American Hee Journal 



many wholesale grocery houses are now 

 putting up their own honey. They buy 

 honey and put it up themselves. A 

 number of so-called honey-dealers have 

 gone out of business here in Chicago. 



Mr. Taylor — You have enough left to 

 supply Chicago. In my State I have 

 traveled a little this fall. One day I 

 came across a horse hitched to a cov- 

 ered rig, and as we stopped at the place 

 I inquired of the driver what he had, 

 and he said he had medicines and bot- 

 tles of all kinds and no labels. I asked 

 him where they came from. I learned 

 that instead of shipping them from 

 where they were originally made, they 

 were transferred to Saginaw covmty. 

 They can ship from there to another 

 place. Honey-dealers left Chicago and 

 have gone to Indiana, and arc contin- 

 uing;. 



Dr. Miller— Will you tell us what 

 drove out those few that have gone. 



Mr. Taylor — You have enough left to 

 supply Chicago. 



Mr. .\rnd — ^It isn't likely that a large 

 grocery house would have a house in 

 every State in the Union. 



Mr. Dadant — Here are facts. We 

 have been dealers of honey for 40 years 

 or more. We never thought that we 

 could sell honey to small grocers. We 

 never tried to. Four years ago I got 

 acquanUed with a grocer in Keokuk. 

 He handled Chicago honey. He said to 

 me, "You sell your honey at 10 or 12 

 cents a pound in small packages. We 

 can buy hone\' in Chicago so it can be 

 handled for 10 cents a pound. We like 

 to handle pure goods, but must meet the 

 price." I met him again last fall. He 

 then said, "We are compelled to use 

 pure goods, and I am glad of it. We 

 will have to use pure honey." I asked 

 him if he could handle our honey now. 

 He took $600 worth of honey that sea- 

 son. .\nd he is still handling our hon- 

 ey. He used to handle manufactured 

 honey. Such is sometimes labeled "Ar- 

 tificial Honey." The pure food law has 

 helped already, and it is going to help. 

 The pure food law went into effect Jan- 

 uary I. 1907, but no one was prosecuted 

 until October. 



Mr. Taylor — The pure food law did 

 not affect that. 



Dr. Miller — The pure food law went 

 into effect last January. There is a 

 prohibition law passed down in Ala- 

 bama. It doesn't go into effect until 

 January, 1909. But it affects the liquor 

 business. It has its effect before the 

 law really takes effect. These are facts 

 that have an indirect bearing. Where 

 I live, it was common to see impure 

 goods year after year — syrups, jellies, 

 and all that sort of thing. I never saw 

 on the labels anything that said any- 

 thing was wrong with them. Now I 

 see largely a corn syrup. On another 

 can that formerly was sold as honey- 

 drips, now has such a percent of corn- 

 syrup. You won't find a can or jar 

 that doesn't say pretty plainly on it 

 just what it is. If those fellows have 

 gone to some other place, they don't 

 send their goods to Marengo. 



Mr. Wheeler — -I see about as many 

 grocery stores as any one here. Lots of 

 these wholesale houses are labeling their 

 articles a certain brand. They have 

 "So-and-so's" brand of honey. They 



don't call it "pure honey." The store- 

 keeper can retail the stuff for 20 cents 

 per pound fruit-jar. They have it in 

 jars from one pound down. They have 

 a way of dodging the law so that you 

 people don't think of it. People don't 

 look for the word "Pure." They see the 

 word "Honry" on it, and buy it. There 

 is a lot of this kind of goods put on 

 the market that I don't consider pure, 

 and a great deal sold, especially in the 

 poorer districts. Every store has some 

 sort of hoiu-y in it. It is sold under 

 different brands, just as the "Old 

 Manse" br.md of maple-syrup. The 

 dealers claim that if they_ use the word 

 "brand." it simply means 'the same arti- 

 cle as has been put up for years before. 

 It is the same article under the same 

 name. I think you would be surprised 

 at the amount of honey in the stores to- 

 day. 



br. Miller — What is there in the price 

 to make him think that it is not pure 

 honey? Wliat are the prices? 



Mr. Wheeler — In the size of packages. 

 A pound and a half of honey can not 

 retail at 20 cents. 



Dr. Miller — ^Can pure honey be of- 

 fered at 20 cents for ij^ pounds? 



Mr. Taylor — Perhaps there is one way 

 in which the pure food law will do 

 good. If the people become convinced 

 that the law is carried into effect, and 

 that goods are all properly labeled, 

 what will be the result? Xot that they 

 will eschew all syrups and jellies, but 

 if they like them they will buy them, 

 still resting upon the law that they are 

 getting just what the law calls for. 

