THE AMERICAN BEE JUURNAL. 



823 



was too much artificial work in bee- 

 keeping. One bee-keeper had in- 

 vented nippers to pull dead bees out 

 of the cells, but live bees would do it 

 better. 



Dr. Mason said that the " big-bugs " 

 of the Convention had been poking 

 fun at tiim for getting only 05 pounds 

 of honey per colony, but they would 

 find it impossible to get an average 

 of 300 pounds in his locality— a city on 

 one side and a wilderness on the 

 other. Small as his average yield 

 was, it was hirger than that of any of 

 his neighbors. He wished that his 

 critics would show Inm how to pro- 

 duce 300 pounds per colony, but the 

 trouble was as Mr. Clarke said, they 

 did not to disclose their secrets. 



Rev. W. F. Clarke wished to ask if 

 formic acid in honey was not the 

 element which gave it its keeping 

 qualities. He pui the question to 

 Prof. Cook. For his own part, he 

 believed that the formic acid was 

 added by the bees in tlie capping pro- 

 cess, which was carried on mainly by 

 the use of their tails— the sting— being 

 the last polishing tool. It was be- 

 cause the formic acid was thus added 

 that honey must be one-third capped 

 to be good, and all capped to be first- 

 rate. 



Prof. Cook thought that no one 

 knew how or when the formic acid 

 was added. He was also of the opin- 

 ion that too much stress was laid on 

 the matter of taste. Few could dis- 

 criminate as thoroughly as had been 

 suggested. 



Mr.C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 read the following on 



THE HONEY MARKET. 



A friend asked me, a few days ago, 

 as many had done before, what the 

 reason was for the low prices of 

 honey, whether, in my estimation, 

 honey would remain cheap, whether I 

 thought bee-keeping was overdone, 

 etc. I admit that these are vital 

 questions for us bee-keepers, and it is 

 very proper that we should consult as 

 to the best modus operandi as to the 

 improvement of our condition and to 

 elevate our business. 



We know from experience that 

 whenever prices are on a level with, 

 or below, the cost of production— no 

 difference whether this is in the line 

 of produce or manufacture— margins 

 are unsatisfactory for producers and 

 manufacturers as well as for dealers. 

 Wheat, corn, pork and barley were 

 very low for a number of years; 

 farming was very unprofitable, and 

 the proportion of failures among 

 grain-dealers and pork-packers was 

 perhaps greater than ever. Bee-keep- 

 ing was perhaps not more satisfactory 

 than farming ; yet, in proportion to 

 its labor and investment, it was far 

 more remunerative, even if the prices 

 of extracted honey ranged between 3 

 cents and 8 cents per pound, and that 

 of comb honey between 6 cents and 12 

 cents per pound. 



It is bad policy to give up, because 

 we find just as many malcontents in 

 other branches, if we look around us, 

 and it is folly to consider ourselves 



privileged characters. To indicate 

 our true position, and how to govern 

 ourselves accordingly, is the object of 

 this essay. 



It is not over-production wliich is 

 troubling us, as there was never so 

 much honey consumed as during the 

 past year ; but still, less was pro- 

 duced. Our crop was a short one in 

 most parts of the country. Now, if 

 values are governed by supply and 

 demand, this question is proper, viz., 

 "What causes the present low prices?" 



The maxim that there is no rule 

 without an exception, may be applied 

 to our case under the rule of supply 

 and demand. The low average value 

 of all produce and manufactures, be- 

 sides the lack of all speculation in our 

 markets, is, in my estimation, the 

 first cause of the depression of the 

 prices of honey. When times become 

 better, i. e., when a general advance 

 in values takes place, prices of honey 

 will advance with the rest. 



The next factor in the depression 

 of prices is adulteration. It is an 

 established fact that extracted honey 

 has become a staple article. A large 

 number of manufacturers nsingsweets 

 have found that pure honey is the 

 best and cheapest sweet they can get. 

