THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



243 



There is also another case, that of 

 Prof. L. B. Allyn, Instructor in 

 Organic Chemistry at the State Nor- 

 mal School, Westfield, Mass. He has 

 recently had an article in the Spring-- 

 tield Republican, of Spring-field, Mass., 

 in which he says that "Honey boug^ht 

 in the open market, and retailing at 

 from 20 to 25 cents per pound, was 

 found to contain glucose, flavored with 

 formic acid. The comb of paraffin 

 wax was made by machinery." 



When Mr. A. I. Root sent in a letter 

 of protest, it was published, but the 

 Professor stoutly maintained his posi- 

 tion, saj'ing that he had in his posses- 

 sion a small quantity of the original 

 sample that he would submit to any 

 reliable chemist. The remainder of 

 the sample was on exhibition at St. 

 Louis, with other illustrations of work 

 done at that laboratory. It is quite 

 likely that this sample at St. Louis 

 is placarded as "artificial comb honey" 

 and it is where it will be seen and 

 commented upon by thousands and 

 thousands; and, coming from this 

 source, it will be looked upon as reli- 

 able. 



This same Professor has an article 

 in the June issue of Good House-Keep- 

 ing, in which he says that one of the 

 principal uses of glucose is that of 

 "feeding bees." 



Prof. Allyn is undoubtedly a good 

 chemist, but when he goes outside of 

 his realm, and writes as facts, what 

 is simply hearsay, he is, in this case, 

 doing untold damage to our industry. 

 I wrote to him, and went carefully over 

 the case, calling his attention to the 

 fact, which he had evidently overlook- 

 ed, that Prof. Wiley had corrected his 

 "scientific pleasantry," and asked him 

 to send what he had left of his "ma- 

 chine-made" product to Mr. Selser, of 

 Philadelphia, who is a practical bee- 

 keeper, a chemist, aud a dealer in 

 honey. I received a good letter from 

 the Professor saying that if he could 

 be convinced that he was mistaken he 



would gladly make the necessary cor- 

 rection, and that he would send to Mr. 

 Selser what he had left of the suspected 

 sample of comb honey. He also thank- 

 ed me for the fair and courteous man- 

 ner in which I had addressed him, 

 which he said was in pleasing contrast 

 with some of the lettershehad received. 

 I mention this because I wish to em- 

 phasize the importance of being exceed- 

 ingly courteous and fair when writing 

 to persons who have been misled into 

 uttering this old canard. We must 

 bear in mind that they were probably 

 sincere when they wrote or published 

 it, and that there is a certain humilia- 

 tion in admitting that they "didn't 

 know what they were talking about." 

 For this reason, the matter should be 

 taken up with the utmost tact and 

 diplomacy. Think how you would feel 

 if you were in the other fellow's place; 

 how thankful j'ou would be to the man 

 who, while pointing- out your error in 

 the kindest way imaginable, and ex- 

 plaining and proving his position 

 most clearly, did not forget to excuse 

 you for making the error, and, at the 

 same time showed you how to make a 

 correction with the least humiliation 

 to yourself. Above all things, don't 

 be abusive; don't bluster; don't threat- 

 en. It may become necessary at a 

 later stage to say that the National 

 Association may find it necessary to 

 use its money and influence if certain 

 things are not done, but don't use this 

 until it is necessary. Remember this, 

 if you wish to convert a man to your 

 way of thinking, don't arouse his com- 

 bativeness. 



*»it»ii/i»^*^^^ 



EXPERT ADVICE. 



I doubt if it is generally known that 

 there are men who go about the coun- 

 try giving expert advice to business 

 men, merchants, manufacturers, and 

 the like. Perhaps these men might be 

 called "s3'stematizers. " A manufac- 

 turer, for instance, finds that his busi- 



