234 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



pie who buy honey in our cities — most of 

 them — can well afford to pay higher prices 

 for fancy honey. They willingly pay 50 

 cents a pound for good butter and 50 cents a 

 dozen the year round for eggs. Formerly 

 the most fastidious buyers were actually 

 afraid to purchase honey. As a matter of 

 fact they were afraid of being poisoned. The 

 new law gives them confidence in what they 

 see offered for sale, and it is confidence 

 which is the root of all business. We do not 

 expect the price ever to go down again to 

 the old level. 



they will have to do without it, because the 

 other kind is deleterious to the public health. 

 Let the good work go on. Honey is by far 

 the best syrup. 



THE NEW PURE-FOOD LAW W^ILL, NOT AD- 

 VANCE PRICES ON ALL COMMODITIES. 



There may be an impression among some 

 that the new pure-food law will raise prices 

 on all articles of food. This is not the case, 

 however, and the tendency will rather work 

 the other way if any thing, on some staples; 

 for example, coffee, sugar, and tea will prob- 

 ably be cheaper, as large profits were made 

 by misrepresentation in these lines. Seven- 

 cent Rio coffee, for example, was sold as the 

 best Java at 30 cents, and so on through a 

 long list. Consumers can not possibly lose 

 any thing by having foods sold for exactly 

 what they are. 



THE EFFECT OF THE PURE-FOOD LAW ON 

 THE SYRUP TRADE. 



A STRAW sometimes shows which way the 

 wind is blowing, quite as well as a sixteen- 

 foot windmill. The Louisana Planter of 

 Jan. 26 states : 



Fortunately for us, however, under the pure-food 

 investigations, and from other causes, the consumers 

 of syrups are becoming more critical, and unwilling 

 longer to consume the vast quantities of flavorless 

 chemically produced corn syrup, and ai-e turning again 

 to the sugar-cane lor a supply. Georgia and Florida 

 have been setting the pace for several years, and hun- 

 dreds of thousands of gallons of desirable syrup are 

 now being marketed throughout the country from 

 these States. Here in Louisiana, several syrup-fac- 

 tories have been recently started, and inquiries are 

 making into the possibility of manufacturing such 

 goods even on a large scale. 



There is no doubt the growers of sugar- 

 cane in the South will very much benefit by 

 the new law, as their product is no longer en- 

 (1 angered by the artificial syrup which has 

 hitherto been foisted on the public as "just 

 as good, " in fact, "better, for less money." 



In line with this movement the United 

 States Department of Agriculture has estab- 

 lished an experimental syrup-farm at Way- 

 cross, Georgia, under the superintendency of 

 Prof. H. W. Wiley. At this plant care is 

 taken to produce syrup free from all chemi- 

 cals. No chemicals at all are used in the 

 course of its manufacture. No sulphur or 

 sulphurous acid is used to bleach it, and even 

 lime is not employed to clarify it. The only 

 method employed is simply the application 

 of heat to the juice, which is skimmed fi'om 

 time to time. 



Thus we get back to first principles. Prof. 

 Wiley truly observes, in the Year Book of 

 Agricnlturc, that, if fastidious consumers do 

 not care for the appearance of this syrup, 



THE EDITOR S TRIP TO CANADA. 



The editor has just returned from a very 

 enthusiastic meeting of the Brant Co. Bee- 

 keepers' Association that was held at Brant- 

 ford, Ont., Can., Jan. 29, 30, 31, which con- 

 vention is reported by Mr. Holtermann else- 

 where. We should have l^een very glad to 

 attend the Ontario meeting, but it came at a 

 time before we could get away. Usually the 

 editor can not leave until after the first or 

 middle of January. 



On this trip we visited Mr. R. F. Holter- 

 mann, of Brantford, and saw his mammoth 

 bee-cellar; called on Mr. J. B. Hall, of Wood- 

 stock, Ont., formerly the comb-honey king of 

 Canada, and Mr. F. J. Miller, of Loncfon, 

 Ontario, a strenuous advocate and user of 

 the Heddon divisible-brood-chamber hive. 

 On our return we stopped at Buffalo and 

 witnessed Mr. Hershiser operate his wax- 

 press, taking photos of each separate step, 

 and inspected his bee-cellar. These various 

 stop-offs will be made the subject of future 

 articles. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A BUSINESS. 



Quite interesting is the fact that Conver- 

 sations with Doolitile in this issue and the 

 article by E. W. Alexander, page 243, are 

 both on the general subject of bee-keeping 

 as an occupation. The first reading shows 

 a striking similarity in the argument, even 

 though there may be some differences of 

 opinion. Both caution the man who starts 

 l^lindly out to specialize in the business with- 

 out being sure either of his ability to han- 

 dle bees or of his love for the work. We 

 believe they are right, for many are tempted 

 to go in the business thinking that they can 

 do as well as some neighbor, even though 

 they may not be fitted in the least for it. 



Mr. Alexander advises a young man to 

 work for some large producer until he has 

 proved to his own satisfaction that he can 

 succeed, while Mr. Doolittle thinks it better 

 for such a beginner to keep bees in connec- 

 tion with some other pursuit until he knows 

 whether he is adapted to it or not. Both 

 plans have advantages. Too many ama- 

 teurs want to become professionals the first 

 year, or to buy three hundred colonies of 

 bees before they can handle thirty. 



Both writers are tooTsroad-minded to think 

 of success as an accumulation of dollars; 

 they count it of much value to be their own 

 employers, to live in the open air, and to 

 have an opportunity of studying nature. 

 There is much in this. Sometimes bee-keep- 

 ers do not realize the privilege which is theirs 

 of working in the pure air and sunshine, but 

 this is why they are so vigorous and why 

 they so seldom have to give up their work: 

 because of failing health. 



Mr. Alexander would have the beginner, 



