806 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



self say, "I can not believe is true," ought to 

 be consigned to the waste-basket unless ac- 

 companied by at least some substantiating evi- 

 dence in support of it; and yet this does not 

 contain a single shadow of evidence in support 

 of it. In spite of your assertion. " I don't be- 

 lieve it," the very fact of its publication in one 

 of our leading bee-journals will result in a re- 

 production in other papers, minus your foot- 

 note. 



Our situation in connection with this case is 

 a rather peculiar one; for, to sum up. we of 

 necessity become the defendants, and the bur- 

 den of proof is demanded of us, which, as a 

 rule, devolves on the plaintiff; but necessity 

 compels us to avoid any exception to this un- 

 usual mode of procedure, and we trust the 

 truth and nothing but the truth will be forth- 

 coming. 



Our home market is so limited, and our prod- 

 uct some seasons so great in quantity, that our 

 only source of disposal is the honey markets of 

 the East; consequently, whatever is said or 

 done reflecting on our product destroys confi- 

 dence, thus limiting the demand and lessening 

 the price; and if this is true, any reflection or 

 insinuations as to the purity of California honey, 

 be it true or not true, is a question of vital 

 import to every California bee-keeper. 



'Tis true, I have heard something of adulter- 

 ations in California, and I have endeavored, as 

 far as possible, to sift out and digest these cir- 

 culating rumors as far as it has been within 

 my power to do so; and, with one exception, I 

 have yet to glean any evidence in support of 

 adulteration in this, the largest honey market 

 in California. You, in all probability, know 

 something in regard to freight rates to this 

 coast, and in consequence can form some idea 

 of probable profit in shipping glucose out here 

 to adulterate honey with (glucose is not manu- 

 factured out here), and then reship to the 

 eastern market, and this when honey has been 

 selling as low as 314 to 3>^ cents in any quanti- 

 ty; and as probable gain would be the only 

 inducement to do this, I fail to figure any pos- 

 sible profit at present prices. 



Since reading Mr. Dayton's statement I have 

 consumed the greater portion of two days in 

 this city in search of glucosed honey, even go- 

 ing so far as to trespass on the domain of the 

 •' exception " referred to, and thus far have 

 failed to find a single ounce of glucosed honey. 



From evidence gleaned, I candidly believe 

 that, in years past, when our product com- 

 manded a higher price, one establishment in 

 this city was guilty of adulteration; and from 

 this, more than all else, have sprung the rumors 

 of the mythical millions of adulterated honey. 

 Furthermore, allow me to inform you that the 

 last session of our State Assembly passed two 

 laws bearing on the subject of adulteration- 

 one bearing directly on honey, and the other 



indirectly, in connection with the " pure food " 

 law. in both cases making it a misdeameanor; 

 and I can assure you that, whenever any evi- 

 dence of honey adulteration is produced, the 

 Los Angeles County liee-keepers' Association 

 will see that guilty parties will get their just 

 deserts. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Oct. 1.5. 



[The first thought that came to me on read- 

 ing the item with regard to the extent which 

 California honey was said to be adulterated, in 

 friend Dayton's article, page 720. was that it 

 should be struck out. And then I remembered 

 that I had seen various allusions to the same 

 effect in agricultural papers; and I had heard 

 it whispered around at conventions and else- 

 where that California honey was so largely 

 adulterated that it seemed to me it would be 

 better to give the thing some intelligent con- 

 sideration; that if it should prove to be only a 

 man of straw we could easily knock it over. 



I am very glad indeed to get such an explicit, 

 and, as I regard it, satisfactory, denial, of the 

 statement. I am glad, also, to know that there 

 are two good laws in California, bearing on 

 the subject of making the adulteration of honey 

 a misdemeanor. Surely, with the h^lpofthe 

 Los Angeles Co. Bee-keepers' Association, and 

 in connection with the Union, we should be 

 able to sift these things down to a pretty fine 

 point. But here is another article from the 

 Rambler:] 



CALIFORNIA HONEY NOT ADULTERATED AND 

 SENT EAST. 



HOW THE PRODTTCT IS MARKETED. 



By Ramhlcr. 



In Mr. Dayton's article, on page 728. there 

 are several statements with which California 

 bee-keepers can not agree, and one in partic- 

 ular that calls for a word of protest. He uses 

 these words: " It is estimated that one-half the 

 honey produced in California has been adulter- 

 ated with glucose and sent east by a few if not 

 SiVeriifew wholesale firms." 



I have italicized the words open to criticism. 

 It is a bare possibility that half of our honey 

 is adulterated before it reaches the consumer; 

 but if it is. there is insufficient data to support 

 the assertion, and it resolves itself into a merr 

 guess or conjecture. But when Mr. Dayton 

 uses the term "sent east." implying that the 

 honey is adulterated to such an extent here in 

 California, I do emphatically protest against 

 the insinuation, and not only say with the ed- 

 itor in the footnote to the article, " I do not be- 

 lieve it," but, while I do not charge the writer 

 with a willful desire to deceive. I can prove 

 that it was too lightly considered. 



The honey in all this region is sent east ir 

 various ways. A number of producers market 

 their own honey, either through commission 

 houses in the East or by direct sales. There is 

 no suspicion" of adulteration, and is none iu 

 these shipments. Next a great amount of hop 

 ey is purchased by local dealers. Every locali- 



