164 



T'H® MMM'MIC'MIf Mmm J©^Kf*SI<. 



Honey for Aiialyzation. — Mr. J. 



R. Bostwick, of New Milford, Conn., has 

 sent us a copy of the Gazette, which states 

 tliat he has supplied some honey to be ana- 

 lyzed from which a standard for the State 

 will be made. He evidently has a double 

 end in view, for with such a " State stan- 

 dard" derived from an analysis of his 

 honey, he has a secure field for all the honey 

 he can produce. The Gazette says : 



On Jan. 27, H. L. Jeffrey packed at the 

 residence of J. R. Bostwick a few samples 

 of honey to be sent to the Connecticut Ex- 

 periment Station to be analyzed, and the 

 analysis to be used as a standard. Mr. Jef- 

 frey, a few days before, had been requested 

 by letter from the Station, to send some 

 samples of liquid and comb honey known to 

 be the straight article, for analysis. 



When Mr. Jeffrey was sorting out and 

 finishing up the crop of Mr. Bostwick's 

 honey last October, he selected two one- 

 qu<trt jars full, with the intention of placing 

 them in the hands of the State Board. One 

 of the jars was taken to Hartford when the 

 Agricultural Board met, the other went to 

 the Experiment Station in the case of sam- 

 ples. In the same case was a sample of the 

 same lot of honey equal in every way ex- 

 cept that it had been exposed to the cold 

 weather, and had become as hard as any 

 sample of butter, but it was not frozen. 

 This peculiar quality possessed by honey, 

 to become hard at a temperature below 5U% 

 and its peculiar appearance iu that state, is 

 as sure a test of purity as is any chemical 

 analysis. 



A 5 per cent, adulteration, or even an ad- 

 dition of water, is very plainly seen, as it 

 leaves quite an amount of liquid among the 

 granules of the sugars which the pure honey 

 as it is gathered from the flowers is com- 

 posed of. Honey that is not properly ripened 

 IS easily detected even by a person not an 

 expert. Many look upon granulated or 

 solidified honey with suspicion, and yet the 

 fact is that the harder the honey the purer 

 it is. 



In the case sent to the Experiment Station 

 were two samples of comb honey ; one from 

 the basswood bloom, usually sold by the 

 misnomer of white clover, and the other was 

 gathered from fall flowers and the juices of 

 fruit. Both were rich and heavy in quality, 

 though lacking in tempting appearance. 

 Mr. Bostwick had about 13 gallons of this 

 quality of extracted honey, and quite a 

 crop of comb honey. 



Euoalyptii!^ Honey.— In the Oak- 

 land, Calif., Enquirer for the 9th ult., Mr, 

 W. A. Pryal makes these remarks about 

 eucalyptus honey : 



All along the foothills near Oakland bees 

 do well, and annually store a good supply 

 of as luscious honey as one could well de- 

 sire to eat. The honey gathered during the 

 winter months may be said to be collected 

 exclusively from the flowers of eucalyptus 

 trees, and is of a dark color, and very thick. 

 This honey is said to possess medicinal 

 properties. The clearest and most delicious 

 honey is stored during the latter part of 

 May,"and all through June. 



Bees were first brought to this county in 

 ttje fifties, long before they were introduced 

 to the now famous honey regions of the 

 State. 



A SMs:ai--I»ro«lMCins' Tree. — Mr. 



Lewis Proxmire, of Mt. Union, Pa., sends 

 us the following from the Grocers' Criterion, 

 for publication in the Bee Jouknai, : 



A report comes from the East which is of 

 great importance, if true. It is that there 

 has been discovered in British India a blos- 

 som of such saccharine properties tliat it is 

 destined to revolutionize the sugar business 

 of the world. It is the flower of the mahwa, 

 or moola, a tree of large size,whioh abounds 

 in the southern portion of Hindostan. This 

 blossom has a sweet taste, and yields one- 

 half its weight in sugar. The Hindoos have 

 for a long period been accustomed to extract 

 a syrup from the mahwa's flowers but in the 

 most primitive fashion, without attempting 

 to develop a process. The tree, it is stated, 

 demands neither care nor cultivation. It 

 produces annually a thousand pounds (?) of 

 blossoms, which it sheds during the night. 

 The saccharine matter is also serviceable 

 for a spirituous liquor, and for an oil which 

 may be used for both lighting and food. If 

 this wonderful report is correct, it may be 

 seen at a glance what a disastrous competi- 

 tion the mahwa is likely to make with ex- 

 isting sugar industries. 



The best West India plantations produce 

 400 pounds per aspent (IM acres), and the 

 French and German sugar beet farms do 

 not equal this amount. But it is claimed 

 that the blossoms of five mahwa trees will 

 yield the same amount, a statement not con- 

 sistent with the reported weight of the 

 bloom, which, however, must be an error. 

 From 200 to 250 trees can be grown upon an 

 aspent from which it results that the crop 

 of sugar will be from 40 to .50 times greater 

 per acre of land than that of the sugar cane. 

 The English-speaking Hindoo press is 

 already urging the Government to take 

 steps for making this new sugar industry a 

 monopoly as far as possible. 



We know nothing more of this tree than 

 is stated in the article. 



