very smootli. 

 The flowers are numerous, white, or 

 rose-colored, and bloom in .June. 



Laurel honey is capable of produc- 

 ing severe effects if eaten too freely, 

 such as headache, impaired vision, 

 difliculty of breathing, sickness at the 

 stomach, and diminished circulation 

 with coldness of the extremities. Its 

 effects are readily counteracted by a 

 good stimulant like whisky. 



The leaves of the shrub liave proven 

 a valuable remedy in the practice of 

 many physicians, and the honey 

 would, no doubt, prove very useful 

 in moderate quantities in many dis- 

 eases, if it could be obtained. We 

 believe that it would be exceedingly 

 rare to find it in the market. 



The ill-effects of honey on some 

 persons are due, almost without ex- 

 ception, to the small amount of acid 

 which all honey contains, and wlucli 

 gives it its characteristic flavor. 



AVhere honey disagrees with a per- 

 son, it is a certain indication of weak 

 or impaired digestion, of dyspepsia in 

 fact. The worst cases of dyspepsia 

 that I have ever seen, were those who 

 complained in the early stages of 

 their affection, tliat honev disagreed 

 with them. My advice "to all who 

 cannot eat good honey without bad 

 effects, is to apply to some good physi- 

 cian at once for treatment for divs- 



pepsia. Xo one in these times, when 

 it is so cheap, can afford to forego the 

 luxury of eating honey. 



The " reason wliy " it disagrees, is 

 probably liecause in all cases of slow 

 or weak digestion, acid products 

 arise which have much to do with the 

 discomforts of dyspeptics. Taking 

 the acid contained' in the honey only 

 adds to their troubles in digestion > 

 and hence, it is said to "disagree" 

 with them, anil this disagreement is 

 often manifest in colicky pains. We 

 do not know that eating honey while 

 warm will cause colic, and do not 

 think it ever would in a healthy or- 

 ganization. Doubtless warm lioney 

 would soonest effect an impaired 

 stomach, as all warm fluids taken 

 into that organ take effect sooner 

 than cold ones. 



I would not say that eating honey 

 might not under "some circumstances 

 lead to serious results, for some poor 

 dyspeptics may have already as mucli 

 disorder as can be borne ; and to add 

 to that disorder, just a little more 

 disturbance would be to turn the 

 scale against them. But there are 

 numbers of other agents in general 

 use for food that would opperate in a 

 similar way in such a case. Hence, 

 to say in an unqualified way that 

 honey may cause any one"s death, is 

 to utter ah absurdity. 



As against the few persons w^ho 

 cannot eat honey, we have a large 

 class whose general health is greatly 

 promoted by a regular diet of honey ; 

 and add to this its valuable service in 

 a great many forms of disease, it will 

 be seen how true it is the good things 

 of this life are often decried for no 

 other reason than in some exceptional 

 case a person may be injured thereby. 



New Philadelphia, O. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



N.W. 111. and S. W. Wis. Convention. 



The Northwestern Illinois and 

 Southwestern Wisconsin Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association met at Mr. L. Iligh- 

 barger's, near Adaline, Ogle County, 

 111.,' on Aug. 19,1884. The meeting 

 Was called to order by the President, 

 E. Whittlesey. The Secretary read a 

 report regarding the foul brood ques- 

 tion. In order to secure concerted 

 action, the Secretary had inserted a 

 notice in the Bee .Journal calling 

 for the addresses of the secretaries of 

 all the associations in the State ; and 

 it was hoped by this means to secure 

 a concerted effort to influence legisla- 

 tion to prevent the propagation of 

 foul brood. The notice, however, 

 has not been responded to, and hence 

 no correspondence has been obtained 

 with other associations. Tlie Secre- 

 tary was appointed to present the 

 subject before the Northwestern Asso- 

 ciation, which meets in Chicago on 

 Oct. 1.5 and IB, 1884. 



Six new members were admitted to 

 the Association. The convention 

 then adjourned for dinner, which well 

 deserves the name of feast. One fea- 

 ture deserves special mention. In 

 the centre of the table stood a pyra- 

 mid of honey about 2 feet in height, 

 and built of one-pound sections. It 



