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387 



EDITOR, 



VoiniY. JflnelU888, No. 24 



Ueaiilii'iil biiliiw.sof blossoms, 



Rolling o'er orcliard trees, 

 Pink and white foamy the blossoms, 



Floating away in June breeze. 

 Would I might resfhere forever. 



Bathed in these apple-bloom seas. 

 Here 'raid the wealth of the orchard. 



In silence, save sonnd of the bees. 



The Honey Crop of California 



is said to be large, and the product is of the 

 very best quality. 



Spring: D^vindling: has been very 

 severe among the l»ees. The Saginaw, 

 Mich., Courier remarks that Mr. John Rey 

 was unfortunate enough to lose 116 colonies 

 by .spring dwindling. He is not discouraged, 

 however, and proposes to purchase enough 

 to replenish the hives. 



Sweet Clover. — A correspondent in 

 Oleanings has the following to say about 

 sweet clover : 



I have raised it four years with good re- 

 sults. The first year I had about three- 

 fourths of an acre, and 10 colonies of bees. 

 In the latter pari of June the sweet clover 

 came into bloom, and soon the bees found 

 it. In a week more it was a regular hum in 

 the patch from 9 o'clock until dark. It was 

 the only patch for miles around, and there 

 was scarcely anything else yielding honey 

 at that time, so that the neighbors' bees had 

 time to help take care of the honey in the 

 sweet clover, and they did. My uncle lives 

 two and a half miles in a bee-line from here. 

 and had about 25 colonies ; and such a stir 

 there was among them for this little patch ! 

 I Why, we just had a strong bee-line from 

 here to Uncle Abraham's. 



We-w Subscribers can obtain the full 

 numbers for 1887 and 1888, for R1. 75. while 

 there are any sets of 1887 left 



Xhe "%ViIey IJe in Englan*!,— 



Again we have to remind our British co- 

 temporary that it is doing American bee- 

 keepers a great injustice in asserting that 

 comb honey is adulterated here. It is un- 

 true, and the British Bee Journal ought to 

 KNOW that. He quotes a report by '-the 

 dairy commissioner of New Jersey," on the 

 purity of "strained honey," which shows 

 that it is itself a fraudulent statement in 

 the fact that three samples mentioned near 

 the top of the list are " comb honey," and 

 not e.xtracted, erroneously and ignorantly 

 called " strained ■' by the doughty "com- 

 missioner!" 



These slips were distributed at the New 

 York convention last winter, and we will 

 here quote what our friend A. I. Root, who 

 was present, says about It in Oleanings for 

 Junel, 1888: 



At the Bee-Keepers' Convention in Utica, 

 N. Y., last winter, one of Thurber. Whylaud 

 &Co.'smen was very busy in distributing 

 circulars to the bee-men. He had a great 

 pile of them, and evidently made it his busi- 

 ness to spread them broadcast. These slips 

 of paper gave an analysis of honey which 

 was made, as was stated, by the dairy com- 

 missioner of New Jersey. We do not know 

 who this dairy commissioner is, nor how 

 good an authority he is ; but when I first 

 glanced over the circular, I felt a little 

 troubled to see that it contained a list of 

 names of good and responsible firms who 

 were accused of selling adulterated honey. 

 In fact, almost every sample of honey that 

 was examined, according to that report, was 

 adulterated, with the exception of a few 

 samples from private farmers or bee-keep- 

 ers, with one other exception. This excep- 

 tion is Thurber, Whyland & Co. 



Now, the singular part of the whole thing 

 is, that samples Nos. .57, 58 and 60 were comb 

 honey, and not strained honey, although 

 the heading in small capitals, at the top of 

 the list, says " strained honey." 



Friend Cowan takes the matter up, and 

 reflects somewhat on American honey, es- 

 pecially the fact that the American comb 

 honey in our markets is, at least some of it, 

 adulterated. 



The Bee-Keepers'' Magazine also indorses 

 the paper, and makes some severe reflec- 

 tions on firms that we believe to be good 

 and honorable men. 



I am exceedingly glad to know that the 

 Thurbers, who so recently put up honey 

 with corn syrup in it, to keep it from candy- 

 ing, have reformed to such an extent as this 

 circular indicates, but I do not belive that 

 everybody else has gone into the adulterat- 

 ing business. 