Scatter tlic I>eafflets.— Look at the 

 list (with prices) on the second page. 



l>r. A. B. Mason has been appointed 

 superintendent of the Apiarian Department 

 of the Ohio Centennial Exposition, to be 

 held at Columbus next fall. The Director 

 General says that a suitable building will be 

 provided for the Bee-Department, and that 

 the superientendent shall have "full 

 swing." The Doctor writes us as follows 

 concerning the arrangements contemplated: 



I have thought of having an octagonal 

 building erected, with a fine large pyramid 

 of comb and extracted honey in the centre, 

 so made as to constantly, but slowly revolve 

 with other pyramids, and different kinds of 

 arrangements on the sides, all enclosed with 

 bee-proof (and thief proof) wire cloth, and 

 all the light to be admitted through the 

 roof. 



Suitable premiums will be awarded, and 

 it the North American Bee-Keepers' Con- 

 vention should mefft at ColuniDus, there 

 would be no trouble in getting the best 

 judges in the country to award the 

 premiums. 



Frencli Hook.— From our friend and 

 co-laborer Mr. Ed. Bertrand, Nyon, Switzer- 

 land, comes a new bee-book in the French 

 language. It is a guide for the apiarist for 

 each month of the year. It contains 150 

 pages, and is illustrated. Mr. Bertrand is 

 one of the most progressive and practical 

 apiarists of Europe, and his book is full of 

 valuable suggestions concerning the proper 

 management of bees. Its cost after paying 

 transportation and postage is about 80 cents. 



Bee-Cellars. — Mr. A. Bridges, of 

 Ontario, gives this description of his prep- 

 aration of his bee-cellar for the prdsent 

 winter : 



I boarded the walls of my cellar with 

 rough boards, leaving a small space between 

 the stone walls and the boards, then I lined 

 the board walls with building paper, and 

 laid a board floqr on the bottom of thwcel- 

 lar, leaving a 2-iiich space between the bot- 

 tom and the floor. This makes the cellar 

 very dry and warm ; no frost can possibly 

 get in. 



Xlie Farmei-!!i' and Uee-Keep- 

 ers' Association of Newaygo County, 

 Mich., was held at Fremont, on Feb. 9 and 

 10, 1888, and new By-Laws adopted. The 

 Glee Club rendered some excellent music, 

 and a banquet was spread at the St. Charles 

 Hotel, of which about 70 partook. Mr. Geo. 

 E. Hilton was re-elected Secretary-Treas- 

 urer. Mr. W. E. Gould read an essay on 

 " Practical Bee-Keeping," which was very 

 interesting. "Relative benefits of apicul- 

 ture, agriculture and horticulture," by Geo. 

 E. Hilton, and a talk about " The Clover," 

 by A. M. Alton, closed the exercises. 



T^cvr Catalog-ues for 1888 are on our 

 desk, from the following persons: 



Frank A. Eaton, Bluffton, 0.-13 pages- 

 Eaton's Specialties. 



Nixon Nozzle and Machine Co., Dayton, 

 O.— 20 pages— Spraying Machinery. 



Wra. H. Bright, Mazeppa,Minn.— 24 pages 

 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



Smith & Smith, Kenton, 0.-34 pages — 

 Implements in Bee-Cnlture. 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. — 4 pages 

 —Italian Bees and Queens. 



H. P. Langdon, East Constable, N. Y.— 4 

 pages— Bees and Queens. 



Thomas B. Blow, Welwyn, Herts, Eng- 

 land— 04 pages— Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



W. E. Gould, Fremont, Mich.— 13 pages- 

 Bees, Queens, and Apiarian Supplies. 



COIWEI^XIOM NOTICES. 



BrF" The Wabash County Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will meet at North Manchester, Ind.. on April 10, 

 1888. F. S. COMSTOCK, Sec. 



B^" The Eastern Indiana Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold its sprin? meeting on Saturday, April 

 21, 1888, at Richmond, Ind. M. G. REYNOLDS, Sec. 



^;W The Cortland Union Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold its spring meetioe on Mays. 18S8, at Cortr 

 land, N. v., at 10a.ui. All oee-keepers are invited. 

 W. H. BEACH, Sec. 



5^" The Des Moines County Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation will hold its next meeting on April 24. 1888, at 

 Burlington, Iowa. John NAu, Sec 



^W The Hardin County Bee-Keepers' Associa. 

 tion will meet at the Court Mouse in BIdora, xowa, 

 on the second Saturday in each month, at noon 

 (12 o'clock), until further notice. 



J. W. BUCHANAN, Sec 



The next regriilar meeting of the Sus- 

 quehanna County Bee-Keepers Association 

 will be held at New Milford, Pa., on Saturday, 

 May 5, 1888. H. M. Seeley, Sec. 



t^^ The tenth annual meeting of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at the bee- 

 yards of Vice-President W. R. Graham, in Green- 

 viUe. Hunt Co.. Texas, on May 2 and 3, 1888. A 

 leading feature of the convention will be criticisms 

 upon subjects that have been mentioned in the bee- 

 papers. A good lime is expected, so let all 'rexas 

 and Arkansas bee-keepers attend. A cordial invi- 

 tation IB extended to all bee-keepers wheresoever 

 dispersed. Remember, no hotel bills to pay at our 

 conventions ! B. F. CARROLL, Sec. 



