416 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



mark, and I know that I have not given 

 all the arguments against it. As the 

 editor of the American Bee-Keeper says, 

 "There are several arguments on either 

 side of the trade-mark question, but we 

 think the arguments against it are the 

 heaviest." 



Marengo, Ills. 



Adnlteration— MlcMganConTentlon. 



HARMON SAHTH. 



Soon after I commenced keeping bees, 

 I became convinced that the clamor for 

 comb-honey, and the prejudice against 

 liquid (extracted) honey was not only 

 unjust and ill-founded, but had its origin 

 mainly with ignorant bee-keepers and 

 sellers of honey. This conclusion I 

 gathered from reading modern bee-pe- 

 riodicals, books and circulars, and from 

 general observation. 



Honey is lioney, whether in comb, tin 

 or glass, and it is universally admitted 

 that two pounds of extracted-honey c^n, 

 ordinarily, be obtained to one of comb- 

 honey. Then, why this "craze "about 

 comb-honey ? I allege that it is on 

 account of the false education above 

 indicated. If you please, then, this 

 article is intended to elucidate and explode 

 these errors. 



Last Fall, when I commenced putting 

 upon our city market the beautiful, 

 clear, extracted white-sage honey, at 

 every step of its introduction I was met 

 with such questions as, "Is it bogus ?" 

 "Is it pure?" "Is it really honey?" 

 "How much sugar," or " How much 

 glucose is there in it ?" etc., through all 

 the ramifications of the "Wiley lie," and 

 a Michigan lie, which has often been 

 thrown in my face, and will be found on 

 page 54: in the Reports of the Michigan 

 Board of Agriculture for 1886. 



A man by the name of J. H. Peabody, 

 in a lecture upon " Evolution in Farm- 

 ing," before the Rochester Institute, on 

 Feb. 4, 1886, among other foolish, false 

 and defamatory things, said : 



Evolution in another form is trenching 

 on our domain. Chemistry imitates all the 

 products that seem desirable. Do you 

 want raspberry, strawberry, pine apple, or 

 orange extracts ? The chemist stands be- 

 hind the soda fountain, and will mix you 

 something better, apparently, than the 

 fruit itself would make. Do you want but- 

 ter ? He will evolve it for you. Do you 

 want HONEY ? We can make it from 

 glucose, or feed that to the bees and they 

 will make it. And so on ad nauseam. 



This is in one of the public books. 



published at the expense of the tax- 

 payers, and scattered all over this broad 

 land. 



Another false, slanderous and defama- 

 tory statement was printed in the Detroit 

 Journal of Sept. 2, 1890, and, together 

 its refutation, is as follows : In an 

 interview by a reporter of that paper, 

 under the head-line of "Grossly Adul- 

 terated," Dr. John E. Clark, among 

 other things, is made to say : 



The last thing in the world you would 

 expect to be adulterated is honey comb, 

 but it is done in a very successful manner, 

 on Grand River avenue ; so successfully, in 

 fact, that the bees themselves are deceived 

 with it, and eat it in Winter. The ingen- 

 ious individual who does this, forces a com- 

 position of beeswax, parafBne and other 

 stuff up through sexagonal dies from 

 below, by hydraulic pressure, and as it 

 comes out at the top, it is cut off with a 

 knife. It looks nearly as perfect as the 

 bees could make it. It was stated some- 

 time ago that no honey comb was being 

 manufactured in this country, and this is 

 the first instance I know of. The comb is 

 filled with a substance composed of glucose, 

 flavoring extracts and ethers, and there 

 you have the pure, sweet honey of the 

 present day. 



But I was writing about extracted- 

 honey. Nevertheless, please read the 

 cross-questioning of the JournaVs wit- 

 ness : 



Ionia, Mich., Jan. 13, 1891. 

 Dr. John E. Clark — I am a bee-keeper. I 

 believe that, in the Detroit Journal of Sept. 

 20 last, you referred to some one in your 

 city making comb for honey to give to the 

 bees, so they could fill it with glucose. I 

 wish you would please give me the name 

 and address of those parties, as I would 

 like to get some of it. Did you see them 

 make, or fill it ? If so, do you think it 

 would be healthy ? What do you know 

 about it ? I enclose stamp for reply, and 

 much oblige, yours, etc., 



Harmon Smith. 



To this Dr. Clark replied : 



Detroit, Mich., Jan. 17, 1891. 



Mr. H. Smith, Ionia .-—Dear Sir— I am 

 not aware of any firm manufacturing comb 

 for bees to fill with glucose. You must 

 have misunderstood the article. 



I did say that a firm was manufacturing 

 an imitation comb, which, if the bees could 

 be induced to use it, would be a great sav- 

 ing in honey. The firm in question, I un- 

 derstand since, has gone out of business. 

 Yours truly, J. E. Clark. 



What are we to think of a public 

 newspaper that will thus "grossly" 

 adulterate the truth ? If its other ut- 

 terances are upon a parallel with this 

 slander of comb-honey, what are we to 

 expect in other matters ? 