 5lany people like these syrups. Chem- 

 ists tell us they are just as good as 

 honey for eating. Under such circum- 

 stances they will buy it just as largely — 

 maybe more largely than before. 



Dr. Miller — Do you think that what 

 was called the "Wiley lie" hurt the sale 

 of honey any? No? Then he is in a 

 class by himself. 



Mr. Taylor— The cry made by the bee- 

 keepers affected the sale of honey. If 

 they had made no fuss there would 

 hav been no trouble. 



Mr. Moore— This discussion strikes 

 very close to me. I have an experience 

 of over 20 years,' confining myself to 

 family trade. I have been in touch with 

 wholesale trade, and have a pretty gen- 

 eral view of the situation. To use 

 t'lie word "honey" on the package in 

 question, if it is not all honey, is ille- 

 gal. "Pure" is not necessary. Pure 

 goods don't have to be labeled at all. 

 "Honey" means "Pure Honey," only, 

 and always. Is it possible to sell a 

 pound jar at 20 cents? California hon- 

 ey can be sold for 11 cents. So 9 

 cents would be plenty of profit. It is 

 not necessarily impure because it is sold 

 at 20 cents, in regard to the pure food 

 law. I am much interested in the law. 

 -■Vway back of January i, there was an 

 effect on commerce in Chicago, even be- 

 fore the grocers were talking pure food 

 law. People began to label their goods 

 truthfully. The public has a wholesome 

 respect for Uncle Sam. .\s soon as Uncle 

 Sam took an interest in the pure food 

 business, people began to "sit -up and 

 take notice." As far as I know there 

 hasn't been an effort in the United 

 States to enforce the law. It has been a 



self-enforcing law. Because of respect 

 for Uncle Sam it has an effect, a very 

 natural effect. My honey is always pure. 

 People buy it with a freedom never 

 known before. They have confidence 

 that Uncle Sam will punish a man who 

 sells impure honey. Lack of confidence 

 is a natural thing. The confidence that 

 people have in Uncle Sam helps every 

 one to sell honey, whether this adver- 

 tising is making people more skeptical 

 or more careful as to whom they buy 

 honey from. As to the Wiley lie, I have 

 fought against it for years. I have 

 sold mostly extracted honey. I have 

 very often been asked, "Did you make 

 it yourself?" People believe that honey 

 is manufactured. Wiley started it, and 

 the reporters have helped it along for 

 the sake of sensation. It is no use for 

 people to say that the Wiley lie has 

 not hurt bee-keepers. Hundreds, I be- 

 lieve, had quit buying honey until they 

 got acquainted with me. Then they 

 bought it because they believed in me. 

 The Wiley lie stopped people frorn buy- 

 ing honey because they believed it was 

 made by somebody, and not by bees. 



Mr. Taylor — I have sold a good many 

 tons of honey, and never said anything 

 about the Wiley lie to any purchaser. 

 Neither has anybody asked me if I made 

 that honey myself. He has been crying 

 and shedding blood and tears over the 

 Wiley lie. Of course, people will ask 

 hiiu. You say, from what we have 

 heard, that these grocers are full of 

 false honey. Call it what you will, it 

 is evideently not pure honey, whether 

 it is correctly labeled or not. AA/'ho knows 

 whether the Government has punished 

 any one? 



Dr. Bohrer — I am much interested in 

 the Pure Food Law. If you have a de- 

 fective State law, revise it and make it 

 an effective one. I am much interested 

 in the production and sale of extracted 

 honey. I think that is the best shape for 

 it, the most healthful. Some say there 

 is an article being sold in Chicago that 

 is not honey. If such is the case your 

 Legislature is not treating you right. 

 Revise the law. In Kansas no one dares 

 sell anything under a false label. If he 

 puts the word "honey" on it, and it is 

 not pure honey, that man is handled, and 

 not with gloves. However, under the 

 National Pure Food Law, you do not 

 dare ship honey from one State to an- 

 other unless it is pure, without danger. 

 People who see the label "Honey" on a 

 jar say that it is "honey." The pure 

 food law does not allow it to be sold un- 

 der a false label, so now people do not 

 question it at all. Merchants dare not 

 handle anything but what is pure. If you 

 want to produce more honey and with 

 less labor, begin to produce extracted 

 honey. You will all find it to be an ad- 

 vantage. 



Mr. Wheeler — Dealers use a certain 

 mark that is permissible by law. The 

 word "brand" is used a good deal. The 

 goods are sold so cheap. 



Dr. Bohrer — Are you sure it is not 

 pure honey? 



Mr. Wheeler— Pure honey is much 

 higher in price than it was a year ago. 



Mr. Moore— The National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association put $200 in my hands to 

 help clean up the Chicago honey market, 

 and I claim that there is no man better 

 able to give an intelligent opinion. Truth 



