STATE r.F.F-KREPF.RS' ASSOrTATrnX. 187 



committee of standards ni the Assnciatimi of OiTicial Ai^ri- 

 eulttiral Chemists, and as their standards have lieen recoo- 

 nized liy t!ie United Stales Secretary of ( Ai4ricultnre, they 

 l)ecome important and authoritative. 'I'lie standard and defi- 

 nition of honey are as follows: 



"1. Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudations of 

 plants gathered, modified, and stored in the com!) hy honey- 

 bees (Apis mcllifica). It is l;evo-rotatory. contains not more 

 than twenty— five (2.")) percent of water, not more than twen- 

 ty-five hundredths ((».2."») percent of ash, and not more than 

 eight (S) percent of sucrose. 



"2. Cunib honey is honey contained in the cells of comb. 



'".]. Extracted honey is hone}- which has been separated 

 from the uncrushed comb by centrifugal force or gravity. 



"4. Strained honey is honey removed from the crushed 

 comb by straining or other means." 



My quarrel with these standards is in the definition for 

 honey, which I maintain is too sweeping, and incorrect. 



Strictly speaking, honey — commercial honey — should be 

 limited to the nectar of flowers. Louse honey, or honey- 

 dew honey, or pine-tree honey, are not, and should not be, 

 sold to consumers for honey. Again, honey is not nectar 

 nor saccharine, but a manufactured product, made by the 

 bees, changed from its original condition. 



There is, of course, such a thing as honey from bumble- 

 bees and no doubt other bees, but the only honey of com- 

 merce is produced by the honey-bee, and to this bee the 

 definition properly should be restricted. I would therefore 

 suggest that the definition for honey be that suggested by 

 me to the National Association of State Food Commissions, 

 which is this : 



Commercial honey is the nectar of flowers, transformed, 

 and stored in a comb by the honey-bee. 



As these schedules are subject to revision, it might be 

 wise, if the Association looks at this matter in the light that 

 I do, to take some action, preferably by resolution. 



A word as to the condition of the Illinois honey mar- 

 kets in regard to purity, and I am done : Before the Illinois 

 Food law became operative fully :;.'! l-l! percent of the 

 extracted honey on the market was adulterated. Since then 

 the adulteration has grown less, until last year, when we 

 found seven samples of adulterated extracted honey out of 

 :2S samples analyzed. However, in all but one case, the adul- 

 terant was cane-sugar, and in several cases it was impi>s- 

 sible to tell whether it had been intentionally added or fed 

 to bees. This year, while only a few samples were analyzed, 

 none have been found adulterated. It seems that adultera- 

 tion of honey with glucose is almost a thinsi" of the jiast. 



"E. X. K.\Tox. 



I\Tr. Moore — Isn't the change of cane-sugar to grape- 

 sugar the same as that made l)y the bees? 

 Prof. Eaton — I think not. 



Mr. Kimme}- — Can chemical science make honey? 

 Prof. Eaton — No. 



