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CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 26, 1896. No. 48. 



36th Year. 



[Continued from paste 741.] 



OF THE 



Twenty-Seventh Annual Convention 



OF THE 



North Americau Bee-Reepers' Association, 



HELD AT 



LINCOLN, NEBK,., October 7 and 8, 1896. 



BY DR. A. B. MASON, SECKETABY. 



THURSDAY EVENING SESSION. 



Pres. Root having started for home, the convention was 

 called to order at 7:45 by the newly-elected President, Creorge 

 W. York. 



Pres. York — I shall do my best In the office of President 

 of this Association. I hope we will all work together to do 

 what we can for Its upbuilding. The first thing on our even- 

 ing's program Is a paper by Mr. C. P. Dadant, on "The Eco- 

 mic Value of Bees and Their Products." 



Mr. Dadant being absent, his paper was begun by Secre- 

 tary Mason and finished by Pres. York, as follows : 



Tlie Economic Value of Bees and Tlieir Products 



The discussion of the above subject may be made to em- 

 brace such an immense scope that it would be useless to try to 

 point out more than a few of the leading questions Involved la 

 It. Being adverse to long essays myself, knowing also, by 

 past experience, that essays, In a meeting like this, are only 

 needed to introduce the subject, I will make my remarks very 

 short. 



In the consideration of this question, I would prefer to 

 have had the bees left out, by the committee who ascribed 

 this subject to mo, for I confess that I cannot see any actual, 

 direct economic value in the bees themselves, but only In- 

 directly, through their products of honey and beeswax, and 

 still more indirectly, through their action as pollen-carriers, 

 upon the bloom of our domestic trees, plants and shrubs, to 

 help fertilization, and thereby increase the yield of our farms, 

 orchards and gardens. The discussion of this, it seems to me, 

 should come under a defiferent head. 



The economic use of honey and its demand as an article 

 of daily use in the household have greatly lessened since sugar 

 has been produced cheaply and has become a part of the regu- 

 lar diet of every family. Honey, centuries ago, used to be the 

 only sweet that was produced in abundance, and it filled many 

 a purpose which is now fulfilled much more plentifully by 



sugar. To-day honey should take the second place In price as 

 well as in equality of demand and consumption were it not for 

 its superiority in flavor. But although it takes but a com- 

 paratively small place in the enormous consumption of sweets, 

 it is still the leader in price, for It is far above the other 

 sweets as an unprepared or raw article of diet, manipulated 

 only by the skill of Nature's chemistry. Evidently the choice 

 article, the high-grade honey, will always keep its price far 

 above that of all manufactured sweets. CD 



But Nature's laboratory does not confine itself to one 

 grade, and we have much honey which must needs compete on 

 a level with the sweets of commerce, and it is for the sale of 

 these grades that the bee-keeper is most In need of creating 

 an increase of demand. In other words, it is most Important 

 for us to increase the economic value of the lowest grades of 

 honey, by finding new channels for them, creating new uses. 



In tobacco manufacturing, in candy-making, in the 

 medicinal and veterinary uses, In baking, In brewing, in wine 



C. p. Dadant. 



and vinegar making, new markets have been opened, but we 

 need still more uses for the product, for if we can find a ready 

 sale for the cheapest grades of honey harvested In the apiary, 

 the high grades will no longer drag on our markets. It is on 

 this part of the economy of the apiary that more suggestions 

 are needed. 



In the Bulletin of the Society of " La Somme," which I 

 received from France yesterday, I saw an article which has a 

 bearing upon the question. A new use for honey has been 

 discovered by a Mr. Poulet, who has succeeded in employing 



