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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 



Crop Reports and Market Conditions 



OUR CROP REPORTS AND MARKET CONDITIONS 



In our last circular letter to reporters the following 

 questions were asked: 



1. Conditions of honey plants compared to 1916? 



2. How is the honey flow? 



3. Honey movements and prices. Is there any demand 

 from consumers direct? Is there any demand from big 

 buyers and what prices are they offering? Also, is any 

 honey being sold or contracted, and at what price? 



4. What do you expect to realize for your honey, 

 wholesale and retail? 



HONEY PLANT CONDITIONS 



In the New England States the clover is in excellent 

 shape though two weeks late. There is any way from 75 

 to 100% as much in evidence as last year. Some parts of 

 New York report much less, while Pennsylvania seems to 

 have about as much as last year. In the extreme south- 

 east the spring crop has been harvested. Prospects for 

 the summer flow are only fair. Sweet Clover is very 

 backward. 



Throughout the central west the season is anywhere 

 from ten days to two weeks behind. Ohio reports three- 

 fourths as much clover as last year, Minnesota expects 

 a bumper crop, Wisconsin and Michigan have average 

 prospects. Illinois and Iowa generally expect very little 

 clover honey, if any at all. Missouri seems to have a 

 little better prospect, as do Kansas and Nebraska. The 

 excessive rains in this section, however, have brought out 

 the young clover and the prospects for a late fall flow 

 are good, with favorable weather. 



In Te.xas for the most part the season is and will be 

 a failure. Practically no honey was harvested from the 

 early flowers, and some sections report no prospects for 

 the summer. 



The whole west, including California, reports at least 

 conditions up to last year, and many parts of California 

 expect a much larger crop than in 1916. The condition in 

 Idaho is much improved over 1916, when the crop was al- 

 most a failure. 



THE HONEY FLOW 



There has naturally been no honey flow to speak of 

 in the northern half of the country. Clover is late and 

 probably will not yield to maximum till the time this 

 journal is in the hands of readers. Florida and Georgia 

 report a very good early flow, probably better than last 

 year, and the early flow in California has been good, 

 with the bees likely in a little more backward condition 

 to harvest the early crop, 



HONEY MOVEMENTS AND PRICES 



Southern new crop honey has brought 9 to 10 cents 

 per pound f. o. b. shipping points in barrels, and the en- 



tire crop has been disposed of, most of it going to the 

 New York markets. 



The orange honey of California is all cleaned up. One 

 commission firm in Chicago was offering a carload at 14c 

 for extracted f. o. b. 



Big buyers are still very active, and in most cases are 

 offering larger prices, although one report from Minne- 

 sota is that honey is being offered on at 8 cents for white 

 clover. In no year has there been, probably, such a vary- 

 ing price offered for good extracted honey. Some still 

 report offers of 7 to 8 cents for best extracted, while 

 some of the larger producers have sold at as high a figure 

 as 10 cents, one being offered and refusing 9% cents in 

 Wyoming for all the honey he could get. 



The demand for e.xport is still strong, with a doubt as 

 to whether foreign buyers would be able to pick up as 

 much as they desire at figures which they deem reason- 

 able. One order was placed for water white honey at 

 about 12 cents per pound f. o. b. New York, with the di- 

 rect stipulation that the seller was to arrange for ship 

 space to England. This protected the foreign buyer in 

 case shipping conditions got in such shape that space 

 could not be secured. 



Comb honey seems not to be even considered up to 

 the present, and many predict that it would not be sur- 

 prising to see extracted honey sell for as high a price as 

 comb before the year is ended. 



The shortage of tin cans is going to mean that a great 

 deal of honey will have to be marketed in barrels where 

 formerly it went in 5 gallon cans. 



PRICES PRODUCERS EXPECT 



A great many have already contracted for their 1917 

 crop at prices ranging from 6^ to 10 cents per pound. 

 Most of those still holding off to sell when the honey is 

 in hand expect to realize at least 10 cents per pound in 

 jobbing lots. One said he would "give his white clover 

 honey to the poor rather than to sell it for less than 11 

 cents." Many expect at least IZYz cents for extracted 

 white in car lots. 



