942 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



ferent directions I found a section that was 

 a little broken, and took it over home ; and 

 I want to tell you that, although it is differ- 

 ent from any houe^' in the East, to me the 

 aromatic .minty taste is just exquisite. 

 Mrs. Root said there was too much mint 

 about it to suit her. Bvit one thing- I enjoy 

 about honey is the wonderful varietj' of fla- 

 vors. It is like going- into a peach-orchard 

 where there are a dozen or more different 

 kinds. You may pronounce the peaches 

 from the first tree the finest you ever tasted. 

 But when you taste one from another tree, 

 you may change your mind, and so on till 

 you have sampled the dozen, all different, 

 but each one so wonderfullj' entrancing to 

 the taste that you get bewildered, and can 

 only say, " May God be praised for having 

 given us this beautiful fruit, with its many 

 exquisite and delicious flavors." Now, I 

 think it is so of honey. Perhaps I should 

 tire of this from California if I should have 

 it right along, but I rather think not. Er- 

 nest saj's it is probably a combination of 

 sweet clover and mountain sage. I have 

 always liked honej' from sweet clover — that 

 is, where it is perfectly ripened — ever since 

 I first tasted it in Salt Lake City. It is in- 

 tensel}^ sweet. Well, now, the sage just 

 gives this a beautiful ininty aroma, perhaps 

 a little like wintergreen in choice confec- 

 tionery. The honey is so thick that you 

 have to spread it on your bread as you 

 spread butter. Now, I like to have samples 

 of these choice honeys from different parts 

 of the world to exhibit to our friends when 

 thej' call on us — especially thfc bee-keeping 

 friends. When you are ordering goods 

 from us I think you had better have at least 

 a sample put in of that choice honey from 

 sweet clover and sage. — A. I. R. 



A MOST UNP'ORTUNATE AND GLARING ERKOR 



THAT HAS BEGUN TO FLOAT OVER THE 



COUNTRY, LIKE THE OLD WILEY 



CANARD. 



Along about the middle of last Novem- 

 ber, Special Food Commissioner Jones, of 

 Illinois, made an inroad on the hone^'-adul- 

 terators, or venders of adulterated honcN', 

 in Chicago. He did some splendid work, 

 and for this he has the heartiest thanks of 

 bee-keepers; but, most unfortunatelj', he 

 has nullified it to a great extent by send- 

 ing out a statement to the press to the effect 

 that all fancy white comb honey is bogus, 

 and only that which is travel-stained, or, 

 as he says, has a "brown coloring around 

 the cells," is genuine. The market has al- 

 ready been shaken, not onl_v in Chicago and 

 vicinity, but over the whole country. 



This same Commissioner Jones appeared 

 before the National Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion at its convention in Chicago two years 

 ago. At that time he showed an earnest 

 desire to work in harmony with and for the 

 bee-keepers of the countrj'. He followed 

 up the glucose-mixing business in Chicago 

 so energeticallj' that he practically drove 

 adu'.teraled honev out of the citv. but now, 



in his zeal to carry out the lines of his offi- 

 cial duties, he has gone too far, and has 

 unwittingl3% as I believe, classed a large 

 portion of the finest and best honey that 

 the bees can produce as bogus. Here is 

 what he is reported to have said in the Chi- 

 cago Tribune of Nov. 18: 



" Genuine honey," he declared, " his brown color- 

 ing around the cells. Glucose honey is perfectly 

 white. The purchaser can detect the fraud by this 

 simple rule. Honev. butter, and vinegar are the three 

 articles in the purchase of which citizens are most 

 subject to imposition just at present, wnd they are 

 causing nio.st of the work for the commission. Sjrups 

 may be clas.sed with honey in this respect." 



Such a stateinent is as wide of the truth 

 as it can possiblj' be; for by this definition 

 of ptire honey all "No. 1" and "Fancy" 

 comb honey is bogus; and how an intelli- 

 gent food commissioner could have made 

 such a fearful mistake I can not understand. 

 If he had only consulted some bee-keeper 

 ( and there are a hiuidred or so in the city) 

 he would not have made such a blunder. 

 It is to be feared that, notwithstanding all 

 the refutation that can be made through the 

 papers, this misstatement will take the 

 wings of the wind, as did the old Wiley 

 canard, disseminating untruth and preju- 

 dice in a way that will do untold mischief 

 to honest producers of honey. It is the more 

 prejudicial, because the statement, coming 

 as it does from such a person, will be read 

 by thousands of consumers, and what will 

 they do? They will go without honey. 



It is to be hoped that the Commissioner 

 will make haste to correct his error; and if 

 he is the man we take him to be he will do 

 so by calling upon competent bee-keepers 

 who can show him that all white comb hon- 

 ey, which he indirectlj' calls bogus, is the 

 genuine product of the hive, just as much 

 as the second-grade stuff" he calls pure, which 

 he says "has a brown coloring around the 

 cells." The honey he describes is what 

 bee-keepers call, technically, "travel-stain- 

 ed " — that is to saj', the bees under some 

 conditions incorporated into the cappin.gs 

 foreign matter to such an extent that the 

 face of the honey is darkened in the man- 

 ner explained. 



Mr. R. A. Burnett, of Chicago, who sent 

 the clipping above, writes: 



We inclose you theclipping. which will be .self-ex- 

 planatory It is our opinion that .such publications as 

 this have a tendency to turn people from the use of 

 honey, many of them taking the vew that Dr. A. J. 

 Park" does. "which is indeed a very unhappv one. 

 While Jones's ignorance of the siibject upon which he 

 gives a verv p sitive opinion is plain to you and me, it 

 "is safe to say that 7.") per cent of the peo"ple will accept 

 his statement as being the truth, and thus the sale of 

 honev will lie largelv curtailed. 



Chfcago. 111. " " R. A. Ht'rnktt. 



Mr. Burnett is one of the few strictly 

 honorable commission men of the cotuitry. 

 He is one who is in close totxch with the 

 honey market, and an ardent friend of bee- 

 keepers. He, like the Root Co., sees evil 

 forebodings. It's too bad. 



What shall be done? Bee-keepers every- 

 where should promptly answer it if it ap- 

 pears in their local dailies. 



