THE HONEYBEE — HAMBLETON 299 



At the moment the important agricultural job of providing polli- 

 nation, inadequate though it may be, is dependent on the market price 

 of honey. Queer relationship indeed ! In volume of business done the 

 production of honey cannot compare in importance with most branches 

 of agriculture. Beekeeping is widely scattered. Almost every county 

 numbers a few beekeepers. Because of the cost of transportation 

 over so wide a territory, it is difficult to concentrate large quantities 

 of honey for commercial distribution. The color, flavor, and con- 

 sistency of honey vary depending upon where and from what it is 

 produced. Buckwheat honey of our Eastern States has a strong flavor 

 and is almost black; that from fireweed in the Pacific Northwest is 

 water-white and mild in flavor. This great variation imposes a 

 problem to food packers who like to maintain uniform and standard 

 packs of whatever they merchandise. As a consequence, much of 

 the honey is sold by producers directly to local consumers. Not more 

 than 25 or 30 percent of the honey produced in the United States 

 finds its way to large honey-packing plants. Another reason why 

 commercial processors of food may not be so interested in honey is 

 that it requires little or no processing. Honey can be made no better 

 than it is when it comes from the beehive. For these and other reasons, 

 this very delicious food is not advertised nationally. The price of 

 honey is not stabilized or backed by large financial corporations. The 

 vagaries of the market seem always to hound the beekeeper, and on 

 top of it all his product has to compete with highly advertised manu- 

 factured foods, such as jams, jellies, and sirups. Whenever the price 

 of honey falls, there is a lag in enthusiasm for beekeeping and the 

 number of colonies is reduced. While this results in less honey per 

 capita, perhaps not too serious a matter, what is more important is 

 that fewer honeybees are available for pollination. Consequently, 

 the production of many crops seemingly far removed from beekeeping 

 is adversely affected. 



Growers of orchard fruits have learned that bees are necessary for 

 a full set of fruit, and many of them rent colonies from beekeepers 

 to place in the orchard during blossoming. One would suppose that 

 such an arrangement was as beneficial to the beekeeper as to the fruit 

 grower, but this is not necessarily the case. Apple-blossom honey is 

 almost unheard of. Colonies of honeybees shortly out of winter quar- 

 ters are not populous enough early in the spring to make honey from 

 apple blossoms. Colonies have to be strong and populous before they 

 can make more honey than the bees require for their immediate needs. 

 Fruit blossom is good for the bees to build up on, but they seldom if 

 ever make honey from it. Also many bees are poisoned through 

 spraying operations and so more and more beekeepers are reluctant 

 to move bees to the orchards even when paid for it. 



