84 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



In other days, when men lived closer 

 to Mother Earth, and the elementary 

 methods of publicity prevailed, and 

 when real merit was the determining 

 factor in the selection of food for the 

 family, honey Avas deservedly placed at 

 the head of all the good things. 



Modern advertising methods and 

 practices have, temporarily, let us 

 hope, caused the buying public to neg- 

 lect it for articles of lesser merit, but 

 greater publicity. The publicity that 

 is necessary under modern circum- 

 stances for any food product, no mat- 

 ter what its merits may be, if it is to 

 maintain place and prestige in the es- 

 timation of a fickle public. 



This is true in the face of the fact 

 that no food product given to man for 

 his sustenance, with the possible ex- 

 ception of milk, is , so high in food 

 value, so delicate and appetizing, so 

 attractive to the eye as honey. These 

 abstract truths regarding the excel- 

 lencies of honey are firmly implanted 

 in the sub-conscious mind of every 

 one who reads the Bible, Ancient or 

 Current History or literature, or lis- 

 tens to the traditions of the fireside; 

 it only needs the suggestion of a 

 handsome display or a neat card 

 placed side by side with a display of 

 Korno or similar products that at- 

 tempt to usurp the place dedicated to 

 honey in every mind, to arouse this . 

 sub-conscious sentiment and belief in 

 the superior qualities of honey. But, 

 the Korno people are pushing their 

 product, and the honey people are not. 

 You will see Korno attractively dis- 

 played on half a million shelves, 

 "Boosted" on ten thousand bill-boards, 

 its praises sung by their publicity 

 agents in the press and masquerading 

 in borrowed plumes in ten million 

 pamphlets and dodgers. In the mean- 

 time, honey is not seen on the shelves, 

 no pictures appear in the windows, no 

 publicity in the papers, and the bee- 

 keeper sits tight, doing nothing and 

 keeping eloquently silent. So, as a 

 natural seqjuence, Korno is bought, 

 honey is leglected, and the children's 

 teeth and stomachs pay the penalty. 



This is no fancy picture. It is the 

 plain truth, that can be demonstrated 

 in ten thousand groceries. The excep- 

 tions where honey is prominently dis- 

 played prove the rule that honey is 

 discounted by a lack of energy on the 

 part of the bee-keepers who fail to 

 force it to the notice of the public. 



The time was, when "honey was 

 honey," and any of the scores of dif- 

 ferent colors, flavors or bodies would 

 be accepted without question. A dis- 

 criminating public now selects the 

 choicer table grades, which find a 

 ready sale at fair prices, but the off 

 color grades are neglected, and bring 

 low prices, with a tendency to drag 

 down prices of all grades. 



The profitable disposition of these 

 <3arker grades is the big thing for 

 present consideration. These honeys 

 contain all the sterling qualities of the 

 lighter grades, and are just as desir- 

 able for all purposes except for the 

 table, where a light color and mild 

 flavor are desirable. 



When we find a profitable use for all 

 these darker grades, then a long step 

 has been taken to relieve the unsatis- 

 factory condition of the honey market. 

 It is the purpose of this paper to sug- 

 gest a possible means to accomplish 

 this end. 



We now have, in most of the stat*- 

 and soon will have in all, an army of 

 patient, competent school teachers 

 whose business in life is to teach the 

 coming generation what to eat and 

 how to prepare it. I refer to the Do- 

 mestic Science instructors in our Pub- 

 lic Schools. 



These teachers are sincere and un- 

 affected by the perorations of the pub- 

 licity people of any food product. They 

 place each article offered for their 

 consideration strictly on its own 

 merits, and- we bee-keepers are willing, 

 yes, anxious, for honey to meet the 

 test of merit in competition with Kor- 

 no, or any other food value on the 

 face of ,the earth, bar none. Honey 

 will not suffer when it comes to a 

 test of real merit. 



This department of our Public 

 Schools is comparatively modern. Its 

 systems are not universally organized 

 in all the states. It is not the wish or 

 intention of the bee-keepers to trans- 

 gress the bounds of propriety and 

 courtesy in suggesting that the sterl- 

 ing value of honey as a sauce, delicacy 

 or staple food, should receive due con- 

 sideration in the course of study. 



And, in order to avoid even the taint 

 of individual commercialism, it is fit- 

 ting that the various bee-keeping as- 

 sociations, representing the industry as 

 a whole, take the necessary steps to 

 have the value of honey as a staple 

 food, as a sauce, and especially the 



