AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



603 



they came. We have found that it does 

 not pay to leave honey in the hive, after 

 clover fails. It is better to extract it, 

 and feed it back when necessary, as the 

 bees will do just as well, if not better, 

 without it, for they will make their own 

 living during pleasant weather. If left 

 on the hive, they will use it for brood-rear- 

 ing out of season, and thus consume it 

 needlessly. If needed for Winter stores, 

 we have it ready to feed back at any 

 time. 



EXTRACTED-HONEY. 



In.the Spring proceed the same as for 

 comb-honey until the colonies are of 

 good strength, and working well. Just 

 as soon as the flow from white clover 

 commences (or a little before if you can 

 judge it closely), remove the comb the 

 queen is on, and place it, bees, queen, 

 brood and all, in an empty body. Fill 

 the remaining spaces with good, clean 

 brood-combs, and set it onto the bottom- 

 board. Adjust a queen-excluder, and 

 place the body containing all the remain- 

 ing brood on top of that containing the 

 queen and the one sheet of brood. Fill 

 the empty space left in the top chamber 

 with an empty comb. Close the hive 

 and let them work. If examined in 

 about ten days, the brood in the upper 

 half will be found well hatched out, and 

 honey in its place, while the lower 

 frames will be heavily brooded. 



As soon as the honey in the top half is 

 about two-thirds capped, remove the 

 combs and extract the honey. Return 

 all the empty combs but one, and re- 

 peat the operation of shifting the queen. 

 Proceed in this manner the entire sea- 

 sou, never attempting to extract until 

 all the brood has hatched out of the 

 upper story. 



Beverly, Mass. 



Relation of Honey-Eating to Lonievity, 



E. E. HASTY. 



When we meet each other face to face 

 it is perhaps as well to show character- 

 istic faces. One phase of my character 

 is to be often finding a mare's nest, with 

 a large setting of eggs in it, and it is to 

 one of these remarkable nests that I in- 

 vite, for a few moments, the attention 

 of this convention. 



Among the stories that have floated 

 down to us from ancient tiines, is one 

 concerning a remarkable case of lon- 

 gevity in the days of the Roman emper- 

 ors. If my memory is not at fault, it 

 was Trajan who reigned at the time. 



The remarkable vigor of mind and body 

 enjoyed by a very aged man attracted 

 general attention, and the Emperor 

 sought an interview with him. The 

 object of the Emperor's inquiry was to 

 ascertain by ivhut means such well-pre- 

 served faculties were attained, in order 

 that other men might have the same 

 benefit. 



The drift of the old man's answer was 

 that it was the external use of oil, and 

 internal use of honey. Of course, all 

 know that temperance, chastity, and the 

 avoidance of all things that put the 

 human faculties to excessive strain, are 

 imperative requirements, if one would 

 live to old age ; but the inquiry here 

 evidently is, " What other things, besides 

 these well-known ones, conduce to long 

 life ?" This particular wise and aged 

 man, it seems, thought that the free use 

 of honey was an important help. 



Now, we are not in the oil business to- 

 day, but in the honey business. Is it 

 worth while to pursue the inquiry as to 

 whether the free use of honey actually 

 does prolong life ? 



So far as I know there is no record of 

 any adequate investigation. Circum- 

 stances were not then favorable to vital 

 experiments and records ; and the mat- 

 ter has come down to us an undefined 

 surmise — capable enough of proof or dis- 

 proof, but never actually either verified 

 or overthrown. We ask, therefore, is 

 the game worth the candle ? Is it worth 

 the while for anybody to keep the rec- 

 ords necessary to settle the question ? 

 I, for one, think that it is. At the pres- 

 ent day a very moderate amount of ex- 

 pense and trouble, properly directed, 

 and continued through a series of years, 

 would establish the facts. 



Before pointing out what these meas- 

 ures are, let me first suggest one way in 

 which the use of honey may reasonably 

 be supposed to affect longevity. In this 

 scientific age every one feels ashamed to 

 answer an absurd inquiry. No one will 

 even experiment by tying diseases to the 

 trees with strings, albeit that is a very 

 convenient and inexpensive healing pro- 

 cess, and used to be in repute. 



Human knowledge of what diseases 

 actually are, has been very greatly in- 

 creased in recent years. It used to be 

 said, " The doctor takes a drug of which 

 he knows little, and pours it into a sys- 

 tem of which he knows less, to cure a 

 disease of which he knows nothing." 

 This saw, when it was invented, was the 

 simple truth. It is not true now. 



When a man meets a lion, and the lion 

 tries to eat him, and he strives to beat 

 off and kill the lion, the situation is dire; 



