ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



135 



error, any time. The truth is the best 

 at all times. 



Pres. York — Mr. Niver said he tells 

 his customers that pure honey never 

 granulates. 



Mr. Niver — I used the expression — 

 not as a suggestion; I never suggest 

 the words "impure" honey, or "adul- 

 terated." I tell them pure honey, 

 from the bees, in our Northern climate, 

 candies or granulates, as they call it, 

 and that it is to be expected that it 

 will do so. 



Mr. York — ^I would say simply that 

 honey "granulates." 



How Is Honey Sold — Simply As Honey, 

 Or on Its Merits? 



"Is honey sold on its intrinsic merit, 

 or simply as honey?" 



Mr. Burnett — That is a question I 

 would like to have some of these wise 

 folks talk about. It occurs to me that 

 it is an important question, for I think 

 the ol<J bee-keepers will substantiate 

 this idea that I have, which is simplj- 

 one from experience in meeting 

 various kinds of honey produced. This 

 year the crop of honey in a given local- 

 ity, say Southern Wisconsin, is very 

 white and in every way desirable, 

 both to the eye and to the palate, but, 

 next year, honey from that same 

 locality is of a different color, and the 

 flavor differs. - 



Now we will say that Mr. Doe pro- 

 duced that honey last year, and his 

 name is on the packages, or on the sec- 

 tions — anywhere you please — and the 

 other fellow — the man who consumed 

 it, and bought it — he gets the name off 

 this package and writes to Mr. Doe 

 next year, or that year, to send him 

 some of his honey next year; that he 

 liked it so much, and Mr. Doe complies 

 with this request, and sends him the 

 honey next year, and the purchaser at 

 once sees that the honey is not the 

 same kind of honey that he had from 

 him last year. He thinks that he has 

 not sent him the same kind of honey 

 and wants his money back. 



I have had a great deal of discussion 

 in the last quarter of a century along 

 those lines about people having their 

 names on their honey, where it came 

 from, and ,they wish to build up a rep- 

 utation for this particular thing. 



It happens that a man bought some 

 honey that he was told came from 



Southern Wisconsin, and he didn't like 

 it at all; he goes to the dealer, and the 

 dealer tells him., "Here is some beauti- 

 ful Wisconsin honey." And the custo- 

 mer says: "O, don't talk to me about 

 Wisconsin honey; I have got enough of 

 that!" The dealer shows him some- 

 thing else, and says, "How do you like 

 this?" "That is fine honey; that is all 

 right. I will take that." As a matter of 

 fact that was Wisconsin honey — sec- 

 ond choice, but this he was buying on 

 its intrinsic merit to him at that time; 

 he tasted it, and liked it, but the other 

 he refused because he was prejudiced. 

 The point is this: Should honey be 

 sold on its merits? because every year, 

 to some extent, the honey from the 

 same locality diflEers. This, I think, can 

 be thoroughly substantiated by people 

 who have had as much experience as 

 some of our friends here, and therefore 

 I maintain that the producer of honey 

 in sending it to the foreign market 

 should not put his name on it; it may 

 be all right in his home market; but in 

 sending it to an outside market his 

 name and address should not be put on 

 his honey. If it is good honey it will 

 sell on its merits simply, on the market 

 — a place where they pracficallj^ take 

 no man's word. 



Mr. Wilcox — Those are good 

 thoughts, Mr. President, and I am glad 

 they are brought up. I am' one of those 

 who feel I would like to put my name 

 on my honey, for reputation, but how 

 am I going to do it? I have adopted 

 this plan: 



So far as practicable, send a sample 

 before selling the honey, and tell them 

 you will sell that honey at such a price; 

 and at the same time, if you 

 have dealt with that person 

 any length of time, he ought to 

 know — and if he doesn't, you can tell 

 him — that you have different kindiS of 

 honey; always do that, because honey 

 the year before. There will be a differ- 

 ent flowers, will differ in color and fla- 

 vor, and it is impossible one year to 

 supply your customers with exactly the 

 same grade and quality that you did 

 the year before. There will be a differ- 

 ence that an expert will discover, but 

 the average consumer is not so partic- 

 ular as the producer; perhaps the deal- 

 er knows better, but the average con- 

 sumer does not. I have succeeded so 

 far in pleasing my customers; where I 

 have a doubt in the matter, I send them 

 a sample. 



