THE AMERlCAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



263 



on this subject— when speaking of 

 honey as a prophylactic. Honey is 

 destined not only to take an impor- 

 tant place in medicine, but in state 

 medicine in particular. As a prophy- 

 lactic, it will turn up as a giant in the 

 way to stay the march of epidemics. 

 Why this extrava^nt idea V You 

 know well enough, Dr. S., that in the 

 case of a victim of cholera, yellow 

 fever, or of any other acute "malig- 

 nantmalady, it is the liver that re- 

 ceives the Brst blow— the glycogenic 

 process is stopped or greatly impaired, 

 suppression of the urine follows with 

 a dire train of symptoms all pointing 

 to the grave. If our theory is correct 

 as to the behavior of honey in the 

 liver, honey is to the liver what oil is 

 to machinery ; the wear and tear of 

 epidemic influences on it will do it 

 little or no harm. Of course the 

 protection is only secured by the daily 

 use of honey as a diet, previous to the 

 exposure of sickness. When the 

 damage is once done, honey or any 

 other remedy may fail to save the 

 patient. The golden rule in medicine 

 IS. '• Prevention is better than cure." 

 Austin.© Texas, Feb. 21, 1887. 



For tbe Ajnerlcan Bee Joumai. 



An Experifflent on Ventilation. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



Last fall I prepared an apiary of 1 12 

 colonies for wintering, by covering 

 them drst with forest leaves, and 

 then with 8 inches of earth A pas- 

 sage-way was provided from the en- 

 trance to the outside air, and a small 

 space of the leaves at the top of 

 the mound were left uncovered 

 with earth, to allow upward ventila- 

 tion, and the escape of moisture. The 

 open space of leaves was protected 

 from snow and rain by a hive cover. 

 I should have said that 72 colonies 

 were arranged in this way, and the 

 remaining 40 were the same except 

 that the leaves were entirely covered 

 at the top, so that all chances for 

 upward circulation was cut off. 



They were doomed to a confinement 

 of 150 days. On making examination 

 on April 2, the 40 colonies were found 

 dead, and 69 of the 72 were alive to 

 enjoy a flight. Such long winters are 

 almost enough to disgust the apiarist, 

 and drive him from this northern 

 country to continue his avocation ; 

 but when he realizes that it is so bene- 

 fiting to the honey maiket, he is con- 

 siderably relieved. 



In many of the dead colonies I be- 

 lieve there had not been live bees for 

 months, as but little of the honey had 

 been consumed. Several combs where 

 the honey had been taken out, con- 

 tained 4 or 5 pounds of water. Four 

 colonies that were in one end of long 

 hives, while the other part of the hive 

 ■was stuffed with leaves, showed the 

 good effects of the space into which 

 the moisture escaped. A few of the 

 dead colonies left the combs and hive 

 clean and nice,but the majority befoul- 

 ed the hive and combs that affords a 

 chance for "frame scraping." and 



the microscopist to charge his instru- 

 ment for large game. 



There was but little if any signs of 

 brood-reariug. Those colonies that had 

 the most upward ventilation seemed 

 to have fared the best. Their cold 

 and devitalizing condition brought 

 them out all right ; however, I hardly 

 think they suffered much with the 

 cold, as I think they were able to 

 generate sufBcient warmth for com- 

 fort, and some to spare. 



It should be remembered that the 

 more porous the coverings are, the 

 requisite amount brings equal warmth 

 and a drier condition. 



Bradford, (5 Iowa. 



From the Cantwlian Bee Journal. 



Comliinations for Honey-Proicers, 



■I. M. HICKS. 



