GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sechrist's combined uncapping-liox and melter. Three-fourtlis of the honey 



drains off before the cappings reach the hot surface, so 



that only about one-fourth is heated. 



cents a dozen in Juiie and forty cents in 

 January? Simply because in June the sup- 

 ply balances demand ; whereas in January 

 demand outweighs supply. "Cornering the 

 market" may modify the price to a consid- 

 erable extent, but there is a limit that can 

 not be exceeded without curtailing the de- 

 mand. Were the cold-storage men to ad- 

 vance eggs to two dollars a dozen, even as- 

 suming that they could control the entire 

 supi^ly, how many of us would eat custard 

 pies? 



Let us now apply the same reasoning to 

 the honey situation, not losing sight of the 

 fact, however, that eggs are a stajile — a 

 quasi necessity — whereas honey is admitted- 

 ly a luxury. Even at the exorbitant pi-ice 

 suggested, there would be an appreciable 

 though almost infinitely diminished demand 

 for eggs. In the case of honey, even a 

 F'nall fraction of this coefficient of expan- 

 sion would be in effect prohibitive. 



It is true that, in 

 many cases, the individ- 

 ual beekeeper can de- 

 velop in his immediate 

 neighborhood a demand 

 for his honey at any 

 price within reason, and 

 he is entitled to the 

 highest figure he can 

 conmiand. But we are 

 considering the market 

 in its wider scope. I 

 concede that,in the larg- 

 er cities, there is quite a 

 large fancy trade that 

 will buy luxuries almost 

 regardless of price. Yet 

 this is a small propor- 

 tion of the purchasing 

 population of these cen- 

 ters, much less of the 

 country at large. 



The amount expended 

 by any community for 

 various commodities is 

 determined chiefly by 

 the wage-scale and the 

 price-current, other con- 

 ditions being normal. 

 Obviously, necessi ties 

 must come first ; and the 

 amount, if any. in ex- 

 cess of what is recjuired 

 for these must suffice 

 for luxuries. At best 

 the margin is small. Our 

 city of thirty tliousand 

 is perhaps a typical one, 

 most of the citizens be- 

 ing of the w^age-earn- 

 ing class, and the consumption of honey 

 here is i robably about the average. My 

 observation, covering a period of years, has 

 been that, when comb honey retails at 20 

 cents or less i:er average section, there is a 

 staple demand ; but if the price be increas- 

 ed to 22 cents, there folloAvs a shrinkage 

 altogether out of i^roportion to the advance. 

 In other words, 20 cents is the "dead line" 

 — tlie limit that can not be exceeded if a 

 healthy demand is to continue. I could 

 wish that the standard price might be high- 

 er here and everywhere. Gladly would 1 

 see both producer and dealer secure the 

 larger ] rofit. But, to quote one of our for- 

 mer presidents, " It is a condition and not a 

 theory that confronts us;" and any attempt 

 on the part of either the National Associa- 

 tion or any other organization or individual 

 to "bull" the market, to the utter disregard 

 of these considerations, must necessarily re- 

 act by cutting down the demand for honey, 



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