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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. IS, 



me he had not a colony of them left. They died of dysentery 

 produced by honey-dew or " buR-juice," as he calls It. 



Mr. Wheeler reads all the bee-papers, and has been a sub- 

 scriber to the American Bee Journal off and on since 1866, 

 when Samuel Wagner was editor. He remembers when 

 "Novice" (A. I. Root) first began to write on bees, and was 

 very interesting. 



When a small boy it was a treat for me to go up to the 

 old Wheeler farm, and see the queer things to be seen there 

 — the different breeds of poultry, both land and water fowl ; 

 China sheep, with their funny ears, the large stock of cattle, 

 etc.; but those long rows of bee-hives were what seemed to 

 interest me most. I would look at them, and it seemed to me 

 like a village, as some of them were built in fancy shapes (the 

 old American). I have counted almost a hundred at one time, 

 and as I look at what there are now, it seems quite different. 



Mr. Wheeler, whom I have known from my boyhood days 

 to the present time, is a very pleasant man to meet, and is an 

 Interesting talker. Say "bees" to him, or "poultry," and 

 you are " in for it." Out you go amongst them, and if you 

 get away short of a half day you can do better than I can, or 

 Viiant to. His time in service, I think, entitles him to be called 

 one of the veterans in beedom, and I hope to see some of his 

 writings in the bee-papers, as they would be interesting and 

 helpful. H. A. Fish. 



Soraethiug on the Adulteration of Honey. 



We have received the following from Hon. Eugene Secor, 

 General Manager of the United States Bee-Keepers' Union, 

 which every bee-keeper should read : 



Forest City, Iowa, Dec. 31, 1S07. 



Mt Dear Mr. York : — I enclose a copy of three sections 

 of the Iowa "Code," bearing on the subject of pure food, and 

 naming the penalties for violating the provisions thereof. 



In Iowa we have no pure food commissioner as is the case 

 in some of the States. The enforcement of the law will rest 

 largely with the people who are interested. I would like to 

 have you publish the sections enclosed for the benefit of your 

 readers in this State. I know of no better way to get the in- 

 formation before our bee-keepers. 



You will notice that we have plenty of law on the subject 

 of adulteration. It only remains for the bee-keepers in every 

 community to see that its provisions are enforced. 



If a groceryman is selling liquid glucose under the name 

 of honey, call his attention to the law, and then if he does not 

 quit it, have a sample of it analyzed, and if found to be adul- 

 terated, file an information before a Justice of the Peace un- 

 der the advice of the County Attorney. 



One such suit, if successfully managed, will drive the stuff 

 out of a whole county. As a rule, grocers do not want to 

 handle any article of food which is prohibited by law. If 

 their attention is called to the matter they will, nine times out 

 of ten, refuse to buy or sell it. I would not advise prosecut- 

 ing every storekeeper who has been led to buy an adulterated 

 ■ article in ignorance of the law, until he has been notified. 

 " Ignorance of the law excuses no man," but at the same time 

 we can hardly expect every man to know all the provisions of 

 an ever-changing code. 



I hope, Mr. York, that you will call public attention to 

 the laws in other States relating to honey-adulteration. Bee- 

 keepers do not always have access to the laws of their own 

 States, even. 



Perhaps we have better protection than we are aware of. 



Arrangements will soon be made, very likely, to have sam- 

 ples analyzed ; but before sending them it will be necessary to 

 take such precautions to identify samples if they should be 

 used in court. A letter to me with a statement of the case 

 will receive attention and advice how to proceed. 



Eugene Secor, 

 General Manager U. S. Bcc-Kcc})crs' Union. 



