170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



placed a nucleus, which robbers got well 

 started in; but they took no notice of the 

 lower hive, nor did they crawl or fly about 

 the feeder, which can not be said of the 

 Boardman feeder nor the leaky division- 

 board feeder; and, further, my feeder is all in- 

 side; and if the syrup is carefully poured in, 

 there is nothing to attract the bees. 



In order to have this feeder slide under 

 the hive I had to add a IJ-inch strip on both 

 sides of the Danz. bottom-board side rails 

 F, Fig. 3. This enables it to pass clear of 

 the hive-stand, and gives me a winter side 

 (which I am obliged to have) in wintering 

 in my cellar, as the Danz. opening is not 

 enough. 



When we leave the capacity of a stimula- 

 tive feeder, I can't see why we should not 

 use the Miller size. You will see by my 

 Danz. feeder that I can replace it by the 

 regular bottom-boards at any time by simply 

 sliding them in in its place. 



Clarkson, N. Y. 



[The feeder here shown would undoubted- 

 ly give good results. One would have to be 



a sort of carpenter, however, to rig up some- 

 thing of this nature. An oi'dinary person 

 would not be able to make a close enough 

 fit so that the slide-board containing the pan 

 would work free without hitching or catch- 

 ing. — Ed.] 



. ■ ■ ■««»■« 



THE NEW PURE-FOOD LAAV. 



The Difficulty of Properly Labeling Comb 

 Honey.. 



BY K. D. CHAPPELL. 



I have been reading with much interest 

 your discus:sion of the pure-food law in re- 

 gard to honey, and must say that I am on 

 the "fence" when it comes to selling my 

 comb honey for pure white clover, pure bass- 

 wood, or pure any thing, for that matter. I 

 will try to illustrate the point 1 wish to 

 make. Just after the close of the white- 

 clover flow the past season I bought some 

 beautiful white comb honey cheap, for the 

 reason that it was not separatored, and the 

 sections were soiled, but the combs were 

 very white. I bought it for our own family 

 use, and sold my own, which was in plain 

 sections, and, being built between fences, was 

 nice and straight. Well, when we came to 

 eating the honey I found it badly tinctured 

 with honey from the bi'ood-nest, which had 

 been carried up to make more room for the 

 queen. Now, before tasting the above-men- 

 tioned honey I should not have hesitated to 

 sell it for pui'e white-clover honey; but had 

 I done so 1 would have laid myself liable to 

 prosecution under the new pure-food law. 



How are producers of comb honey to know 

 what kind of honey each section contains, 

 without sampling it? 



Vassar, Mich. 



[Why, friend Chappell, the problem is not 

 so diftii^ult as you apparently think. You 

 probably sell honey in your own locality, or 

 at least within the confines of your own 

 State. You will not forget that the national 

 pure-food law applies only to territorial and 

 interstate business — not to business conduct- 

 ed wholly within the State. The small hon- 

 ey-producer who sells his product will not 

 be likely to be affected; but the shipper — 

 that is, the corporation or individual that 

 has been doing a general mixing business, 

 will necessarily do some interstate business, 

 and because of this he dare not put up any 

 foods or drugs unless the label and contents 

 conform entirely to the provisions of the 

 new law. 



But suppose you were to ship your honey 

 out of the State. If you do not put any la- 

 bel on it, so long as it is pure, no matter how 

 many the sources from which it was gather- 

 ed, you would in no wise be affected by the 

 law; and we doubt very much whether, if 

 you labeled it "pure clover honey," and 

 there should be a little basswood mixed with 

 it, the oflicers would make any trouble; but 

 if you label your product "Pure Comb Hon- 

 ey" you will be entirely safe. — Ed.] 



