126 DR. miller's 



the starters should give IS to 18, and the full sheets of foundation 

 16 to 19. I can, however, imagine an extreme case with an im- 

 mensely heavy flow lasting only a day or two, in which 20 pounds 

 would be stored in built combs and not a drop in the others. On 

 the other hand, I can imagine a very long flow with a very little 

 more gathered daily than the bees need for their own use, and 

 very nearly as much stored with starters as with full combs. But 

 remember that all this is only guessing, and my guesser may not 

 work in perfect order. I think the editor-in-chief knows more 

 about it than I do, and I'd be glad to have his guess, even if it 

 makes mine look like the guess of a beginner. 



(My guess would be a greater difference when built combs 

 yielded 20 pounds, say 10 to IS pounds for starters, and IS to 18 

 for sheets of foundation. I have seen sometimes what Dr. Miller 

 states, IS to 20 pounds in built combs and not a drop in the oth- 

 ers. — Editor.) 



Honey, Purity of. — Q. Some dealers tell me that I have been 

 feeding my bees sugar syrup. Others ask me if it is machine- 

 made. I would like to be able to prove that my nice, white comb 

 honey is pure honey, produced by the bees, but as I am not very 

 well posted on honey yet, I do not know just what to say. I have 

 heard it said that somebody, somewhere, offered $1,000 for a 

 pound of machine-made honey. Who was this man, and is the 

 offer still good, and has he got the $1,000 yet? The trouble is 

 that many persons believe that clean, white combs without stains 

 are machine-made; that pure amber honey is colored, and if it is 

 clear and white it must be nothing but sugar and water. 



A. An argument that I think was first advanced by C. P. 

 Dadant ought to be enough to convince anyone with sufficient 

 reason that section honey is not machine made. Take any two 

 sections of honey and place them side by side. If machine made 

 they would be exactly alike; whereas there will be no difficulty in 

 pointing out differences that will knock out all idea that they are 

 made in the same mold, and establish clearly that each section is 

 an individual job, worked out by the bees. Pop-holes in one will 

 be clearly different from those in another, and variations of cells 

 will be evident. You may also show a section just as it is when 

 you give it to the bees, and that will be convincing to most men 

 that the bees do the rest. 



The offer of $1,000 for a section of honey made without the aid 

 of bees was first made by the A. I. Root Company, and is still 

 good, with many thousands of dollars back of it. No one has yet 



