cyj^' 



tt Jotrrnal, 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HOiNEY. 



VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 7, 1883. 



No. 45. 



The Effect of Frost on Foul Brood. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 



Ripen the Honey. 



We have just had a jar of honey 

 brought to us to see if it was pure. 

 Tlie owner being fully satisfied that it 

 liad been " doctored " with glucose. 

 AVe examined it and found that it had 

 fermented, and the top of it was all a 

 " ropy mass." A case of sour honey. 



Another correspondent has sent us 

 a sample, and asks us to analyze it, 

 because he thinks it is adulterated. 

 We are not a chemist, and cannot af- 

 ford to hire these specimens analyzed 

 "just for the fun of the thing." It 

 would cost from $10 to $2-5 to do so, 

 every time. 



One of our exchanges very truthfully 

 remarks that " the nectar gathered 

 from the flowers cannot be called 

 honey nntil the evaporation and ripen- 

 ing process has so far gone on that the 

 bees have commenced capping it over. 

 If it be extracted before it is capped 

 by the bees, as some apiarists recom- 

 mefid, on account of the quantity be- 

 ing thereby greatly augmented, then 

 it should be ripened before it is placed 

 in tight packages or shipped, or it is 

 liable to ferment and sour. The bee- 

 beepers of California find it necessary 

 to extract the honey as fast as it is 

 gathered, but they thoroughly ripen it 

 after gathering." 



Mr. Heddon uses crocks, piled over 

 one anotlier, with small sticks between 

 them, allowing the air to pass freely 

 over the honey, and to ripen it. These 

 occupy but little space, and prevents 

 the very disagreeable matter of honey 

 souring, after it has been extracted. 



It is the duty of the producer to see 

 that his honey is ripened properly. No 

 excuse is sufficient for neglecting this 

 important matter. 



Prof. A. J. Cook says in the New 

 York Tribune, that " experience has 

 proved that it is impossible to destroy 

 germs of foul brood by freezing. Ob- 

 sarvation among the lower life forms, 

 as well as research with organic tis- 

 sues and licjuids, prepares us for the 

 answer. ]Many of the lower organ- 

 isms, which are speedily destroyed by 

 great heat, will simply remain fimc- 

 tionally inactive when subjected to 

 cold. Yet their vitality is simply 

 held in abeyance, not destroyed, for 

 upon the return of heat comes func- 

 tional activity and all tlie phenomena 

 which attend life. The same thing is 

 noted in experiments with organic 

 liquids. Gastric or pancreatic diges- 

 tion will proceed as well in a test tube 

 as in the stomacli of intestines, if the 

 requisite conditions of heat, digestive 

 liquids, etc., are present. Subject the 

 material to a boiling temperature, and 

 digestion is not only stopped, but the 

 digestive liquid is forever impotent. 

 Cold, on the other hand, while it stops 

 digestion does not impair the gastric 

 or pancreatic juice. With the return 

 of the proper heat, digestion at once 

 begins again. Thus we see that pro- 

 toplasm or organic cells will endure 

 cold which only stays action, whUe 

 heat utterly destroys." 



&" We have received the drawings 

 of Dr. G. L. Tinker's new hive and 

 comb honey arrangement. As it is 

 designed for the sections to sit parallel 

 with the brood frames, he secures 

 continuous passage ways, and to the 

 bees what appears to be continuous 

 combs. This is, of course, secured by 

 using thin sections without separators. 

 These large-faced thin sections have 

 been approved by honey dealers,and are 

 more enticing to consumers. 



Nonsensical Stories. — Sensational 

 stories about bees and honey are quite 

 frequently seen in the papers. Some- 

 where in the rocks (says one) may be 

 found " a large lake filled with honey !" 

 In the South " they say " that bees 

 will store no honey because they have 

 discovered that there is no need of 

 winter stores where Nature requires 

 no winter ! A lot of such foolish 

 stories are being peddled around by the 

 local papers. This reminds us of an 

 item we saw some time ago in the 

 Farmers^ Beview, of which the follow- 

 ing is a paragraph : 



When anything sensational gets 

 into the papers, how it does go 1 I 

 presume that niany readers of the 

 Farmers'' Review read the story about 

 artificial eggs, but I doubt it any of 

 them saw any of the eggs. Closely 

 following the eggs story, was the 

 highly flavored one of artificial comb 

 honey— combs molded from paraffine, 

 filled with scented glucose and the 

 combs sealed over tmtli a hot iron ! We 

 shall have artificial strawberries yet ! 

 AVhere, and how. such absurd stories 

 originate, it is often impossible to say. 

 About a year ago, an item in regard to 

 managing bees bj; electricity, went the 

 rounds, and now it goes around again. 



1^ See how the subject of " pro- 

 ducing pasturage for bees" progresses! 

 From an agricidtural exchange we 

 clip the following advice : " If honey 

 is the principal desideratum in plant- 

 ing, then harrow in sweet clover this 

 fall, and as you will derive but little if 

 any honey from it next season, in early 

 spring harrow in some mammoth mig- 

 nonette on the same soil, which will 

 bloom in June, and astonish you with 

 the excelleuce of its honey." 



1^ When in earnest is is quite sur- 

 prising what a man can do. Dr. B. F. 

 Hamilton, a well-known physician and 

 surgeon of Henderson County, Illi- 

 nois, has sent us 27 new subscribers. 

 If all those who have a little leisure 

 whould do as much in proportion to 

 the busy Doctor, what a " boom " we 

 should have ! The Doctor has re- 

 ceived as premiums quite a number of 

 excellent bee books. Those who want 

 to add to their libraries, will now be 

 able to do it, for a few hours work in 

 getting subscribers for the Bee Jour- 

 nal. Who will try ? 



Later.— Mr. D. G. Parker, one of 

 the wide-awake bee men of Missouri, 

 has sent us 89 new subscribers. They 

 are rolling in at about a hundred a 

 day. All those who are thus devoting 

 a little time to the matter, have oiu- 

 thanks as well as the premiums. See 

 a new List of Premiums on another 

 page. 



