ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



107 



matter of choice; we simply can't quit. 

 I am in that class; I have to recog- 

 nize it. 



Mr. Burnett — Now then comes the 

 great question we are all living for: 

 The educating of the people. It is a 

 lifelong task, yet, in my opinion, nec- 

 essary. Although I believe the Bible 

 tells of honey and how honey was 

 found in peculiar places and that 

 honey was consumed in that time, but 

 I can remember here when honey was 

 hardly used at all. I began to sell 

 hones* in this city in 1877 and there 

 was very little of it coming in then. 

 There was a little honey that came 

 from Michigan, a little out here from 

 Dundee section and so on, but not a 

 great deal of honey came on the mar- 

 ket until jflve or six or seven years 

 afterward. 



But a great hindrance to the sale of 

 honey is an inferior quality offered 

 to the people. 



I don't know of anything that hurts 

 the sale of honey so much as for 

 somebody, some family to get some 

 honey that they don't like. They 

 simply put it away and honey is ta- 

 booed, for dear knows how long, un- 

 til perhaps some one comes along and 

 lets him taste his honey. 



Then he will say: "That honey 

 tastes pretty good. We quit using 

 honey; we don't like it; none of our 

 folks will eat it. We got some honey 

 that we did not use." 



This getting of unripe honey or 

 honey flavor that does not suit: I 

 remember very well of an intelligent 

 man who came in and bought a case 

 of honey of us, I think niore than a 

 quarter century ago, and he picked it 

 out himself. He took it home. He paid 

 cash for it. He didn't take any bill. 



He came back a few days afterward 

 and explained that he had bought a 

 case of honey some time ago and didn't 

 get any bill for it and he wanted a re- 

 ceipt for his money. 



The matter was looked up. He gave 

 the date when he came; the cash rec- 

 ord was found and he was given a 

 bill and receipt. 



Now, he says, "I want my money 

 back." We asked him why he wanted 

 his money back; he could not hear 

 very well; I remember he was very 

 indignant. 



He said it did not make any differ- 

 ence; he didn't care where the honey 

 came from; he had been cheated any- 



way. "There is no more honey to 

 that you gave me than there is to a 

 turnip." 



Now it happened to be a quality of 

 honey, though the color was right, that 

 he knew nothing about, and he con- 

 demned it as some manufactured prod- 

 uct of which he had no knowledge; 

 but he knew that he was swindled; 

 that is what he was sure of. 



Now as to the fixing of a price for 

 honey — what honey could be sold at. 



I don't know that there is any com- 

 modity of commerce on which you can 

 fix an absolute price with one excep- 

 tion, that of gold; gold is the only 

 fixed product. 



President France — Any one else any- 

 thing further on this subject? 



Father Yaeger — Mr. President: the 

 President of our Bee -Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation Tip in Minnesota used to say 

 when you want to have a lively meet- 

 ing, every time when the other fellow 

 says "Yes," you say "No," and, when 

 he says "No," you say "Yes." There is 

 nothing that will bring out things 

 more sharply than when we have sub- 

 jects here with opposite views ex- 

 pressed. 



I have heard what this gentleman 

 just now said and I am surprised to 

 hear it. 



Our Association holds opposite opin- 

 ions and, if any discussion can come 

 from it, I would like to tell you what 

 we think of it. 



Now, first, you say that honey is a 

 luxury. We have discarded that 

 thought altogether and have conclud- 

 ed that honey is a staple article of 

 commerce. 



If we consider honey as a thing to 

 put on the table like a piece of but- 

 ter or a little dessert after dinner, it 

 may be considered a luxury. But 

 since we organized the Tri-State 

 Honey Exchange in Minneapolis and 

 have handled all the honey of Minne- 

 sota, and we have a central station 

 from which all the honey of the state 

 comes, and one salesman sells it all, 

 we have found out that within two or 

 three months a hundred thousand 

 pounds of honey would come in and 

 that honey would be sold at the rate 

 of 10,000 to 15,000 pounds per month; 

 in fact as fast as we can handle it. 



This business of ours brought us in 

 contact with some very prominent 

 firms. We never thought honey was 

 used so • extensively in the United 