When viewed from a practical 

 stand-point, this seems to me a step 

 in the wrong direction, especially so 

 if we are allowed to judge of other 

 combinations, such as Boards of 

 Trade, Railroad Corporations, and 

 many others I could mention of which 

 I do not wish to leave unnoticed, the 

 Coal Oil and Express Combinations, 

 all of which have and are still con- 

 tinually sacrificing every principle of 

 justice in order to accomplish their 

 cunningly devised plans of injustice 

 toward the many. These things will, 

 at some future time, be more fully 

 noticed and properly managed by the 

 masses. Such corporations seem to 

 flourish like the " green bay tree " for 

 a while, but Ood is jtist, and will, 

 doubtless, put it into the hands of 

 His people to rectify these inhuman 

 wrongs now exercised by almost every 

 organization in existence. It has for 

 many years been the custom of many 

 honey-producers to consign their crop 

 to some commission dealer in some 

 city, for instance, one C. O. Perrine, 

 of Chicago, who used to deal heavily 

 in pure honey as furnished by the 

 bee-keepers, as well as much of his 

 own bogus production added, in order 

 to make more extended sales. More 

 than once have we seen his bogus 

 productions in glass jars and tumblers 

 for sale in the grocery stores of our 

 own Hoosier State. Mr. C. O. Perrine 

 was not alone in such dealings, as 

 well as quoting honey at certain 

 figures, far below the actual sales 

 made. 



We also find for several years past 

 the quotations of honey (not glucose) 

 have been very low, by the various 

 commission men in many cities, es- 

 pecially in Chicago and Cincinnati ; at 

 the same time I retailed all the honey 

 I could produce at 20 cents for ex- 

 tracted and 25 cents per pound for 

 comb honey. And at this writing I 

 have disposed of my 1886 crop at'20 

 cents per pound, something over 4.000 

 pounds, all of which has been sold 

 direct to the consumer, and not a 

 pound went into a grocery store or to 

 a commission merchant. 



I have long since found that it takes 

 industry to produce, as well as to sell 

 honey at a paying price. The former 



commodity (industry) does not in a 

 very great degree abound among the 

 commission men of the present day, 

 except at the expense of the pro- 

 ducer, hence every producer can well 

 afford to be his own salesman, pro- 

 vided always he desires good and 

 reasonable returns for his honey. It 

 seems to me after many years of close 

 observation and contrasting the past 

 with the present state of things, that 

 it would be vain for the bee-keepers 

 of America to try such a scheme as 

 heads this article. It is a true saying, 

 and worthy of full consideration, that 

 even in all such combinations, the big 

 fish eat up the little ones, and the 

 stock goes up or down as the case 

 may be. But one thing is sure, that 

 the little fish soon find themselves far 

 in the rear of the sharks, which has 

 been, and is yet, the order of the day 

 among all combinations, and the 

 many suffer at the hands of such 

 organizations ; hence I for one, am 

 opposed to all movements, especially 

 so, when they have such a strong 

 tendency of becoming a monopoly, 

 which, if once organized, would have 

 no other object in view than to con- 

 trol the honey trade, as against the 

 consumer and directly in the interests 

 of such organized monopoly. In fact, 

 so far as our commission honey 

 dealers at this date are concerned, it 

 almost amounts to the same thing ; a 

 few of whom have control of the trade 

 now in their locality, and we often 

 hear of sad complaints from parties 

 who make consignments, failing to 

 receive enough in return to pay ordi- 

 nary expenses of production.' 

 Battle Gronnd,*c Ind. 



Well done, friend Hicks, you need 

 no combination to boom price for you. 

 We wonder how many more of our 

 bee- friends will see the necessity of 

 establishing a home market, by allow- 

 ing no person, whether rich or poor, 

 to go without a supply of honey, at all 

 times of the year, if effort, honest 

 dealing and good honey will secure it. 

 Bee-keepers have been giving their 

 attention too much to cities and 

 towns, and allowing the rural popula- 

 tion to go without. We have never 

 known an instance, where the proper 

 effort was put forth and the best 

 management adopted, that honey 

 could not be sold in much larger 

 quantities. There is not one quarter 

 of our territory wliere honey might be 

 sold, occupied to-day. In one district 

 where a house-to-house canvass is 

 being practiced, the sales are increas- 

 ing at every round ; in fact the can- 

 vasser is himself astonished at the 

 large quantities he is able to sell, and 

 after paying the ordinary wholesale 

 price for it. finds he can make more 

 money in that way than he could by 

 hiring by the day or month. Of course 

 he is well suited to his occupation. 

 How many thousands of ladies and 

 gentlemen have we idle at the pres- 

 ent time, or earning very small wages, 

 who, if they could embark in the sale 

 of honey arid apply themselves with 

 the same diligence, might secure a 

 much better living? and who could 

 refuse to buy honey from a lady ? Any 

 who embark in this business and en- 