The three sections from the Iowa Code, which Mr. Secor 

 sent, read thus: 



LAW RELATING TO ADULTERATION OF FOODS— IOWA CODE, 1897 



Sec. 4986. — No person shall mix, color, stain or powder 

 any article which enters into the composition of food, drink 

 or medicine with any other ingredients or material, whether 

 injurious to health or not, for the purpose of gain or profit, 

 or sell or offer for sale any article so mixt, colored, stained or 

 powdered, unless the same be so manufactured, used or sold 

 or offered for sale, under its true and appropriate name, and 

 notice that the same is mixt or impure is markt, printed or 

 stampt upon each package, roll, parcel or vessel containing 

 the same, so as to be and remain at all times readily visible, 

 or unless the person purchasing the same is fully informed by 

 the seller of the true names of the ingredients (if other than 

 such as are known by the common name thereof) of such arti- 

 cles at the time of making the sale thereof or offering to sell 

 the same ; but nothing in this section shall prevent the use of 

 harmless coloring material used in coloring butter and cheese. 



Sec. 4987. — No person shall mix any glucose or grape- 

 sugar with syrup or sugar intended for human food, or shall 

 mix or mingle any glucose or grape-sugar with any article, 

 without distinctly marking, stamping or labeling the article 

 or the package containing the same with the true and appro- 

 priate name of such article, and the percentage in which 

 glucose or grape-sugar enters into Its composition. Nor shall 

 any person sell or offer for sale, or permit to be sold or offered 

 for sale, any such food, into the composition of which glucose 

 or grape-sugar has entered, without at the same time inform- 

 ing the buyerof the fact, and the proportion in which glucose 

 or grape-sugar has entered into the composition. 



Sec. 4988. — Any person violating any provision of the 

 four preceding sections shall, for the first offense, be fined not 

 less than ten nor more than fifty dollars; for the second of- 

 fence, not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred 

 dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 

 thirty days ; for the third or any subsequent offense, not less 

 than five hundred nor more thau one thousand dollars, and 

 imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one nor more 

 than five years. 



We think that Mr. Secor offers a valuable suggestion 

 when he says that he thinks it would aid materially if bee- 

 keepers would show a copy of their State law on food adul- 

 teration to every grocer who they have reason to think 

 handles adulterated honey. We will try it here in Chicago, 

 and report the result. But Chicago dealers are so accustomed 

 to seeing few laws enforced, that we are not very sanguine as 

 to being able to frighten them by simply showinq them the 

 law. The only thing that will touch the hardened law- 

 breakers here is a severe enforcement of law, we think. 



Honey-Consumption^Workiug Up a Demand. 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



During the autumn and early winter I have been watch- 

 ing the consumption of honey with much interest. Near my 

 ho'jje is a grocer doing a fair business. Early in the season 

 he purchast two 12-pound cases of section honey, glast, and 

 showing well, and kept it near the window in plain sight of 

 all who past. It remained for weeks before the cover had 

 even been loosened, and when I left home (Dec. 15) only a few 

 sections had been sold from one case. Why? In another 

 direction was another grocer with like experience. 



Good grocers all over the city had a supply. Very white 

 section honey, labeled " Mountain Honey," was quite plenti- 

 ful, also pint Mason jars of the same kind, offered for 20 

 cents per jar. Honey could be purchast by consumers all the 

 way from 8 to 15 cents per pound, but few apparently wanted 

 it at any price. 



While traveling from Peoria, 111., to Mobile, Ala., most of 

 the way during daylight, I saw but one small apiary, and by 

 questioning passengers who got off and on along the route, I 

 learned that but few colonies were kept, and those in a primi- 

 tive way, 



Mobile is an old Spanish city, and at the last census num- 

 bered 44.000, and has considerable trade. Large quantities 

 of cotton comes down the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, 

 which is taken by steamers to Liverpool. Many commission 

 houses handle large quantities of cured meats, flour, meal and 

 distilled liquors. Vessels are arriving with cargoes of bananas 

 and cocoanuts, while others depart laden with cotton, lumber, 

 .and mixt cargoes of merchandise. 



I've been here at Mobile for a week waiting for a steamer 

 to go to my winter home in Florida. Having leisure I visited 

 many grocers in different parts of the city, enquiring for 



