AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



19 



really is. I knew of no one better quali- 

 fied than Prof. Cook to answer that 

 question, so I asked him to write an 



article having for its title : 



What is 



Honey ?" That article was really an 

 out and out defense of Hasty's position. 



I then decided that the subject should 

 be discussed; that our best men should 

 say in the Review, if they would, what 

 they thought of the practicability and 

 advisability of the scheme. You who 

 read the Review know what has been 

 said, and can judge for yourselves as to 

 what you had better do. 



It seems to me that the first question 

 to be decided is, When sugar is fed to 

 bees does it really become honey ? If 

 nectar is cane-sugar, and its manipula- 

 tion by the bees changes it to honey, 

 then cane-sugar made from the juice of 

 the sugar-cane evaporated, clarified and 

 then made into a syrup, becomes honey 

 when manipulated by the bees. It is 

 true that each kind of blossom furnishes 

 a flavor, and in some cases a color, that 

 is distinctive. It is true that some kinds 

 of blossoms furnish but little flavor. 

 Willow-herb is one of this class. Sugar- 

 honey has a kind of spicy, sugary flavor 

 that is not at all unpleasant ; but, as 

 Mr. Doolittle has explained, enough of 

 any kind of floral honey can be added to 

 give the distinctive flavor if desired. 



When I produced some sugar-honey, 

 my wife was prejudiced against it. Now 

 we use it on the table every day, and it 

 is her choice. Knowing what I do now, 

 if I should go into the market and buy a 

 section of honey without knowing what 

 kind of honey it was, and it should turn 

 out to be sugar-honey, I should not feel 

 that I had been cheated. In fact, I 

 should prefer it to a great many kinds 

 of floral honey. 



How will the public look at the mat- 

 ter? Candidly, I don't know. How does 

 it look at the-use of comb foundation in 

 section-boxes ? There was once a great 

 hue and cry raised against the use of 

 foundation in sections. Many persons 

 were not clean in the rendering of their 

 wax. The old combs were allowed to 

 stand until inhabited by disgusting 

 worms, and the combs fouled by their 

 excrements, then the whole mass was 

 cooked up and the wax squeezed out. 

 U-g-h-h ! Who wants to eat the stuff ? 

 Then it was not the work of the bees, It 

 was artificial. It was tough and leath- 

 ery, and its use would ruin the honey 

 market. Not one in ten of the honey- 

 eating public knows anything, or cares 

 anything, about comb foundation. Is It 

 wrong to sell them honey made on foun- 

 dation without telling them that it con- 



tains the " fishbone " made from bees- 

 wax that has contained disgusting 

 worms, and perhaps been rendered by 

 the use of sulphuric acid? Nothing is 

 ever said of these matters, and bee- 

 keepers think it is all right, simply be- 

 cause they have been so educated. 



This matter of education is a great 

 thing. If bee-keepers should take every 

 means in their power to inform the pub- 

 lic in regard to sugar-honey, it would be 

 a failure so far as informing the public 

 is concerned. See how we have worked 

 to educate the public in regard to the 

 difference between strained and extract- 

 ed honey. When you use the word 

 "extracted " in speaking to one not con- 

 nected with bee-keeping, nine times out 

 of ten the use of the word must be ex- 

 plained. The honey consuminR public 

 know but little, and care less about 

 these things. They go into the market 

 and buy what suits them. Very few 

 people go 10 market to buy bassivood 

 honey, or clover honey, or sugar honey — 

 it is simply honey. It looks nice, tastes 

 good, satisfies hunger, and that is all 

 they know or care. Mind you, I don't 

 say that everybody is thus ignorant, but 

 the majority are, and will remain so. 



If we produce sugar-honey and tell our 

 commission man that it is such, and ask 

 him to so inform the retailer, and have 

 him inform the consumer, somebody In 

 the line will, forget, and the consumer 

 will never hear of it any more than If 

 we should take all this pains to have him 

 know that It was basswood honey that 

 we had sent to market, or that our 

 honey was produced on foundation, and 

 the great question is. Would such a 

 course wrong anybody ? I should be 

 glad to hear it answered. 



But to the question, Shall we produce 

 sugar-honey ? I say let us not put away 

 the rup until we have tasted. I do not 

 say to everybody, goto producing sugar- 

 honey, but I do say that the subject is 

 worthy of consideration and experimen- 

 tation. Just take one colony next 

 August, when the bees are gathering 

 nothing, and feed them sugar, and let 

 them build combs, or furnish them foun- 

 dation, and then consume the product 

 yourself, and you will then know for 

 yourself whether you would be willing 

 to have such honey sold to you for 

 honey. 



Many seem to fear that sugar-honey 

 will be produced so cheaply that it will 

 reduce the price. All seem to forget 

 that sugar-honey will always cost as 

 much as floral honey, plus the cost of 

 the sugar and the labor of feeding. 

 Where Is the profit, then, in Its produc- 



