JULY 1, 19i; 



409 



One of E. L. Sechrist's apiaries, Clarksburg, Cal 



what is entirely practical in one place is 

 useless in another. For instance, we could 

 never think of producing bulk comb honey, 

 as much of our honey granulates from two 

 days to a week after being taken from the 

 combs, and granulates in the combs in a 

 month; so with bulk comb honey we should 

 have a solid, ui: salable mass. 

 Clarksburg, Yolo Co., Cal. 



IS 



A HIGH PRICE FOR HONEY ALTOGETHER 

 DESIRABLE? 



BY E. W. PEIRCE 



'Tis said, "When young folks talk to old 

 folks they should know what they're about." 

 If, therefore, in the course of this article 

 I shall go counter to the tenets of my elders 

 in the ijrofession I beg that those seeming 

 fallacies be charged to "youth" rather than 

 to any desire to occupy an arbitrary posi- 

 tion. A baker's dozen years of experience 

 as a keeper of bees and loroducer of honey 

 on a small scale, together with a number of 

 years devoted to the buying and selling of 

 honey may possibly entitle me to a corner 

 in the councils of the wise. 



In reading the compositions on the sub- 

 ject of selling honey ai^pearing in the vari- 



ous bee journals during the last few months 

 I have been impressed with the dominance 

 of one specific note — " How get higher 

 prices?" So persistent has been the harp- 

 ing on this one string that I am venturing 

 to voice my sentiments here, even at the 

 risk of striking an unpopular chord. 



Let me say at the outset that I have no 

 desire to quarrel with any of my good 

 friends the beekeepers (and thus jeopardize 

 my daily bread). Our interests are mu- 

 tual ; and if anybody is in a position to re- 

 joice with them in prosperity and mourn 

 with them in adversity, surely it is I. More- 

 over, the tlu-eefold nature of my relation to 

 the trade should enable me to view the sub- 

 ject from different angles and discuss it in 

 an unbiased way. 



Any legitimate effort, either of producer 

 or dealer, to secure good prices is commend- 

 able. But is it not true that the advocates 

 of higher prices too often in their pleadings 

 totally ignore certain factors that must en- 

 ■ter into the problem? 



There is one law that never has been and 

 never can be repealed — the law of supply 

 and demand. Combination and manipula- 

 tion may for a time suspend its operation, 

 but there is a perpetual equilibrium in the 

 sphere of economics that necessitates its re- 

 inforcement. Why are eggs quoted at twelve 



