THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



709 



^oxxtspon&znct. 



This mark Indicates that the apiariBt is 

 located near tne center or the state named ; 

 6 north of the center; 9 south; O east; 

 •Owest; and this (< northeast: -o northwest: 

 o» southeast ; and ? southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



vor tne Amerlcun Bee Journal 



Basswood vs. Linileii Honey, 



DU. A. B. MASON. 



In the last number of the Ameki- 

 CAN Bee Journal, I commenced a 

 review of some of the statements 

 made under the above heading by 

 Mr. S. T. Pettit, as there referred to, 

 and now 1 will review what he says 

 on page 23, of the present volume of 

 the American Bee Journal. 



He starts out bv saying that, " on 

 page 805 of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1886 Dr. A. B. Mason 



complains that I take the ground in 

 the Canadian Bee Journal, that Cana- 

 dian basswood honey is superior to 

 United States basswood honey." By 

 referring to page 805 as above, it will 

 be seen that I am not reported as 

 making such a statement or com- 

 plaint, and it seems that no one else 

 is so reported. " A guilty conscience 

 needs no accusing." He then says : 

 " The report reads as follows : The 

 Doctor thought it perfectly right to 

 make Canadian articles distinctively 

 Canadian, but it should not be done 

 by casting unwarranted stigmas upon 

 our productions. We should not try 

 to elevate ourselves by pulling down 

 others." It does not appear in the 

 above report that I complained of any 

 of Mr. Pettit's statements. 



He then says : " Most certainly, I 

 fully agree with the Doctor, that we 

 should not cast ' unwarranted stig- 

 mas,' upon the productions of others, 

 ' nor try to elevate ourselves by pull- 

 ing down others.'" 



If such an assertion as the follow- 

 ing, which Mr. Pettit made on page 

 23, when untrue, is not casting " un- 

 warranted stigmas," I should be 

 pleased to know what it is doing ! He 

 says : " I confess that I am not a 

 little surprised that any one.especially 

 Dr. Mason, should disagree with me 

 in this matter." It is a very easy 

 matter for any one at all posted in re- 

 gard to the quality, etc., of the bass- 

 wood honey in Canada and the United 

 States, to disagree with the assertion 

 that Canadian basswood honey " is 

 superior to American basswood 

 honey," as stated by him. 



He says : " I am fully persuaded 

 that if the Doctor will take the trouble 

 to get average samples of basswood 

 honev from the different points in 

 the "United States, especially from 

 near the southern limit at which this 

 tree produces honey, and compare 

 them with Canadian linden honey, 

 that he will be the Brst to acknowledge 

 the superiority of Canadian linden 



honey." If I should make such an I writes 



acknowledgement, I probably would 

 be among " the first " to do so. 



As stated in my previous article on 

 this subject, I acted upon the above 

 suggestion and wrote to well-known 

 bee-keepers in the South, and sent to 

 each one a sample of basswood honey, 

 and asked to have it compared with 

 the basswood or linden honey pro- 

 duced in their locality or State, and 

 send me a statement as to its color and 

 flavcn- when compared with white 

 clover and other light-colored honey,' 

 and also to send a sample of their 

 basswood or linden honey. I received 

 answers to all my letters except those 

 sent to Messrs. P. L. Viallon, of 

 Louisiana, B. F. Carroll, of Texas, 

 and Joseph Hatch, of New Mexico; 

 and nearly all sent samples of honey, 

 but not one had or could get basswood 

 honey, except G. W. Demaree, of 

 Kentucky, and John A. Buchanan, of 

 West Virginia. 



The sample of honey which I sent 

 was gathered within four miles of 

 Toledo, O.. and was taken from the 

 same that I exhibited a sample of at 

 the last Michigan State Bee-Keepers 

 Convention, and of which Mr. Mac- 

 pherson, of the Canadian Bee Journal. 

 who was present, said : " It is as 

 nice as Canadian basswood honey." 

 Perhaps he ought to have said " Cana- 

 dian linden," but he may have 

 thought that we "sinners" (as an 

 Englishman calls us in the Canadian 

 Bee Journal) would not know what 

 kind of honey he referred to. And 

 Mr. T. r. Bingham, of Michigan,than 

 whom I know of no one better quali- 

 fied to judge in regard to quality, 

 flavor, and aroma in honey, said: 

 •' It is good enough for any one." 



