124 



April, 1914. 



American 'See Journal 



should bestir themselves on this mat- 

 ter of distributing honey. If you can- 

 not cooperate in marketing when a 

 large proportion of your crop is un- 

 sold, there is not much left to do but 

 sell your honey for less. The low limit 

 in the West on honey is about 8h cents 

 a dozen for fancy and No. 1 comb 

 honey. When it gets down to that 

 figure, the bee-men get together. It is 

 necessity that drives the majority of 

 bee-men to cooperation, and good 

 common sense that leads others to get 

 together. I should think that a little 

 foresight would bring the Ontario bee- 

 men together before forced by the low- 

 ering price of honey. 



What is there to this question of 

 overproduction ? Not very much when 

 you take the whole country over; but 

 it is possible when you take into con- 

 sideration some States and districts. 

 What should the average consumption 

 of honey be in a State like Colorado ? 

 What could it be made to consume by 

 advertising ? Colorado's honey pro- 

 duction for 1913 was 5 pounds for every 

 man, woman and child in the State. 

 That is 25 pounds for every family, 

 couiiting the family at five members. 

 How much of this production can we 

 get consumed at home without ship- 

 ping beyond the borders of our State ? 

 I do not think that we get more than o 

 pounds per family consumed at home. 

 Then we have 20 pounds per family 

 that has to be shipped out. Do you 

 think it a possibility to get a State with 

 800.000 people to eat 4,000,000 pounds 

 of honey in one year? I do not. And 

 you may use all the advertising schemes 

 you want, I do not think the thing can 

 be "did." 



In Boulder, all the grocers have 



comb and extracted honey displayed 

 and on sale throughout the year, and 

 they advertise it in the papers. The 

 bee-men (five specialists who live here) 

 all sell a good deal from their homes. 

 It is only an estimate, but 1 believe be- 

 tween 20,000 and 30,000 pounds of comb 

 and extracted honey is sold in a year 

 here in Boulder. We have about 12,000 

 population, with a pretty large moun- 

 tain population depending upon us for 

 food supplies. The consumption could 

 doubtless be increased, but with sugar 

 becoming so cheap, and cheap syrups 

 so plentiful, I think there is a limit to 

 the amount of sweet that we can get an 

 individual to eat. It certainly will not 

 be a very wise advertising policy to 



spend much money urging people to 

 buy honey at 15 and 20 cents a pound 

 when sugar can be had for 4 cents, and 

 the increasing cost of living is the most 

 talked of subject among our people to- 

 day. 



The proper distribution of our honey 

 crops, and keeping our large markets 

 supplied throughout the year will han- 

 dle the situation for some time. The 

 greatest need is an experienced honey 

 man who will work systematically the 

 trade in every large city. He should 

 be a man who can be on the job the 

 year around, and not a beekeeper who 

 jumps into the city in the fall and 

 winter and then does not show up 

 again until the next fall. 



Notes From ^ Ab r oad 



Our Visit to Lyon and Albertville 



BV C. P. DADANT. 



LYON (the English spell it Lyons) is 

 the third largest city of France, at 

 the junction of the Rhone and the 

 Saune, the former a rushing, foaming, 

 tempestuous stream, the latter a quiet, 

 blue river. They are mythologically 

 represented, in poetry and statuary, as 

 husband and wife. The allegory is 

 quite proper. 



We were directed here to the secre- 

 tary of the local bee-association and 

 publisher of " L'Abeille du Rhone," Mr. 



Vibert. We found that his place of 

 business was less than four blocks 

 from the hotel. So we went there at 

 once. At first sight, it seemed we had 

 the wrong address, for the block was 

 occupied by large wholesale houses. 

 But in Europe, especially in large cities, 

 you can find active business at the 

 third story of an inner court, and that 

 is where we found him. We had no 

 previous knowledge of this man. But 

 he knew us well through our past writ- 

 ings, and at once talked to me of famil- 

 iar subjects. He was full of fun and 

 puns. 



With him we visited other friends. 



LVON EXI'ERIMENTAl. Al'IARV AT TMK .^GRlCl'l.Tl'RAL COLLEGE— MK. VutERT AT THE KXTREME Kn;HT. 



