"itHE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



^5 



admit that there is not tiie demand for 

 honey which we wish there was." 



"Simply on thej^-round that the R-reat 

 mass of our people do not consider 

 honey as somethins^ wliich it is neces- 

 sary that themselves or their families 

 have. In other words, the desire for 

 honey is uot so great as it is for butter, 

 whiskey, tobacco, etc. Their butter 

 they must have or the dinner is not 

 worth eating-. The whiskey they umst 

 iiave, even if it means sorrow, ruin 

 and crime to themselves, their families, 

 the nation, and the world. Their to- 

 bacco they must use, even if their 

 clothes are ragged and their shoes are 

 out at the end of their toes; and the tea- 

 drinking habit must be indulged in 

 whether there is any hone.v on the taV)le 

 or not. ■" 



"]5ut don't 3'ou think that we could 

 educate the people to a point where 

 they would consider honey of as much 

 a necessity to them as tea, and the 

 things you have mentioned ?" 

 "No, never.'' 

 "Why not ?" 



"Because when j'ou get them edu- 

 cated, and the time comes from strait- 

 ened circumstances that they must re- 

 trench, they, never retrench in favor of 

 honey. Did 3-ou ever know of a family 

 giving np their butter, sug-ar, tea, or 

 tobacco for honey? And even without 

 the straitened circumstances, after once 

 having honey, and knowing of its good- 

 ness, nany families which I know of 

 tell me that they can make a good 

 syrup for their buckwheat cakes, a 

 sj'rup that answers all purposes, and 

 that at a cost of less than one-half of 

 what they have to pay me for my 

 honey. AH other families which I 

 know of will bu3' honey of me if I go 

 person all3' and press it on them each 

 3-ear, but will never come to me or an3' 

 other bee-keeper after it. But the3' 

 would go miles and miles after their 

 tea, tobacco, sugar, and butter, with 

 honey right at their next door, before 

 the3' would use hone3- as a substitute 

 for. either, " 



" Well, 3'Ou are advancing some new 

 thoughts — thoughts that are, perhaps, 

 well worth thinking over. But in your 

 ground there is ver3' little hope. Is 

 there no remed3' ?" 

 " I see only one. " 

 " What is that ?" 



" I>et the bee-keeper stop putting- the 

 rosy side of apiculture before the pub- 

 lic all the time, thus putting- more bee- 

 keepers into our already overstocked 

 honey-field. Give the truth or the 



thing as it is and make the question of 

 more or better bee-keepers the promi- 

 nent one for a while. Then with fewer 

 and better bee-keepers as a basis, add 

 a goodly lot of energy spent in a house- 

 to-house canvass each year with our 

 hone3', perhaps we who are in it may 

 be able to hold on and make a living 

 out of bees. What do you think of the 

 proposition ? " 



"This is a little new to me, and I 

 wish a little time to think over the mat- 

 ter. Meanwhile I will give your ideas 

 to the readers of Gleanings, and let 

 them do some thinking- with us, for 'in 

 the multitude of counselors there is 

 wisdom." " 



That hone3' is a luxury, especially 

 when used as a table sauce, must be 

 admitted by all. This is the reason 

 why the price does not go up when 

 there is a short crop. People have 

 been accustomed to paying- about so 

 much for it, and won't pay much more 

 —they will go without it first. It is 

 not so with potatoes, or butter, or any 

 of the necessities of life — we must have 

 these regardless of the price, or of the 

 stories about olemargarine being sold 

 for the latter. The consumption of 

 flour, butter and potatoes can't be in- 

 creased by advertising, but the sale of 

 luxuries is increased by advertising. 

 It is as Bro. Doolittie sa3's, that, in 

 order to hold our customers for honey, 

 we must "go personally and press it 

 on them each year," or, in other 

 words, we must advertise. All luxu- 

 ries must be advertised, or they meet 

 with limited sale. Honey is no ex- 

 ception. Yes, it is true that honey has 

 been knoivii for centuries, at least, it 

 has been known of, but one-half the 

 people don't really know how luxuri- 

 ous a luxury, how really good and 

 healtiiful, is good honey. They look 

 upon it as a luxury, and, now comes 

 the point, when they hear these stories 

 about its being adulterated, about its 

 being made by machinery, etc., they 

 think, "well, if that is the kind of 

 stuff it is; I don't want anj^ of it." I 

 have hea.-d quite a number of our most 

 intelligent bee-keepers tak;- tiie ssme 



