ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



109 



be digested and assimilated and convert- 

 ed into animal, but I do not think it 

 has reached that stage. 



Dr. Miller — We do know that there 

 is injected into the honey something 

 by the bee. Come back to milk. Is 

 milk a vegetable or an animal product? 

 If you are going to rule honey out, and 

 say there is nothing animal about it, 

 by the same token we can rule milk 

 out. There were those who said that 

 honey was gathered from the flowers — 

 bees do not make honey. There were 

 those who said, the bee makes honey. I 

 think nowadays we are pretty nearly all 

 agreed that the bee has something to do 

 with making honey. If it has, look at 

 it and see if there is something animal 

 in it. 



Mr. Moore — Maybe this will throw 

 some light on the question, the illustra- 

 tion of the maple tree. A man taps the 

 maple and carries the sap to the sugar 

 camp and boils it down. There might 

 one oL his finger-nails drop in it, or 

 even a lock of his hair; there might be 

 some slight mixture of animal with the 

 vegetable. Here a bee carries the sweet 

 from the flower just the same as a man 

 carries sweet from the tree. 



The Members — No, sir! No, sir! 

 Not a bit of it! 



Mr. Moore^-There is no chance for 

 argument, I believe. They " are both 

 vegetables, absolutely, all the time. 



Mr. Taylor — If the bee should carry 

 the nectar, put it into the cell and leave 

 it there, what would it be? Would it 

 be good honey? 



Mr. Moore — Bad honey is honey, just 

 the same. 



Mr. Taylor — No; it is nectar. 



Dr. Miller — Mr. President, wouldn't 

 it be of advantage to talk about some- 

 thing we know something about? 



Pres. York — Sure! 



Mr. Kimmey — If we are going to talk 

 about something we know all about, 

 there is no use of talking. We might 

 as well go home. 



Pres. York — I think a convention of 

 bee-keepers ought to know something 

 about honey. 



Mr. Kimmey — Perhaps you will re- 

 member a few years ago we were talk- 

 ing about the same question, and I asked 

 Dr. Eaton, the Illinois State chemist, 

 if it were possible for a chemist to pro- 

 duce a single drop of honey, and he 

 said no. We may talk about bees gath- 

 ering nectar from the flowers; it is 

 not honey. I once , at a table said to 



a lady, "Why do you put cream in your 

 coflfee? Why not put in butter? It 

 is the same thing." "Yes," she said, 

 "Why not put grass in your coffee? It 

 is the same thing." It isn't the same. 

 You can't make a drop of honey unless 

 you let tho, bee go out and gather the 

 nectar and put it in its organism. I 

 have tried to find out exactly what they 

 do. You honey-dealers just keep quiet 

 a little and try to look wise. I have 

 seen some of your product and, unbe- 

 known to you, I have had some of it 

 analyzed. You do not get honey until 

 the bees work it over. I think you can 

 say they make honey just as surely as 

 the cow makes milk, and in that sense 

 I think it is an animal product, from the 

 matter of working over a vegetable pro- 

 duct, just as lard is an animal product; 

 perhaps not exactly work on it, but there 

 is a change made which makes it animal 

 instead of vegetable. It is not simply 

 gathering nectar. 



On motion, an adjournment was taken 

 until I -.30 p. m. 



FIRST DAY — Second Session. 



The convention met at 1 130 p. m. 



Pres. York — Is there anything to come 

 before the convention before we take up 

 the questions? Under the heading of 

 Miscellaneous Business there is the 

 question of joining the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association in a body. What 

 shall we do about it? 



Joining the National in a Body. 



Mr. Wilcox — I move that we join the 

 National in a body. 



The motion was seconded. 



Pres York — Are there any remarks on 

 the motion? 



Mr. Moore— ^Not to obtrude my own 

 views on this assembly, but to get the 

 subject before you, I want to object to 

 joining the National in a body. My 

 objections are nothing new. Our in- 

 come is rather small. The Treasurer's 

 report shows about $22 in the treasury 

 before this meeting, and when we join 

 the National and pay them 50 cents, and 

 join the Illinois State State Association 

 and pay them 25 cents, that leaves us 

 25 cents for our income, which is hardly 

 sufficient to pay our expenses ; and if 

 this Association wants to continue join- 

 ing both these associations in a body, 

 I want them to do it with their eyes 

 open to the facts in the matter. Do what 

 seems best. 