There is no doubt b.ut that the demand is excessive 

 both in a jobbing way and locally for this time of year. 

 Many report that they are having requests for honey 

 from consumers direct that they cannot fill before the 

 crop is harvested. 



Two large honey sellers who deal direct with con- 

 sumers expect to set their prices with a minimum as fol- 

 lows : 



Five pound cans $1.25 each 



Ten pound cans 2.00 each 



Sixty pounds 9.00 



Of all years this is the year to push up the local sales 

 on honey.' Sixty pound cans for shipment can hardly be 

 gotten, while the smaller friction top pails are still ob- 

 tainable. 



HONEY AND BEESWAX 



Chicago. June i8.— As yet. none of the 

 yield of vin has appeared on this market. As 

 stated in former reports, there is no honey 

 to be had among the jobbers, and very little 

 is; left in the hands of retailers: hence, 

 there is a probability of higher prices on the 

 new crop when it comes, and we should 

 have some by the time this appears in print. 



We expect now lo get i7®iSc per pound for 

 the comb that will range from No. i to fancy 

 and it may be that we can get a little more 

 for a time. Extracted is commanding at the 

 time from I2@i4c per pound, for the reason 

 that there is practically none offered in 

 clover or the other white honey. Amber 

 grades are also absent, including buckwheat. 

 Beeswax is steady around 35c per pound, 

 R. A. Burnett & Co, 



Los Angeles. June 14,— Owing to unfavor- 

 able weather conditions the honey produc- 

 ing season is some six weeks later than 

 usual; therefore, the lateness in submitting 

 quotations This condition very materially 

 shortens the honey flow or producing period 

 and prospects are that the production will 

 be short, especially on certain grades, viz: 



orange and sage honey. The unprecedented 

 demand for honey with absolutely no carry- 

 over stocks, together with the crop condi- 

 tions that prevail, has caused a steadily ad- 

 vancing market which is firm at today's 

 quotations which are as follows: Fancy 

 white orange 15c: fancy white sage ii;c: light 

 amber sage, iijic: light amber alfalfa. to}4- 

 loJic. Hamilton & Menderson. 



Kansas City, Mo,, June 15,— Comb honey 

 is about cleaned up on this market, and 

 there is very little extracted except what is 

 in the hands of the jobbers, and stocks are 

 very light with them. The market here 

 ranges from io@i4C a pound, according to 

 quality and kind. The demand for extracted 

 honey is limited, on account of the high 

 prices 



C. C. Clemons Produce Company. 



Denver. June 20 —This market is cleaned 

 out of both comb and extracted honey, and 

 therefore have no prices to quote. 



For clean yellow beeswax we pay 38c in 

 cash and 40c in trade, delivered here. 

 The Colo, Honey Producers' Ass'n, 

 F, Rauchfuss, Afaer. 



New York, June 18,-Regarding the condi- 

 tion of the honey market, so far as comb 

 honey is concerned, old crop is fairly twell 



cleaned up, with the exception of lower 

 grades, of which there is still some in the 

 market, but no demand to speak of. As to 

 No I or fancy white, there is some which 

 has been carried over, but the demand is 

 not as good as it formerly was. and hard to 

 find buyers, at around i3@i4C, and this in a 

 small way only. 



As to extracted honey, the market appears 

 to be in a very unsettled condition, and all 

 kinds of prices are being quoted. Last 

 year's crop is practically cleaned uo. so far 

 as we know, and receipts from ttie West In- 

 dies have been rather light of late, but it 

 appears that a good crop has been produced 

 in the Southern States, and is now beginning 

 to arrive quite freely. The demand is fair, 

 at prices varying from nc to $1.20 per gallon, 

 according to quality. 



HiLDRETH & SEGELKEN. 



San Antonio, June 18,-Very little honey 

 of any kind has been marketed in Texas. 

 Never was there such a failure in the spring 

 crop Summer surplus, with fair to normal 

 prospects, will appear about July i- "• 

 tracted is being contracted at loc amber to 

 13c white bases Bulk comb "@i5c. Comb 

 none quoted. Beeswax is in great demand 

 at 3SC cash. 38c exchange basis, „ ^ ,-,. 

 " Southwestern Bee Co. 