G. W. Demaree, of Kentucky, says : 

 "The sample you sent as basswood 

 (linden) honey belongs to what we 

 call light-colored honey. There are 

 so few linden trees that have escaped 

 the ax here, that I could not get you 

 a pure sample of linden honey. We 

 have always classed basswood (linden) 

 honey with the light-colored honeys 

 of this State. Locust, clovers, and 

 linden give light-colored or white 



honev." 



J. M. Jenkins, of Alabama, says : 

 " 1 think the sample superb ; the best 

 basswood I fiver saw." 



E. M. Hayhurst, of Missouri, says : 

 " The sample of basswood honey you 

 sent me I should pronounce to be a 

 first-class article, being well ripened. 

 Our basswood has a slightly more 

 greenish tinge." 



John A. Buchanan, of West Vir- 

 ginia, says : " The basswood honey 

 that we get here differs in no way 

 from the sample you sent me. Oui 

 basswood honey is one or two shades 

 lighter in color than white clover 

 honey. It is also of good body and 

 flavor." _, .^ 



A Miss Adams, living in Florida, 

 whose father lives a few miles from 

 me, recently called at my house, and 

 sho said : " There are basswood trees 

 in some parts of the State, and the 

 honey produced by them is just as 

 clear and fine as the honey produced 

 by them in the Northern States." 

 Jno. Y. Detwiler, also of Florida 



Mr. Pettit ia evidently 



laboring under a mistake somewhere, 

 if he classes basswood with buck- 

 wheat honey, as the latter is much 

 inferior in color and flavor." . 



In none of the other States to which 

 I have written, is linden honey pro- 

 duced, except in small quantities, and 

 then while other honey-producing 

 plants are in bloom, but it is always 

 classed with light-colored honey. 



I lived one summer at Cincinnati, 

 and for several years 80 miles north 

 of there, and was engaged in bee- 

 keeping, and I certainly ought to 

 know something about basswood 

 honey near " the southern border. 



Will such testimony as the above 

 induce any one to " acknowledge the 

 superiority of Canadian linden 

 (formerly basswood) " honey .■' 1 

 " trow " not. „ , ^ , . 



Mr. Pettit says : " Before taking 

 this ground, I took a great deal ot 

 pains to understand the matter, and 

 consequently I feel quite solid in the 

 positon I have taken." If the evi- 

 dence which I have collected and 

 given above in relation to the quality 

 of United States basswood honey, 

 does not enlighten such of our Cana- 

 dian friends as have been led to be- 

 lieve that their basswood honey is 

 better than that produced in the 

 United States, nor afiect Mr. Pettit s 

 solidity, I hope some one will get up 

 a small earthquake and shake "the 

 whole batch of them," "Managing 

 Committee" and all, out ot that 

 " Colonial " rut, so that the warming 

 and genial influences of the gentle 

 southern breezes will oblige them to 

 loosen up that cloak of " I am better 

 than thou," and lead them to exclaim, 

 as I presume they feel, " No pent up 

 Utica bounds our powers ; the whole 

 unbounded universe is ours. ' 



Mr Pettit's next statement, when 

 untangled a little, completely "wipes 

 out " all his assertions in regard to 

 the superiority of Canadian honey. 

 He says : " Without a question .bass- 

 wood honey taken in the United 

 States in our latitude (when the bees 

 "ather it under favorable circum- 

 stances, that is, not gathering at the 

 same time inferior honey from other 

 sources), the article is of the very 

 best quality, and quite equal to Cana- 

 dian honey." Now just leave out of 

 the above sentence, what 1 have en- 

 .•losed in the parenthesis, and Mr. 

 I'ettit has knocked the head out of 

 the barrel he has been standing on 

 while crowing, and is in about the 

 same fix that " Sockery " was in try- 

 ing to set the"pluehen." That en- 

 closed in the parenthesis has nothing 

 to do in the matter. Mr. Pettit has 

 all along been talking about "bass- 

 wood" honey, and now is "kinder 

 mixing things," or rather several 

 kinds of United States honey, and 

 .•alliug the conglomeration " bass- 

 wood honey." Well ! - did you ever?" 

 I guess not. Perhaps that is the kind 

 ,)t basswood honey he has accused 

 the Messrs. Muth with dealing in, but 

 I do not believe that they deal in that 



way. ,, . 



So far as mv information goes, in- 

 ferior honev from other sources " is 

 not generally gathered to any con- 

 siderable extent while basswood honey 



