184 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Do Bees Make Honey ?— We say, 

 most emphatically, NO. There is no 

 chemical change made in the nectar from 

 the time it is gathered by the bee untH 

 deposited in the cell. Of course the bees 

 evaporate the water from the nectar, or 

 ripen it, but it is in the combs precisely 

 what it was in the flowers, or what it 

 might have been before they carried it 

 to the hive, deposited it there and sealed 

 it over. In this view we are ably sup- 

 ported by our friend A. I. Root, in a late 

 issue of Gleanings. He says : 



We may safely say that there is prac- 

 tically no difference or change. There 

 are some scientists and professors who 

 insist that the bees do change the nectar 

 in carrying it from the flowers to the 

 hives, enough so that it can be detected 

 by the chemist. In order to get un- 

 finished sections filled up at the end of 

 the sesson, we have fed to the bees dif- 

 ferent kinds of honey ; but after being 

 sealed up in the comb, it was exactly the 

 same honey to all appearances. 



By accident, we scorched one lot a 

 little, and hoped that the bees in their 

 manipulation might remove the slightly- 

 burned taste. They did not, however, 

 change it a particle. 



Again, we once had a lot of honey that 

 candied so readily, that we could scarcely 

 keep it in liquid form at all. We melted 

 it, added some water, and fed it to the 

 bees. They evaporated the water added, 

 placed it in their combs, and sealed it 

 up, but it candied, after being sealed up 

 in the combs, just as it did before we fed 

 it to them ; and I have never been able 

 to detect that they Improved poor honey 

 in any way ; neither have I been able to 

 detect that any injury was done ; or, in 

 fact, that any change, perceptible to our 

 senses, was wrought by any of their 

 manipulations. 



We Begin all new subscriptions with 

 the year 1891, unless otherwise ordered. 

 Almost all want the numbers to com- 

 plete the volume for the year; but if any 

 prefer to begin with the current month, 

 it will be so done when requested. We 

 shall try to accommodate all, as far as 

 we can. 



Supply Dealers should write to us 

 for wholesale terms and cut for Hastings' 

 Perfection Feeders. 



In Order to do business in these days, 

 it is very essential to advertise what is 

 offered for sale. The Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 CoTnmercial Gazette puts it this light : 



Why fill a store with goods, and then 

 keep dark about it ? It costs money 

 every day and every hour to carry a 

 stock of goods. Let the public know 

 what you have to sell. Interest the 

 people — attract them — do not allow 

 them to forget you or your crowded 

 shelves. Turn on the lights, especially 

 the brilliant, steady, and far-reaching 

 light of advertising. 



Those who have anything to sell to 

 bee-keepers must let it be known in the 

 periodicals that go to their houses, and 

 are faithfully read by them. The Ameri- 

 can Bee Journat. is read and re-read 

 by thousands every week, and then kept 

 for reference. An advertisement in its 

 columns is therefore exceedingly val- 

 uable to those having anything to sell to 

 its readers. 



Bee=Keeping for Profit, by Dr. 



G. L. Tinker, is a new 50-page pamphlet, 

 which details fully the author's new system 

 of bee-management in producing comb and 

 extracted honey, and the construction of 

 the hive best adapted to it — his "Nonpareil." 

 The book can be had at this office for 25c. 



Only a Few complete volumes for 

 1890 are on hand. If anyone desires to have 

 a full set of numbers for binding, they 

 should be sent for soon. 



CoiiTeiitioii rVotices. 



tCF" The Annual Meeting of the Ohio State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, will be held in Toledo, O., on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 10 and U. 1891. Full 

 particulars as to railroad and hotel rates, and place 

 of meeting, will be given later. Let all interested 

 in bee-keeping make an extra effort to be present 

 on this occasion. 



MISS DEMA BENNETT, Sec. Bedford, O. 



Dr. a. B. Mason, Pres. 



B^" The Convention of the Eastern Iowa Bee- 

 Keepers. will be held in the Dobson Town Clock 

 Building, at Maquoketa, Iowa, Feb. 11, 12. 



Frank Coveruale, Sec, Welton, Iowa. 



1^" The 8th semi-annual meeting of the Susque- 

 hanna County Bee-Keepers' Association will be held 

 at Montrose, Pa., on Thursday, May 7, 1891. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



|^~ The Northeastern Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will hold its annual meeting on 

 Wednesday, Feb. 4, 1891. at the Commercial House, 

 in Port Huron. W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



