ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



45 



any more confidence in him than he 

 deserves.) His honey is lighter than 

 that of others. If there can be that 

 much difference in heartsease, I be- 

 lieve that my honey can be lighter than 

 Mr. Dadant's. There was so much dif- 

 ference in time between the bloom of 

 clover and heartsease. The- pollen was 

 exactly like heartsease. 



Mr. Dadant: There are some twenty 

 different kinds of heartsease. Is it not 

 possible that some kinds yield 

 darker honey than others. Prob- 

 ably the kind that Dr. Miller has is dif- 

 ferent from what we have in Central 

 Illinois, and they can be still different 

 from' those in Kansas. This explains 

 the difference. 



Dr. Miller: Until within a year or 

 two heartsease has been very scarce. 

 Practically none. This year a great 

 deal of it was to be s'een. 



Mr. Taylor: What is the color of 

 basswood honey? 



Mr. Wilcox: Nearest white of any 

 honey that we produce in Wisconsin. It 

 is nearer a milk white. I produced 

 heartsease for a good many years. I 

 never yet produced any that was light 

 colored. This evening is the first time 

 that I ever heard or read of it. We 

 have a plant that blooms on old, worn 

 out fields. It is a species of horsemint. 

 You will know when the bees are 

 working on it. Their backs are covered 

 with a silver gray dust. That honey is 

 very light, almost white. It grows at 

 the same time heartsease does, just 

 before the basswood, or at the com- 

 mencement of the basswood fiow. The 

 bees might have been getting that 

 when you thought they were getting a 

 clear crop of heartsease. Otherwise I 

 should say that heartsease honey was 

 dark, but has a lighter color than bass- 

 wood. 



Pres. York: Does soil have an in- 

 fiuence on the color of honey? I un- 

 derstand that the color of alfalfa honey 

 is different in Arizona and Utah than 

 in New Mexico. I understand that soil 

 is responsible. How many agree that 

 basswood honey is lighter than clover 

 honey? Five. How many don't agree? 

 About the same number. 



Mr. Taylor: Why couldn't it be just 

 so with heartsease honey? Take the 

 clovers — every different kind of clover 

 produces a different kind of honey. If 

 different clovers vary, why not differ- 

 ent varieties of heartsease? 



Mr. Wilcox: I like that. There are 

 two species of basswood in my locality. 



The two kinds of wood don't put out 

 leaves in the spring at the same time. 

 There is a difference of about two 

 weeks in the time. 



Pure Food Laws and Honey Demand. 



"Have the pure food laws enacted by 

 Congress and the different states 

 caused a greater demand for honey?" 



Mr. Taylor: No. 



Mr. Wilcox: Yes. I have always 

 been a strong advocate of the pure food 

 law. I am very pleased with them. 

 We have what we asked for, and 

 should be glad. The pure food law 

 enables the customer to have some 

 confidence that the thing he buys is 

 what he calls for. I cannot buy enough 

 honey to supply my customers. I am 

 getting more orders, and am confident 

 that some of it comes from the confi- 

 dence in the goods. 



Mr. Taylor: I think we are fooling 

 ourselves. I have always thought so. 

 I don't think the pure food law has the 

 least effect here in Chicago. It doesn't 

 apply to honey here in Chicago. It ap- 

 plies only to interstate commerce. A 

 man can make all the adulterated honey 

 he wants to, and sell it in Chicago. If 

 the state law i^ enforced you will get 

 less of it. If you don't enforce the law 

 you will get the same as before. It is 

 foolish to attribute the increase in the 

 demand for honey to the pure food law. 

 It is due to the fact that you haven't 

 got any honey. People want it when 

 you haven't got it. That accounts for 

 all the advance we have so far. 



Mr. Arnd: The pure food law has* 

 driven a number of concerns in Chi- 

 cago out of the honey business. A 

 great many wholesale grocery houses 

 are now putting up their own honey. 

 They buy honey and put it up them- 

 selves. A number of so-called noney 

 dealers have gone out of business here 

 in Chicago. 



Mr. Taylor: You have enough left ■ 

 to supply Chicago. In my state I have 

 traveled a little this fall. One day I 

 came across a horse hitched to a cov- 

 ered rig, and as we stopped at the 

 place I inquired of the driver what he 

 had, and he said he had medicines and- 

 bottles of all kinds and no labels. I 

 asked him where they came from. I 

 learned that instead of shipping therfi 

 from where they were originally made, 

 they were transferred to Saginaw 

 county. They can ship from there to 

 another place. Honey-dealers left Chi- 



