124 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



cate and attractive addition to the 

 table. 



But our forefathers did not have the 

 need to consider the food value of 

 honey as carefully as the present gen- 

 eration has to do, for good food was 

 abundant and easily proctired, and, like 

 the fuel for the fireplace, was used 

 lavishly. The high cost of living and 

 the resulting care in selecting econ- 

 omical food did not enter into their 

 list of troubles, at all. 



Hence it is only in recent years that 

 this surprisingly high food value of 

 honey in comparison with other things 

 has been determined an.d given to us 

 for our consideration. 



Very many really well informed per- 

 sons do not know that honey has a 

 real, potential food value, easily as- 

 similated by the most delicate system, 

 as well as by the most rugged and vig- 

 orous, and comparing most favorably 

 with the best foods on the market, in 

 cost and energy producing units. 



I am indebted to W. B. Barney of the 

 Iowa Food and Dairy Department, and 

 to the American Bee Journal, and to 

 the Indiana Entomologist office for the 

 data to make the following graphic 

 comparisons: I have reduced the units 

 of value to the terms of cents and 

 pounds, so that the significance may 

 be readily grasped. 



The present retail prices of all the 

 articles are taken where prices are 

 compared. 



I find that the average price of honey 

 is something less than 16 cents, so I 

 take that price as a basis of my com- 

 parisons. 



Beefsteak is considered to be a ne- 

 cessity on most tables and we will 

 take that for our first comparison. 



The actual food value of one pound 

 of honey costing 16 cents is fully equal 

 to 1% pounds of the best sirloin steak 

 costing 20 cents or more per pound, or 

 30 cents for 16 cents' worth of honey. 



Eggs are universally considered as 

 the most nourishing of foods, yet 8% 

 ounces of honey costing as many cents 

 equals the food value of one dozen eggs 

 costing about 28 cents. 



Even milk, which is usually consid- 

 ered a very economical food staple, is 

 slightly higher in cost than honey. 



In the fruits and nuts, also deemed 

 wholesome, and economical, the com- 

 parative value is in favor of honey, 

 sixteen cents worth of honey equaling 

 48 cents worth of oranges, 24 cents 



worth of bananas, and 29 cents worth 

 of walnuts. 



These comparative tests could be ap- 

 plied ad infinitum with the same 

 results. Always we find the compara- 

 tive value of honey per food unit high- 

 er than that of all the staple foods, 

 and immensely superior to any of the 

 breakfast foods and other fancy prep- 

 arations. 



The cost of advertising this class of 

 goods is so high that it leaves but 

 little room for any food value in the 

 product itself. There are good reasons 

 for the relatively small use in the 

 home. The honey producers are mod- 

 est, measuring people, usually with 

 small production per capita, and 

 not all in touch with modern busi- 

 ness method^, especially the great ad- 

 vertising proposition. They know, in a 

 vague way, that advertising sells 

 things, but they lack the special 

 knowledge that must be applied • to 

 bring success. If the average house- 

 keeper was asked to appropriate his 

 pro rata to an advertising fund, in the 

 extent that business men take as a 

 matter of course, he would collapse 

 with heart failure. 



On the other hand, we see goods of 

 an inferior value widely and cunningls' 

 exploited and "boosted" in the maga- 

 zines, in attractive pamphlets and bill 

 boards and by subsidized writers and 

 dernbnstrators. 



As a consequence, the price of honey 

 has declined so as to practically reach 

 the actual cost of production, leaving 

 but little margin for expensive pub- 

 licity methods. 



In view of the high food value and 

 the comparatively low price at M^hich 

 honey is sold, it would be a great boom 

 to the buying public to have this knowl- 

 edge brought to its attention. 



The public now buys the goods that 

 are advertised. 



It is not now .bu5ang honey to the 

 extent warranted by its merits, be- 

 cause it is not advertised. The public 

 and the producer would both be bene- 

 fited by its freer use. 



How shall it be brought about? In 

 this state and in most of the others, 

 we have a large number of earnest, 

 conscientious women whose serious 

 business in life is to teach the future 

 housekeepers the comparative value of 

 the different foods offered in our mar- 

 kets, and the economical preparation 

 for the table. 



