APICULTURE. 333 



The following- figures taken from the annual report of the Com- 

 missioner of Statistics fullj" illustrate the rapid growth of the honey 

 industrj^ in our state: 



Number of hives in 1893 22.063 



Number of hives in 1873 10,376 



Increase in twent}^ j-ears 11,687 



Number of pounds of honey in 1893 243,466 



Number of pounds of honey in 1873 134,276 



Increase in twenty' years 109,190 



While we recognize the worth of the pure Minnesota product, yet 

 there is much honej'on the market that is spurious and adulterated. 

 This evil is on the increase, and today it is a serious problem which 

 confronts the men who desire to produce a pure article of honey. It 

 is, therefore, a matter for our serious consideration; and in order that 

 this important industrj- maj- receive a stimulus, it is incu:nbent 

 upon the legislature to enact laws that will afford it the necessary 

 protection and encovxragement its importance demands. In all mat- 

 ters of food we cannot exercise too great care in denouncing the 

 spurious and encouraging the genuine. 



President West then proceeded to read the presidents annual ad- 

 dress: 



PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: In all walks of life 

 we meet the honest and faithful man and women, we also often 

 meet the false and spurious. There is no occupation, however high, 

 but what contains some dross and adulteration; the merchant and 

 dealer who sells his fellow inan food and articles from which drinks 

 are made is often so avaricious and so destitute of all honor and 

 regard for the health of his fellow beings that he adulterates all 

 articles of food that are susceptiable of adulteration, such as hone}' 

 sugar and sweets of all kinds. I am sorr}' to confess that the bee- 

 keeper's ranks have not been purged to that extent but what some 

 rascals are to be found. If there is anything that looks nieaner to 

 me and more contemptible than other meanness, or the same mean- 

 ness in other people, it is a bee man who is determined to adulterate 

 hone}- and palm it off on the innocent as the product of the noblest, 

 and most wonderful little creature which God has made, "the 

 blessed bee." 



The man who breaks into my barn and steals my horse is an 

 honorable man compared to the contemptible rascal who knowinglj- 

 sells me adulterated honey or an}' adulterated food without inform- 

 ing me of its nature. The inan who came from California with his 

 honey, and deliberately and openly went to work and adulterated it 

 with glucose, and sent it out to be sold, ought .to be in Stillwater 

 with Fleury who stole the gold from the Merchants Bank in St. Paul. 

 The latter is not as dangerous to the health and welfare of society 

 as the rascal who is making and selling us adulterated foods and 

 drinks. The time has come when every bee-keeper in this associa- 

 tion in Minnesota must go on record that such rascals must be 



