No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 67? 



absolutely pure honey. We should educate them to understand that 

 the most suspicious product on the market is the extracted or liquid 

 honey in jars with a little piece of comb Moating - at the top. No 

 true bee-keeper ever prepares his product in this way. (5.) Our 

 friends should be educated on the subject of buying honey. They 

 should know where to buy it, and when they learn this they will 

 agree that buying directly of the producer is the best way to obtain 

 the best product at the lowest price. However, it is possible for us 

 to establish in the large trade centres of this State a regular trade 

 with certain firms who will make their reputation and ours by hand- 

 ling our products in a reliable manner, which will prove satisfactory 

 to both producers and consumers. (G.) We should use every effort 

 to show the absurdity of the -canard or false statement, now un- 

 fortunately being circulated in some papers, to the effect that there 

 is manufactured or artificial comb-honey. Let us emphasize this by 

 making known the fact that the National Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 of which we are members by virtue of having joined the Pennsylva- 

 nia Association, has a standing offer of one thousand dollars forfeit 

 for any comb hoi^ey capped or sealed in such a way as not to be 

 detected. (7) We must educate our fellow-citizens, especially our 

 horticultural friends, to understand fully the fact that bees are de- 

 cidedly beneficial about their premises, do not puncture any fruits, 

 and not only aid in increasing their fruit crop, but in fact are essen- 

 tial for the production of certain kinds of fruit by cross fertilization. 

 (8.) Let us endeavor to call the attention of every bee-keeper in this 

 State to the importance of joining this Association and aiding us 

 in securing the desiderata named above, and let us educate our poli- 

 tical friends concerning the serious troubles that confront us in 

 the presence of destructive bee diseases and legislation that we need 

 in suppressing these, as well as for other purposes. 



II. The Education of Merchants or Storekeepers. — (1.) The dealers 

 in food stuffs should be educated to the importance of knowing and 

 saying what is good, and selling only pure articles, which will stimu- 

 late and build up trade, rather than poor stuff that will destroy it. 

 (2.) Merchants should understand that pure honey will granulate, 

 especially if kept very cool, and that this granulation is due to no 

 defect in the product. However, it can be overcome by placing the 

 jars cantaining honey in vessels of water, and heating them grad- 

 ually and slowly until the honey has all become clear and liquid 

 and then holding them at that temperature for a short time. It will 

 not granulate again soon. (3.) Storekeepers should be taught to 

 keep honey from granulating by preventing it from becoming either 

 very cold or very warm. (4.) They should be taught to push the sale 

 of honey and honey-products and thus to place before the public one 

 of Nature's best food stuffs. (5.) It is important for us to show mer- 

 chants not only how to sell, but where and how to buy. For this, 

 our own Association is justified in having its representative visit 

 their stores, and we should prepare our honey in the most attractive 

 manner and show merchants how to keep it so. (6.) They should 

 understand the importance of legislation against adulteration and 

 should join in a movement against this serious evil. 



III. The Bee-Keeper, or the Producer, should be Considered in this 

 Educational Crusade. (1) He should know how to detect the pres 

 ence of diseases in his apiaries upon their first occurrence, and how 



