ILUInOIS state BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



75 



When I grow up I will be able to smoke 

 more than I have been doing. 



Dr. Bohrer: I belonged to two or- 

 ganizations. They had two or three 

 bee-keepers' associations, and I be- 

 longed to the Kansas Agricultural So- 

 ciety, and I don't think that among all 

 of the horticulturists of that State a 

 dozen of them chewed or smoked, and 

 I found it to be so among bee-keepers 

 generally- ' ^ 



> Adulterated Honey. 



"Any news of adulterated honey in 

 Michigan reported in 'Gleanings'?" 



Mr. Reynolds: In "Gleanings" there 

 was a report that a large consignment 

 of honey had been found in Detroit 

 that had been shipped there by a firm 

 in Philadelphia. Does any one know 

 whether it has been confiscated? 



Dr. Miller: "Was not the statement 

 in "Gleanings" that it was confiscated? 



Mr. Reynolds: As I read it the gov- 

 ernment was taking hold of it. They 

 had been notified to appear on trial 

 and had not shown up, and, as I un- 

 derstood it, the government was about 

 to confiscate it. 



President York: It is an interesting 

 case, showing that the government is 

 after adulterated food. 



Wild Rose Honey. 



"Does the wild rose produce honey 

 in quantities to be sold in the market 

 as such?" 



President York: Here is a sample 

 labeled "Wild Rose Honey," Pacific 

 Coast Company, California, Los An- 

 geles, Seattle and Portland. 



Mr. Todd: That is a label that you 

 will find all up and down Oregon and 

 over in British Columbia — "Wild Rose 

 Honey." I have not sampled it or 

 investigated the question at all. 



President York: It is very pretty 

 honey. 



Mr. Todd: I don't think that that is 

 pure wild rose honey. I don"'t think 

 that the bees gather nectar from the 

 wild rose, but they may gather pollen. 



Dr. Miller: Where I live wild rose 

 is very common, but I very much doubt 

 whether an appreciable amount of 

 honey is gathered from it, for, as Mr. 

 Todd says, they gather pollen from it, 

 and they may gather honey in times 

 of very great scarcity, possibly. You 

 t'.on't know, but I have been most of 



my life a "rose fiend," and in times of 

 very great scarcity my rose-buds would 

 be torn to pieces before they opened 

 up, by the bees, and I suspect there 

 must be some nectar there or they 

 would not .do it, but I very much doubt 

 whether anything has ever been gath- 

 ered in the history of the world that 

 was known to be either tame or wild 

 rose honey, and I suspect that that 

 v/liole business is a fraud. 



President York: This is, perhaps, 

 simply a label. 



Mr. Todd: They go — have you seen 

 them? — for the pollen in an extraordi- 

 nary way. 



Mr. Dadant: Before you condemn 

 that as a fraud, although it is quite 

 possible that it may be, we must bear 

 in mind that there are countries where 

 the wild rose is very plentiful. Port- 

 land, Oregon, is called the wild rose 

 country, and the country is covered 

 with wild rose bushes. It is astonish- 

 ing to men from the East to see wild 

 rose bushes growing eight and ten 

 feet high all over the country, thicker 

 than any weed in this part of the 

 country, and the roses bloom for quite 

 a long while, and there might be some- 

 thing in it, although the syrup com- 

 pany's name makes me dubious. 



Dr. Miller: What do you know 

 about the gathering? 



Mr. Dadant: I simply stated that 

 roses are as plentiful there as clover 

 here. 



Mr. Wheeler: I have watched a 

 great many times to see where the bees 

 got their honey, and I seriously doubt 

 their ever gathering honey from the 

 wild rose or the tame rose. They may 

 gather pollen, but they don't act to 

 me like a bee on any other blossom 

 getting nectar. I doubt their getting 

 this. 



President York: This is sage honey 

 — California sage. It is just called 

 "wild rose." That is just a label or 

 brand. 



Dr. Miller: You will remember see- 

 ing honey labeled "York's Honey," and 

 Mr. York himself never gathered any, 

 though his bees have done so. 



Mr. Moore:,, I may add something 

 to this that will be a little interesting. 

 Of course, with the name "Syrup" on 

 that we are inclined to think it a fraud. 

 It 5»ught to be named "Corn Blossom 

 Honey" instead of "Wild Rose Honey." 

 From my own reading of thirty years 



