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FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



other foods ^ve thought were a great 

 deal cheaper than honey. 



But we don't know exactly how the 

 prices in that country compare with 

 the prices here. 



What we ought to know is, how 

 much food value there is in a pound 

 of honey; then how much food value 

 is there in a pound of steak and a 

 pound of butter, and other foods, and 

 by comparison we would know how to 

 get a balanced ration for ourselves. 



We know ten times more about get- 

 ting a balanced ration for cows and 

 for horses than we do for ourselves. 



If there is any way we can get more 

 information on this and use it, then, I 

 believe, we will be in shape to sell 

 honey. 



Mr. Miller — I think we are getting 

 away from our subject a little. It 

 seems to me that some of the prime 

 reasons why honey is low priced have 

 not been mentioned: 



One reason, I think, is because the 

 production of honey is increasing very 

 rapidly, more rapidly than the con- 

 supiption. 



Maybe that ought not to be, but I 

 think it is a fact. ^ 



Bee-keepers are keeping more bees. 

 We are producing more honey and in 

 very much larger quantities than for- 

 merly. 



Furthermore, every fellow that has 

 no bees is urged to keep bees. I think 

 probably it is all right for those who 

 are putting out bee supplies, to urge 

 those things. I cannot see how it 

 benefits the man who is in the busi- 

 ness to urge every one else to enter 

 the field. 



I don't know of men in any other 

 line of business who are urging some- 

 one else to compete with them. 



We know that 95 per cent fail, but 

 the other five per cent compete with 

 us and bring down the price. 



I can see how an increase in the 

 retail prices might bring down the 

 wholesale price. If we charge twenty- 

 five and thirty cents a pound for 

 honey, people are not going to eat so 

 much of it and the bee-keepers will 

 have honey left on their hands. 



I know some of my friends have 

 been, for years advocating higher 

 prices; it will work out in individual 

 cases. 



We know the wholesale dealer will 

 consult the market when he buys. 



You cannot raise the wholesale 



price; that depends upon supply and 

 demand. You can sell honey to the 

 consumer and she will pay any price 

 if she has the money. 



If people pay twenty-five and thirty 

 cents a pound for honey, they are go- 

 ing to eat less of it. They have only 

 so much money to spend and they 

 won't spend more than they have as 

 a rule, so that they will buy less if 

 the price is higher. 



I never found difficulty in selling all 

 the honey I had until 1914 — some- 

 times fifteen or more tons in the year, 

 but in the last year I had to keep 

 several tons. 



People do not eat it so much; the 

 prices are a little above them. 



I sell in a small town where I sell 

 practically all that is sold. People 

 buy two or three or four pails, as a 

 novelty, before they quit. 



It has been said to educate people 

 to eat honey. 



They get tired of it. It is not a 

 staple article like sugar. They will 

 eat sugar every day in the year, but 

 they will not eat honey every day in 

 the year. 



Doctor Phillips — I suppose we might 

 as well continue Prof. Yaeger's theory 

 when he said he would like to contra- 

 dict men in order to start something. 



I think my friend, Mr. Miller, is go- 

 ing at the matter backward, from the 

 standpoint of the honey producer. 



If I am wrong in what I say I hope 

 Mr. Burnett will correct me; he knows 

 more about the honey market in a 

 minute than I do in a lifetime. 



Probably 90 per cent of the honey 

 produced in the United States is sold 

 in the retail market; the other ten 

 per cent is dumped on the market, 

 about th6 same time, and determines 

 the wholesale price. 



On account of the European War 

 the imports of honey increased twelve 

 times. 



The total amount of honey being im- 

 ported into the United States Is in- 

 significant and yet added to this ten 

 per cent being dumped on the market, 

 the wholesale market is flooded with 

 honey — • 



Now then, the American people 

 could eat all the honey that is on the 

 American market today, between now 

 and Christmas almost, and pay a good 

 price for it if they could get it in 

 available form. 



The difficulty is not that of over- 



