Jan. 11, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



21 



will be most eflective. If I do not then make a .sale and f;-et 

 some encourag-ement, I will call ag-ain later. Politeness, 

 appearance, and modesty do a great deal in getting a 

 proper interview, which is one-half in getting them inter- 

 ested and making a new customer, who, with proper treat- 

 ment, will be instrumental in getting some of his friends. 



I put up my product in one-gallon and five-gallon tin 

 cans, which I deliver by wagon-express direct to their resi- 

 dences. I also use one-quart and two-quart glass jars, 

 which I deliver direct to their place of business if centrally 

 located. A short time after shipment to a new customer I 

 call on him to find out if everything is satisfactory. I make 

 it a point always to give full-size cans, and filled up to the 

 brim ; 12 pounds of honey is considered a gallon, but my 

 customers get nearly 13 pounds. You will find it pays to be 

 liberal with your customers. Always rectify any mistakes, 

 even if you lose at the time, for it will pay in the end, as a 

 reputation for square dealing is worth money to any man. 

 To create a demand for honey at high prices, you should 

 not sell anything but first-class goods, as such invariably 

 bring- new orders. I have as a customer a family that has 

 bought of me $40 worth of honey within the last two years, 

 and yet I have never seen one of them. Nothing will ad- 

 vertise your goods more than the goods themselves. 



The public must be educated as to the u.ses and benefits 

 of pure honey ; there is not one per.son in fifty but thinks 

 that it is only a luxury of no particular value. If we only 

 could get the people to read and believe our circulars and 

 honey literature, and get the newspapers to print well- 

 written and true articles on the bee, and on honey as a food, 

 I have no doubt that the demand would increase tenfold in 

 a year. I believe that nearly one-half of my customers 

 have lately been convinced that it is not only a delicious 

 but beneficial food. 



We have this problem to solve: How can we get our 

 brother bee-keepers to sell their crop for living prices, and 

 at what it is worth, and thus not break down the honey 

 market? In answer, I would suggest that they invest at 

 least $2.00 per year for information — $1.00 for the best bee- 

 paper, and the other dollar as dues to some good bee-keep- 

 ers' association, where he could and would attend the meet- 

 ings and get the much-needed information. 



In these times of monopolies and trusts, when the rich 

 are getting richer, and the poor poorer, we poor bee-keepers 

 will find that the greatest problem for us to solve is, How 

 can the pure-food law be enforced effectively, and drive out 

 of business permanently those mixers of poisons, who for 

 mere gain are not only robbing the public of their hard- 

 earned money, but, more than that, are gradually under- 

 mining their constitutions and shortening their lives ? If 

 such laws could be enforced, it would greatly improve the 

 demand for our goods, and we would have no trouble to 

 market them at good prices. I believe that every one of us 

 can assist in helping to crush this great wrong by joining 

 the United States Bee-Keepers' Association, and swell its 

 treasury to such an extent that it will enable them to fight 

 the adulteration demons, and use their influence with Con- 

 gress to put a stop to this great injustice to humanity. 



H. M. Aknd. 



This topic was considered at great length, nearly every 

 one present being personally interested. Many and diverse 

 views were exprest on candied honey and its relation to a 

 honey-trade. 



The Hon. A. H. Jones, of Robinson, the newly ap- 

 pointed Illinois Pure Food Commissioner, was introduced 

 to the convention. He made an interesting address, pledg- 

 ing himself to co-operate with all good citizens to prevent 

 adulteration of foods. The bee-keepers congratulated 

 themselves on the presence of Mr. Jones at their meeting, 

 and his evident friendliness to their aims and objects. 



Following Mr. Jones, Pres. York and Dr. Miller made 

 a few well chosen remarks on the importance of the work 

 to be undertaken by Mr. Jones, and pledging the hearty 

 co-operation of bee-keepers. 



Mr. Jones said that 16 States now have pure food laws. 

 He askt the bee-keepers to aid him in enforcing the laws. 



Prof. E. N. Eaton, of Chicago, an analytical chemist, 

 read the following paper : 



Honey as Pood. 



Honey has ever been regarded one of the good things 

 in life. To the Hebrew fathers a land flowing with milk 

 and honey was symbolic of peace and plenty. Thus they 

 pictured their promLst land. The ancient Greeks fed their 

 fabled gods with nectar, even to-day generally considered 



synonymous with honey. Virgil wrote pastorals in its 

 praise. The American African, always extravagant in 

 language, can conceive of no sweeter name for his love 

 than " My Honey." The black mamma lulls her pickanin- 

 nies to sleep with the same sweet refrain. 



