I lO 



April, 1912. 



AracE^ican ^ae Journal 



for a number of years to sell in the town of 

 Dauphin, and it is ail local honoy. entirely 

 different from what was gotten here, but 

 the people there have been educated to the 

 use of the honey produced there. I believe 

 in Mr. Miller's \'icinity they have no iiarticu- 

 lar honey that they do produce. We think 

 that is where his trouble is; therefore, he 

 can't get it, or does not get it. unless he 

 brings it from some other source. If we 

 were to go to California I don't doubt but 

 that the California orange honey is just 

 about as good as their sage honey; eitlicr of 

 them is excellent: but wherever the sage 

 honey is consumed, that is where they want 

 sage honey; and where they send orange 

 honey, orange honey has the preference. In 

 reference to people wanting a change, and 

 the different flavors. I really believe that 

 people who are in the habit of getting clover 

 honey do not want anything else. I have 

 customers I have supplied for 25 years, and 

 I know they don't want anything else. My 

 idea is this: When you have once created a 

 market for a thing, keep on giving them that 

 one thing. I believe in the Old Country 

 they fancy the darker honey, such as sage, 

 because they are accustomed to it. I be- 

 lieve in the city of NIontreal. where they 

 have been in the habit of getting buckwheat 

 honey, they can sell much darker honeys 

 than in Toronto. Toronto has been edu- 

 cated to use good honey. The matter of ex- 

 hibiting honey here for ^u years has created 

 a market in Toronto for good lioney. and the 

 same with other products. 



Mr. Alpaugh— As to blending honey. I 

 think that is one of the finest things that 

 there is. if people practise it. For years I 

 have blended my honey, and I have found 

 splendid results from it. I never sell pure 

 clover or pure basswood if lean get some- 

 thing to blend with it; it is too bright or 

 " suspicious looking." If you can put about 

 100 pounds of dandelion honey to a ton of 

 clover, you have improved it immensely in 

 every shape and form; you have given it a 

 rich color, and it improves the taste of it. in 

 my estimation. I have sold that sort of 

 honey in different places here in Toronto, 

 and in the Northern markets, always with 

 satisfaction. If I can get my honey with a 

 little bit of gold tinge to it. that is the best 

 shape to get it in. 



Mr. Holtermann— There is a good deal of 

 mustard in the vicinity of Brantford, and I 

 f nd it a nasty thing to contend with under 

 these circumstances. Where the nights 

 and early mornings are cool, the clover does 

 not yield, but the mustard does yield at that 

 time, and it is in right where the clover is. 

 and in seasons when we have that kind of 

 weather the clover is sure to be spoiled by 

 the mustard. 'The bees work on the mus- 

 tard until the atmosphere is warmed up 

 sufhciently for the blossoms of the clover to 

 secrete nectar, and then the bees turn on to 

 the clover. It is sharp tasting and somewhat 

 amber in color, and it certainly does dete- 

 riorate the quality of the honey. I never 

 analyzed it as being bitter; that is a new 

 thought to me. 



Mr. Byer— I believe it was my honor to be 

 the one who had the argument with Mr. 

 Miller in regard to the question of mustard. 

 Mr. Chrysler suggests that we do not all 

 taste alike. We liave Helds of mustard all 



round us every year, and the bees work on 

 every year. Mr. Holtermann says they 



work on it in tlie morning. Never with us; 

 it is right in the extreme heat of the day 

 when the thermometer gets up to about 05 

 degrees. Our honey product is pretty good 

 around here; the bulk of my crop was sold 

 in Toronto this year; it is not as white as 

 we get in the clover sections where they 

 have no mustard, and I noticed a little of 

 that sharpness, but don't think there is any 

 discount on that account. This year 1 be- 

 lieve I got the highest price that was going 

 in a wholesale way. I regard mustard as be- 

 ing all right; some years it yields when the 

 clover doesn't. I have not noticed anything 

 in the line of bitterness as suggested by Mr. 

 Miller or Mr. Alpaugh. It must be all a 

 question of locality, or else we don't taste 

 alike. 



Mr. Dickenson — I am surprised to find we 

 have so much mustard in this Province. I 

 am fortunate in living in a township where 

 we have no mustard at all. It would almost 

 appear from the remarks of the gentlemen 

 that know, that they have the pure stuff, 

 that it is pretty rank. I don't think it would 

 be advisable to blend that with good clover. 



