THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Selling-Methods Make Honey-Prices low Compared 

 With that of Other Commodities. 



OREL L. HERSHISER. 



3 HIS 

 T'tai 



cer- 

 n 1 y a 

 question of 

 prime import- 

 ance to a large 

 majority of bee 

 keepers, and 

 you. Mr. Editor, 

 have opened up 

 a subject for 

 discussion, 

 whicti, if fol- 

 lowed persistently, will, in my opinion, 

 yield to your readers handsome returns. 

 To produce a crop of fine honey should 

 be the highest aim of every bee keeper; 

 but just a little lower than that highest 

 aim should be another one; viz.. to sell 

 the crop at its full market value. 



PRICES OF HONEY HAVE NOT KEPT PACE 

 WITH THAT OF OTHER FOOD PRODUCTS. 



You. Mr. Editor, believe that "market 

 conditions are vastly superior to what 

 they were years ago." I fancy that I 

 am one of many who do not wholly ac- 

 cept that view. Years ago, in the 80's 

 and 90's. honey was selling a little lower 

 than at present. My recollection is that 

 fancy comb sold as low as from 11 to 

 13 cts., when the market was at the 

 lowest ebb, and white clover and other 

 fancy extracted as low as 6 >^ to 7 cts. 

 But remember, that was when wheat, 

 that makes the "staff of life," was selling 

 at from 45 to 60 cts. per bushel. 1 well 

 remember that, in the summer of 1894, 

 wheat in Northwestern Ohio was selling 

 as low as 42 cts. per bushel. All other 

 products and provisions were low. It 

 was only natural that honey should be 

 low. As compared with prices in those 

 days, wheat is more than 2>< times as 

 high; hogs more than twice as high; and 

 farm land is certainly from 25 to 35 

 per cent, higher. In 1894, with wheat 

 at 45 cts. per bushel, and best, extracted 



honey at 6 '2 cts. per lb., it took ap- 

 proximately 7 lbs. of honey to purchase 

 one bushel of wheat. Now, with wheat 

 at S 1.1 5 per bushel, and best, extracted 

 honey at 9 cts. per lb. (and 1 think a lot 

 of bee keepers would like to know where 

 they could get 9 cts. net) it takes 12 7-9 

 lbs. of honey to purchase a bushel of 

 wheat. To make it an even shake, we 

 would have to have 16 3-7 cts. per 

 pound for the honey. In other words, 

 with wheat at SI. 15 per bushel and 

 honey at 16 3-7 cts. per pound, it would 

 require 7 lbs. of honey to purchase a 

 bushel of wheat, same as it did in 1894, 

 when wheat was 45 cts. per bushel. 

 Likewise, when pork, live weight, was 5 

 cts. per pound, it took approximately 7 

 lbs. of honey to purchase 9 lbs. of pork, 

 or 45 cts. worth. Now with pork, live 

 weight, at ten cts, per pound, it takes 10 

 lbs. of honey to purchase the 9 lbs. of 

 pork. 



In this comparison we would have to 

 get 12 6-7 cts. per pound for our honey 

 in order to get the same equivalent as in 

 1894. 



I might compare the prices of butter 

 and eggs, two great staples, with honey 

 in the same way, and with similar 

 results, and so on, with almost everything 

 used by the husbandman. I tell you, 

 honey is ridiculously low, and conditions 

 from my view point are not "vastly 

 superior." 



Another reason why honey should be 

 higher is that it costs more to produce 

 it. Sections and hives are much higher 

 than when lumber was cheap. And 

 comb foundation is higher because 

 b-e-c-a-u-3-e — not because wax is so 

 much higher, not because it costs more 

 to manufacture, not because of the use 

 of new and improved machines and pro- 

 cesses that turn out the finishea product 

 many fold faster than did the old 



