Democratic messenger., 1889-06-29
BEES CAN TAKE A REST.
They are no Longer needed as
Honeymakers.

They are no Longer needed as
Honeymakers.
Wooden nutmegs must now yield the
palm to bees honey In the comb manufac.
turcd from parraine and glucose. The
good old father Of hymns, Isaac Watts, In
the innocence of his heart wrote these
lines
How doth the busy little bee
Improve each shining hour
And gather honey all the day
From every orening flower.
Perhaps In the days when those lines
were written the honest bee did Just this
thing. and gathered honey In an eminent
ly respectable manner; but since then
both the bee and bee.miser have learned
thing or two. aud the once hard. working
buzzer Is no longer a symbol of industry
and diligence. In this degenerate and
corrupt age the averag man takes II rs a
matter Of course that he shall find in the
bottom Of his ieacup goodly rcsidum of
sand with which the grocer hal sough, to
eke out slender profit. Nor L. he sur
prisel when he finds that the milk upon
his table Is little more than water filtered
through cow. But the bee has been con.
sidered during long ages rs above deceit
and reproach, and what ever the bee made
has been regarded as genuine.
THE BEH LEARNS THE WAY or THE WORLD
All this, however. Is but an illusion. for
the bee has lent itself TO the dcccitful
practices of sclleming men. and. instead
Of diligently buzzing from flower to flower
and gathering the sweetness thereof, the
little decciver now loafs around in the
sweeily scented garden while few wicked
culturalists fill a parriline comb with
sirupy glucose and send il broadcast over
the land as the honest product ofthc hard.
working bee. Here is the secret revealed
by coniiding grocer whose enthusiastic
explanation or the bee -raisers' deception
Uversl,adOwed the ar,lor with which he
sanded the sugar and put peas in the cof.
fee: "You see, there was time when
honey was honey. and honeycomb was
pure beeswax. hut like everybody else
some bee. raiscrs wanted Ia get rich more
rapidly, and the simon.pure products ol
the bees would not yield sufficient profits
so the anxious seeker after wealth cast
about him for nm easier and more rapid
road to riches. l. was first found that
parnfline closely rcscmbled bceswax, and
after many trials combs were produced
which were scarcely disiinguisllablc In
shape and geameirical accuracy from those
actually built by the bees themselves.
THE FIRST STEP TAKEN IN THE FRAUD.
ut was then found that when these ar
iificial combs were placed In the hives the
bees took 10 them rs IL they were their
own making, and filed them with honey
This plan once in operation became II
great saving To- hcc culturalists, MS III,
bees had to no longer make their own
comb, hut were able I" pu, in all their time
making honey. or course. now and then
somchody objected /" the quality Of the
wax. hut the lee raiscrs never minded
any little thing like that. and they though,
they lad struck the acme of success until
they made their next and greater discov-
cry. Tins was that glucose. or grape sugar
closely resembling honey in appearance
and was n very fair counterfeit as far rs
taste was concerned. Then there appeared
in the market paratne honeycomb filed
with glucose honey. and the occupation
Of the bec was gone. The first attempt
was simply an adul,eraiion Of honey with
glucose. and the proportion of the latter
was gradually increased until there was
little or nu honey.
| THE Brsy nEE's OCCUPATION GONE.
Nowadays the vitiatcd nnblic taste
scarcely recognizes pure hone, 'hcn I, is
found, AMI ninety people out Of every hun.
dred eat their glucose in bissfnl ignorance
and firm belief that they are pariaking
of the honest fruits of the labOrs of the
liligent bee. All bees are not so dcprav.
ed as io lend themselves to the deceptive
practices Of unscrupulous honey raisers
and some pure honey is still To I've had. but
il takes long hunt To find Il.
THE HIVES NOW run DAY AND NIGHT
speaking of bees and honey reminds
me of curious trick of lBcrks county
bee. raiser lie of,en lamenied the fac,
that NIL his bees rested from their lahors
at night. and M honey was made during
nine or ten hours out or every twenty.
four. lie argued that IL the bccs could
only see n, night they would work the
same as by day. To solve the problem
he hit upon an ingenious scheme. lie he,
thought himself OF the lightning bug. and
after many futile attempts, he succeeded
in cifecting a cross between the fircilies
aud bees. Now he has u breed of bees
that carry lanterns and are able to work
by night as well as ~ day. lie is now
trying to cultivate breed of bees that will
wear gum coats AMI rubber bonis and
gather honey in rainy weather. ."-PhiLi.
ieipha Record