Mr. Brown— In our section we try to keep 

 the honey separate as much as possible, and 

 sell it under its proper name— buckwheat, 

 clover or basswood. as the case may be. 



Mr. Lowey— I think it is a difference in 

 taste. In my neighbood the bees work on 

 the clover, and on a neighbor's place there 

 mustard, so-called, that the bees work on. 

 and that honey has a sharp taste. I think, 

 like Mr. Holtermann. in a cold, damp sea- 

 son the bees work on it. As to the blending 

 of honeys, circumstances and localities alter 

 cases. I have had people from both West 

 and East at home where I have had beautiful 

 linden and clover honey, and I have had 

 people declare they never tasted or saw 

 anything like it, and I have had these parties 

 write and say, "Whatever your price I want 

 honey like that." I don't think we should 

 let the idea go out. especially among begin- 

 ners, to blend honey, when we can get the 

 bees to blend it. 



Mr. Timbers— That is what Ontario's rep- 

 utation is built upon— clover and linden 

 honey. 



Mr. Pettit— I happened to have the most 

 alsike honey this year I ever had. and ever 

 so many who have sampled that honey have 

 said it was the nicest honey they ever saw. 

 because it was almost pure alsike honey, 

 water-white, and with a peculiarly rich 

 flavor and aroma which you do not get in 

 anything else. 



Mr. Holmes— We had better adhere to the 

 old plan and follow it. and keep our honeys 

 separate and distinct, and sell them on 

 their inerits. That is the plan we have been 

 following. It is the best plan still unless we 

 can be educated. We are open to convic- 

 tion. We find instances that come to us as 

 surprises. For instance, the individual 

 who claims that West India molasses is 

 much better and enjoyable than the finest 

 maple syrup. This is. to some of us. per- 

 haps a surprise, and yet we have a lot to 

 learn. 



Mr. Storer— I had extracted a yard of very 

 nice honey, and the season was fully half 

 over, and I left the combs on just two days 

 too long because I wasn't there to see to it. 

 and I had to sell that honey at 2 cents a 

 pound less than the other. That is my ex- 

 perience with " blending. " 



Tlie above discussion is as it appears 

 in the Annual Report of the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association of the Province of On- 

 tario, 19U8, published by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Toronto. Only 

 the discussions of the address having a 

 bearing on the points of color, flavor 

 and body, are quoted. 



The convention was almost a unit in 

 its approval of the light-colored, de- 

 licious-flavored clover and basswood 

 honey without blending; and all who 

 mentioned "body" wanted it thick. 

 Some regretted that mustard was gath- 

 ered at the same time as clover, and 

 thus unavoidably injured the quality to 

 a greater or less e.xtent. A few thought 

 that intermixture of mustard, such as 

 obtained in a clover flow not detrimen- 

 tal, but none expressed a preference 

 for the mustard intermixture. Those 

 who were so fortunate as to secure 

 crops of clover and basswood unmixed 

 with other honeys spoke in highest 

 terms of the quality. Air. Alpaugh was 

 the only Canadian speaker who favored 

 blending, and he blends very mildly — 

 only 100 pounds of dandelion honey to 

 2000 pounds of clover. Although Mr. 

 Alpaugh mentioned obtaining about 

 2000 pounds of almost pure mustard 

 honey one year, which was " bitter, 

 strong, and sharp," he did not mention 

 that he tried blending that. 



The "audible silence" following Mr. 

 Alpaugh's remarks was interrupted by 

 the 9 speakers who followed him, all of 

 whom either endorsed fancy honey un- 

 blended, or openly protested against 

 the blending of dark honeys with the 

 light and fancy grade. 



The question of the wisdom of blend- 

 ing the dark with light and fancy 

 grades of honey therefore seems to be 

 well settled so far as Ontario is con- 

 cerned, by a representative declaration 

 of 13 to 1, which looks good to me. 



As to blending honey to be sold in 

 the United States, one further point 

 may be mentioned : If we sell honey 

 under the name of some flower, as for 

 instance "clover honey," that variety 

 of honey must be delivered, and not 

 that kind of honey blended with some 

 other kind, otherwise we violate the 

 National pure food laws. If the honey 

 is " blended," that fact must be stated 

 if any statement is made, to come with- 

 in the legal requirement. 



No. 7— HONKV-KXTKACTOR ANIJ UNCAI'IMNGCAN. 



No. 8-.'\NOTHKK 'VlKW OF No. 7. 



