THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



309 



reply to Mr. McKnighl Prof. Cook has 

 the followini; to say in the American Bee 

 Jonrnal. 



I am snrpriseil at ISIr. McKni.y;ht's arti- 

 cle critiqne in the Bee-Keepers' Review, 

 of mv position regardinj^ honey-dew. I 

 (lid liol suppose that I needed to prove 

 that honey-dew was generally from plant- 

 lice 1, aphides') or scale (not scab) insects 

 (coccids). We have only to observe to 

 see the exudation and fall of the nectar 

 from the insects. Whatever may be the 

 ultimate truth, this is certainly true: 

 Nearly all such honey-dew is from insects, 

 as any one will see upon superficial ex- 

 amination. Yen,' little, if any, is secreted 

 by the plants, and none at all falls from 

 the sky. Mr. M's suggestion that the 

 plant forms the honey-dew, and the in- 

 sects ( plant lice and scale insects ) sip it 

 up, can be refuted by a very close obser- 

 vation. We see the nectar coming from 

 these insects, but we never see them sip- 

 ping it up, for the very good reason that 

 thev do not do it, no more than do bees 

 pierce sound fruit. 



I wish any one who finds what they 

 think is plant-secreted honey-dew would 

 send me a sample of the plant with the 

 honey-dew on it. 



My own opinion of the matter, formed 

 by reading the experience and observa- 

 tions of others, is that honey-dew ma}- 

 come from more than one source — that 

 in most instances it comes from insects, 

 but that in some instances it comes from 

 the plants themselves. 



HONEY AS A FOOD. 



Us .\dvanlaues as a Food for Those Whose 

 Digestion is Impaired. 



\'ery many bee-keepers know of the 

 healthfulness of honey as a food; but 

 many of them do not fully realize its 

 value as an actual medicine, or as a spe- 

 cial article of diet for those who, for any 

 reason, have difficulty in digesting their 

 footl. Prof. Cook, several years ago, 

 brought down upon his head some quite 

 hard scoldings because he used the words 

 "digested nectar," as descriptive of hon- 

 ey. Nevertheless, he was correct. Those 



who objected to the term did not base 

 their objection upon its incorrectness, 

 ijut they objected to how it sounded — to 

 its association. I am reminded of all this 

 b^^ reading an extract from a foreign bee- 

 journal. Revue Ivclectique, translated by 

 Stenog. and published in Gleanings. 

 Don't think that because your digestion 

 is all right, that you have no interest in 

 this matter. Read the following extract, 

 and then I will show you how the point 

 that it brings up might be used to even 

 the financial advantage of bee-keepers. 



Honey is a healthful, concentrated, 

 easily assimilated food, oflfered toman by 

 nature, all prepared, extracted drop by 

 drop from myrids of flowers. Our ances- 

 tors made of it their favorite food. They 

 knew no other sweet. The introduction 

 of beet sugar has lessened the use of hon- 

 ey, so the latter is hardly ever found now 

 except in the home of the bee-keeper or 

 in certain medicines, or on the table of a 

 few who know its virtues. We should 

 go back to honey, for it is well known 

 that this food, without rendering neces- 

 sary any insalvation or digestive work on 

 the part of the stomach, excites nervous 

 energy, gives mental force and tone to 

 the vital functions, and is very beneficial 

 to per.sons of sedentary habits or those do- 

 ing much headwork. All tho e who suf- 

 fer from disorders of the stomach, and 

 who have difficult or bad digestion, or 

 those subject to constipation, should use 

 honey daily; and after several months 

 they "will find the digestive organs restor- 

 ed to their normal condition. But the 

 use of it must be daily and prolonged. 



To live long, one should take, every 

 morning, some hot milk, sweetened with 

 a spoonful of honey, and dip bread in it. 

 Taken at night, honey favors digestion 

 and wards off sleeplessness. When Jul- 

 ius Ciesar dined with P. Rumillius, to cel- 

 ebrate the looth birthday of the latter, 

 Ciesar asked him by what means he had 

 preserved his strength of mind and body. 

 "By eating honey," replied the old Ro- 

 man. 



But honey is not only a good food but 

 a good medicine, curing, without drugs, 

 disorders of the stomach, chest, and of 

 the voice, such as gastritis, bronchitis, 

 colds, asthma, and grip. The formic acid 

 with which it is impregnated by the bees 

 makes of it an antiseptic, purifving the 

 disorded mouth and breath. Rheuma- 

 tism is practically unknown among those 

 who eat nmch honey. But the honey 



