826 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



storms for at least one season; and while it 

 may be considerable work to untie the strings 

 and put them on again, you will probably 

 conclude that a winter case made of solid 

 wood will be a justifiable expense. The pa- 

 per, of course, will be good for only one 

 season. 



PARAFFINE PALMED OFF AS CERESINE. 



A CIRCULAR letter has been recently sent 

 out by an Austrian firm calling attention to 

 the deception being practiced by certain firms 

 in this country who send or export to Ger- 

 many paraifine wax which, by various means, 

 is made to resemble ceresine wax. Appar- 

 ently the bulk of the so-called ceresine im- 

 ported is simply " doctored " or "doped" 

 paraffine. They use small quantities of the 

 genuine wax, together with aniline dyes to 

 give the required color. To make it appear 

 opaque they mold it at a low temperature. 



If we ai'e not misinformed this same "cere- 

 sine" is intended for human consumption in 

 some cases, and hence comes under the scope 

 of the United States pure-food laws. Ave 

 may explain to our readers that ceresine is 

 a superior mineral wax made from ozokerit, 

 which is mined in Austria. If the United 

 States Department of Agricultvire and Inter- 

 nal Revenue officers of the Treasury act in 

 this matter there ought to be no difficulty in 

 stopping this dishonest tmde. 



This practice is largely followed to get 

 away from buying beeswax, for some pur- 

 poses at least. 



Of course bee-keepers need have no fear 

 in buying comb foundation, for nothing but 

 pure beeswax is used by the manufacturers 

 of this article. It has been intimated once 

 or twice that adulterated foundation could 

 be bought in this country; but so far as we 

 know, thei'e is absolutely none of it. 



WEATHER CONDITIONS AND HONEY PROS- 

 PECTS UP TO JUNE 8. 



Weather conditions have continued to be 

 unfavorable, with a cool or chilly atmos- 

 phere, with much rain and occasional snows 

 in the northern portions of the country. In 

 Cleveland, Uhrichsville, and many other 

 points in Northeastei-n Ohio, for example, light 

 Hurries of snow were reported on June 6th. 

 This broke all records since 1882, and simi- 

 lar conditions were reported in some of the 

 other Northei'n cities. 



The clovers and basswood seem to be back- 

 ward over the couijtry generally, although 

 in the extreme Eastern States some clover is 

 already in bloom; but at last reports it was 

 yielding no honey. The up-to-date bee-keep- 

 ers who feed their bees will have powerful 

 colonies for the harvest if it does come; for 

 it has not been too cool to raise brood. But 

 many bee-keepers will suffer this spring 

 mainly through starvation (especially the 

 don't-care kind), for bees have used stores 

 enormously during the last month in brood- 

 rearing; for they, like their owners, have 

 been willing to draw on the last available 

 supplies with the expectation that good 



weather must come, and with it a good sup- 

 ply of nectar. 



We have received no favorable reports 

 from any locality except Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, where a good crop of honey is ex- 

 pected. But this is true: Bees in the hands 

 of progressive bee-keepers will be in fine 

 condition; and should there be a late honey- 

 flow, which is not at all improbabla, if the 

 past is any criterion, after a late wet season 

 the bees will probably redeem themselves 

 and their owners. 



The irrigated regions, were it not for the 

 cool atmosphere, would have their I'ain-belt 

 competitors at a great disadvantage, and 

 they may have yet. 



We are by no means discouraged; for in 

 1882, a year similar to this, when bees died 

 heavily during the spring, and bee-keepei's 

 had entirely given up all hopes, there was a 

 good crop of honey, though it was late. The 

 clovers, so far as reported, are in good con- 

 dition; and should we have suitable weather 

 later on we shall have a nice flow of nectar. 



In the southern portions of the country, 

 where the main honey-bearing flowers are 

 out of bloom and past, there is not much in 

 the way of encouragement; but we Nor- 

 therners still have strong hopes. In the 

 mean time let us not be discouraged. If we 

 do get a crop the good prices we shall prob- 

 ably secure this year will more than make 

 up for the discouraging conditions early in 

 the season. This will, therefore, be a sea- 

 son of the survival of the fittest in the Nor- 

 thern States. All others will be frozen out, 

 or, perhaps, more exactly, chilled and starv- 

 ed out. 



THE south the DUMPING-GROUND. 



What to Eat for April contains a severe 

 arraignment of most of the Southern States 

 because they refuse to fall in line with the 

 Northei'n and Western States in pure- food 

 laws for the protection of the lives of their 

 citizens. 



The conditions are worse than formerly, 

 because the concerns that formerly had a 

 market in the North for adulterated goods 

 are now obliged to dump the whole of their 

 stuff into the Southern market or export 

 it. This condition of affairs would not 

 continue much longer if a few good people 

 would resolutely set to work to have this 

 matter settled right. It seems very extraor- 

 dinary that the people of the South should be 

 willing to have foisted on them all soi'ts of 

 concoctions which are deleterious to health, 

 and in some cases are actually deadly to per- 

 sons eating them. 



There are a large number of Gleanings 

 readers in the South — enough to raise quite 

 an interest in the subject if they would only 

 set themselves to work in the right way, and 



fet up a petition in their own neighborhood, 

 'his is the right time to strike, and strike 

 hard. There is a great stigma in the thought 

 that the North dumps its dangerous food 

 products on to the South. Will it suffer this 

 wrong? 



