ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



49 



it in my ihouse. It does not poison the 

 honey. It does not hinder Its use on the 

 table as food; but, be as careful as you 

 may be, and some of your :bees may 

 get into the house, and the first thing 

 you know they have a taste of it, and 

 carry it back to the hives. I think, 

 like the man said who was trying to 

 sober up, the best way to sober up 

 was never to touch a drop of whisky, 

 but let it alone. 



Mr. iCoppin^ — ^When we have a lot 

 of honey that is not very dark, I hate 

 to throw it away, so we generally try 

 to use it up in some shape, in the way 

 of cooking, or for table use, or some- 

 thing; but keep it away from the bees. 

 We generally try to make use of it in 

 some way. We don't lil^e to boil it a 

 lot, for that wouJd spoil the color and 

 the flavor of it. We make it hot enough 

 to melt it, but we keep it as light color 

 as we can, and utilize it in some way. 



Bee Sting and Rheumatism. 



"Do bee stings cure rheumatism?" 



Mr. Werner — ^I think not, because I 

 never had rheumatism until I got bees, 

 and had to go some where else to get 

 cured. 



Mr. Stone — ^I don't Relieve his bees 

 sting. He was handling a colony of 

 bees, introducing a queen in them, and 

 I stood around, as did other people, and 

 one lit on my nose, and it didn't sting 

 me at all, and the people were not 

 afraid of them; but it was not two 

 hours later, I was trying to open the 

 same hive, and I got two or three 

 stings. I believe he had a. charm of 

 some kind on his bees. 



Dr. Bohrer — With regard to that 

 matter, I think in the main it is cor- 

 rect. It is conceded to be a fact among 

 practicing physicians that a counter- 

 irritant in the case of rheumatism 

 often results in benefit to the patient. 

 Where a bee could sting a number of 

 times, it would have the same effect 

 as a counter-irritant, but it will not 

 drive out of the system, uric acid, 

 which is considered to be the chief 

 cause of rheumatism. We need not 

 look to it as a remedy for rheumatism. 

 A mustard plaster would answer the 

 same purpose, and would not be nearly 

 as painful as a lot of bee-stings. A 

 bee, as a rule, I can't tell where it 

 stings me, in five minutes after I am 

 stung; it hurts, and the pain is acute, 

 but I can't tell where the bee has 



stung. I am a little like Dr. Miller; 

 when I get stimg, I don't groan, unless 

 I am by miyself. 



Mr. Orim — ^I was tihe one that asked 

 that question. I am not prepared to 

 take up your time now to answer the 

 question, but I will answer the question 

 through the American Bee Journal 

 next month. 



A Member — I have had bee-stings, 

 and rheumatism, and have it yet; but 

 I had a boy companion in a hardware 

 store who had rheumatism; he could 

 hardly walk around the store. I had 

 seen pieces in the paper, telling about 

 where rheumatism had been cured by 

 the sting of a bee, and I told him 

 about it. He said: "I am going to 

 try it; I cannot get worse." Hte came 

 up and bought a colony of bees, so that 

 he could have them at home, and he 

 got the stings good and proper, and he 

 also got over the rheumatism. That 

 was over twenty years ago; but 

 whether it was the stings of the bees or 

 the medicine he took previous to that, 

 I don't know. The bees stung him all 

 over. 



Dr. Bohrer^One thing we want to 

 bear in mind: There is no human ail- 

 ment that has such a long list of rem- 

 edies as has been used in the treatment 

 of rheumatism. Some times a very 

 simple remedy seems to afEord imme- 

 diate relief, and some times perma- 

 nent relief; that was the case in the 

 instance of the bee-sting. 



Mr. Crim — It is also known that rem- 

 edies used for the cure of rheumatism, 

 or, in fact, other diseases, may be of 

 benefit to one person and will not help 

 another at all. This is generally sup- 

 posed to be true, and I think it is 

 pretty much of a fact, myself. 



Mr. York — I want to give a little 

 experience I had with bees the past 

 year, in the treatment of rheumatism. 

 A neighbor of mine, a lady, had been 

 troubled with rheumatism for several 

 years, in one ankle, and, during the 

 winter, a j^ear ago, I suggested when 

 the summer came that she should 

 come around, and I would give her a 

 treatment of bee-stings. She laughed 

 when I suggested this; but when the 

 summer came, and the bees were fly- 

 ing, and it was warm enough, she came 

 around and I began by giving her two 

 or three stings at first; in two or 

 three weeks I gave her five or six at a 

 time, and in all, I gave her, I think. 