We have instances on record before, where 

 some sort of a chemist has pronounced ab- 

 solutely pure honey, gathered from the 

 flowers by honest bees belonging to an hon- 

 est bee-keeper, adulterated. 



Who can give us some further informa- 

 tion in regard to this dairy commissioner of 

 New Jersey, and this statement given by 

 the American 0-rocer, presenting such a 

 disgraceful showing of the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry of the United iStates? 



I thoroughly indorse all that the British 

 Bee Journal has to say in regard to Hoge ; 

 and the whole matter looks very much as if 

 Hoge still had hold of the crank. But we 

 beg our English cousins to remember that 

 the American people are not all Hoges, by 

 any means. 



The editor of tlie British Bee Journal 

 copied the report of this " commissioner " 

 from the Bee-Keepers' Magazine, and it is 

 but jnst to say that no other bee-periodical 

 in America has ever given publicity to it. 



It was sent to the American Bee Joijb- 

 NAL, but being convinced of its unrelia- 

 bility we refused to publish it. Here is 

 what our British cotemporary says by way 

 of introduction : 



We have long been aware that American 

 dealers adulterated honey, but we must con- 

 fess tliat we were not prepared for the reve- 

 lation made in the "Bee-Keepers' Maga- 

 zine " for April. It appears that the Dairy 

 Commissioner of New Jersey has had honey 

 purchased in different towns in the State, 

 and has had it analyzed. Out of thirty-one 

 samples of honey put up by packing-houses, 

 only six were found to be pure ! We re- 

 print the list furnished by our cotemporary, 

 and commend it to the careful study of 

 every bee-keeper. 



After enumerating some of the lots ana- 

 lyzed, it again says : 



Where does this adulterated comb honey 

 come from ? Not from respectable bee- 

 keepers, of that we are quite sure. We have 

 the authority of Mr. Shippen Wallace, 

 Ph.D., for the fact that this comb honey is 

 adulterated, and it is therefore produced. 

 How ? That is the secret. Shall we also 

 be told that this is a Wiley lie, or is ttiere 

 any other explanation than that adulterated 

 comb honey is manufactured on some of the 

 adulterating farms by feeding bees ? We 

 are glad to notice that not a single sample 

 of honey purchased of bee-keepers was 

 adulterated. Further comment is unneces- 

 sary. 



All we can say to our British friends is, 

 that they have been again " taken in," not 

 by a "clergyman " this time, but by a so- 

 called " Professor." We positively deny 

 the soft impeachment. It has no founda- 

 tion except in the Wiley lie, when anyone 

 says that comb honey is adulterated ! That 

 wilful liar is responsible for all this clap- 

 trap nonsense ! 



Foolisli AbbreTiations. — Many 

 still persist in using abbreviations when 

 writing to this office. One lately wrote a 

 letter and enclosed money, addressing it to 

 " A. B. J., Chicago." It is a wonder that it 

 ever got to us, and probably many others 

 similarly addressed have been lost. Who 

 among the general public knows what " A. 

 B. J." stands for ? They may puzzle their 

 brains over it, and finally conclude that it 

 was intended to indicate " a bright judge," 

 "a big jewel," "a bouncing jockey," "a 

 brown jug," or "a bad jest! !" And per- 

 haps the latter would be the most appro- 

 priate cognomen for the cabalistic and un- 

 intelligible letters ! 



We would call the special attention of 

 those who wish to have their letters reach 

 us, to section .574 of the " Postal Laws and 

 Regulations," which reads as follows, and 

 is commended to the consideration of all 

 interested : 



Letters and packages addressed to ficti- 

 tious persons and firms, to initials or to no 

 particular person or firm, unless directed 

 to be delivered at a designated place, such 

 as a post-office box, street or number, or to 

 the care of a certain person or firm within 

 the delivery of the post-office, are undeliv- 

 erable, and nnist be sent to the Dead Letter 

 Office unless the envelope contains the card 

 of the sender, or a request to return, in 

 which case the letters or packages must be 

 returned accordingly. 