In English-speaking nations the newly-wedded cele- 

 brate their " honeymoon." liy the way, that term has a 

 derivation not commonly known. It was a custom of the 

 Goths to celebrate the marriage relation by drinking 

 diluted honey, sometimes called "hydromel," for one month 

 or one moon's age — hence the name " honeymoon." It was 

 this drink, fermented I fear, which caused the death, thru 

 suflocation, of the notorious vandal, " Attila." 



In speaking of honey as food it will be necessary to 

 name the three great classes of food material— the protcids 

 (or nitrogenous foods), the carbohydrates, and the fats, both 

 of the latter being carbonaceous foods. The nitrogenous 

 foods are, in the main, flesh formers, while the carbohy- 

 drates and fats are fuel foods. Honey belongs to the sugar 

 group, a large division of the carbohydrate family. All 

 carbohydrates consist chemically of the elements carbon, 

 hydrogen and oxygen, the latter two in the proportion to 

 form water, that is, eight times as much oxygen as hydro- 

 gen. 



Honey consists largely of the two sugars — dextrose and 

 levulose— in equal molecular proportions. These sugars 

 occur in Nature in fruits and vegetables. When coffee A 

 sugar, or damp brown sugar, stands for some time it be- 

 comes changed into these same sugars. The same change 

 in cane-sugar is brought about by action of diluted acids, 

 neutral salts and ferments. These sugars, when obtained 

 from cane or white sugar by any agency, are invariably 

 formed in equal quantities, and when so existing are termed 

 invert-sugar. Levulose is sweeter, and dextrose not nearly 

 as sweet, as cane-sugar. Invert-sugar is perhaps a trifle 

 less sweet than cane-sugar. 



Cane-sugar is usually present in honey, and may exist 

 in considerable quantity in unripened honey, or in the pro- 

 duct obtained by feeding bees with that sugar. 



Dextrin also occurs in honey in small and variable 

 quantity. It belongs to the carbohydrates group, but is not 

 a sugar. It forms an intermediate product between the 

 sugars and the starches. Dextrin is more commonly known 

 under the name of " British gum," and constitutes the ad- 

 hesive on postage stamps. It also occurs in the crust on 

 bread. 



Formic acid is a constant component of honey. This 

 acid is said to be the irritating agent in the sting of bees 

 and other belligerent insects. Formic acid, like its rela- 

 tive, formic aldehyde, is an excellent antiseptic, but the 

 statement that it exists in sufficient quantity in honey to 

 act as a preservative or intestinal antiseptic, .should be 

 taken with a grain of allowance — perhaps two grains. 



It will not do to leave the subject of the composition of 

 honey without referring to the least prominent constituent 

 from the standpoint of the scales, but the most important 

 from the standpoint of the purse — the flavors carried from 

 the flowers furnishing nectar. These flowers give to dif- 

 ferent honeys their individuality. They also add to its 

 value as a delicacy. A solution of sugars without them, 

 even in the proportion existing in honey, could no more 

 justly be sold as honey than could a mixture of acetic acid 

 and water be sold for cider vinegar, or a concoction of water 

 and alcohol for wine. It therefore follows that invert-sugar, 

 or any syrup obtained by artificial feeding, is not honey, 

 and when sold as such is as much a violation of the moral 

 law as selling "white-clover glucose." 



In studying the food value of honey from the stand- 

 point of nutrition, we may disregard the flavor and minor 

 constituents, and consider the relations of the main consti- 

 tuent — invert-sugar — in the upbuilding of the animal or- 

 ganism. In the absence of any proof we must give levu- 

 lose the same value as dextrose as a food, and there seems 

 little doubt that the two sugars follow the same course to 

 the blood. 



Sugars are not found in abundance in the body. The 

 blood contains a little dextrose, and the muscles inosite. 

 The liver is stored with glycogen, an isomer of starch, but 

 unquestionably derived from sugar. The generally ac- 

 cepted theory of sugar digestion and assimilation is that 

 sucrose and starch are changed into dextrose by ptyalin and 

 pancreatic ferments. The dextrose and levulose are car- 

 ried to the liver and converted into glycogen. The glyco- 

 gen is held in reserve to be reconverted into dextrose to re- 

 plenish the blood when depleted in that constituent. By 

 this means the circulating sugar is kept constant in 

 quantity. 