 New converts are made daily. For 

 an illustration I will mention a late 

 case of my own. I have sold, for 

 years, an occasional barrel of honey 

 to pork-packers, but only one would 

 buy with something approaching a 

 regulai'ity. He found that his New 

 Orleans molasses, at times, not sweet 

 enough, while the same quantity of 

 honey would ahvays answer for the 

 same cask of pickle. I sold him 50 

 barrels of honey for curing meats, a 

 few weeks ago. Other packers having 

 heard of the purchase, bought a few 

 barrels forexperiment,and oneof them 

 approached me with : " Why didn't 

 you tell me about your honey V" 

 " There will be a great deal more 

 honey-cured hams and honey-cured 

 breakfast bacon in our city next sea- 

 son than during the present one. 

 There is no doubt about it ; and my 

 next experience will be that some 

 drummer from Boston, New York, 

 Philadelphia or Chicago, will be 

 around and sell to my friends his 

 glucosed honey fa cent less per pound 

 than they paid me for pure honey. 

 They will buy, and the following 

 season some one will sav : " Honey 

 is not much sweeter than New Orleans 

 molasses after all." Such has been 

 my experience before ; it will repeat 

 itself. We cannot avoid unfair com- 

 petition, and there is no harm in 

 telling it. Glucose is made to cheat, 

 and there is money in adulteration. 

 Glucose swells the so-called stock of 

 honey on the market, damages the 

 good opinion entertained of honey, 

 in the estimation of consumers, and 

 brings down the price as a natural 

 consequence. There is no use for me 

 to tell you how to meet adulteration, 

 because every one of us is possessed 

 of more or less of selfishness, and apt 

 to pursue his own course under any 

 circumstances. 



There is, perhaps, a third cause for 

 the low price of honey, which should 

 also be mentioned. It is, that verv 



many of our nearest neighbors are 

 not yet aware of the fact that honey 

 is a sugar, and can be substituted for 

 cane-sugar in almost every instance. 

 See that our friends are posted on the 

 suliject ! 



Having shown in the above that 

 the production of and traffic in honey 

 lias its reverses, the same as any 

 otiier branch of business, permit me 

 now to give some points by which we 

 may promote our interests. 



Cleanliness around and about eat- 

 ables makes a good impression upon 

 consumers. We must exercise clean- 

 liness about our apiaries, about our 

 honey, about extractors and extract- 

 ing. Every quality of honey should 

 be kept by itself, as nearly so as is 

 possible, because most of our manu- 

 facturers make a certain grade of 

 goods with a certain flavor with 

 which the taste of their customers has 

 been cultivated ; to lose this flavor 

 means the loss of the custom. I have 

 lost several hard-earned customers 

 because I was unable to supply the 

 same flavor, although with hundreds 

 of barrels of honey on hand. Tliey 

 would resort again to cane-sugar as 

 the only means by which to manufac- 

 ture a regular grade of goods. My 

 latest experience in this direction 

 were my loss of custom for the man- 

 grove honey of Florida. \Vhen my 

 supply was exhausted, it was cane- 

 sugar that took its place in the ma- 

 jority of cases, and it will be hard to 

 regain that custom. 



Honey should stand in open vessels 

 for evaporation when it comes from 

 the extractors, and be thoroughly 

 skimmed before it is barreled or 

 canned. No lumps of comb, wax, or 

 specks of other impurities should 

 remain in the honey, as nothing is 

 more annoying to manufacturers. 

 They make no allowance for want of 

 cleanliness, but refuse the honey. A 

 sale is often spoiled when the honey 

 is put up in whisky barrels. The 

 inside of the staves were charcoaled, 

 and it is almost an impossibility to 

 separate the specks of charcoal from 

 the honey. Clean barrels for honey 

 every time — or shippers must bear the 

 consequences. 



When putting up honey, bee-keep- 

 ers should at once select packages to 

 suit their trade. If their honey is 

 calculated for the wholesale trade, 

 good, strong cypress, oak or poplar 

 barrels are their best and cheapest 

 packages. I prefer barrels to all 

 smaller packages. Other dealers may 

 require half-barrels or kegs for their 

 trade ; but, as stated above, care 

 should be taken by every bee-keeper 

 to have his extracted honey graded, 

 not only according to color, but also 

 according to flavor. I prefer to put 

 up my own small packages to suit my 

 jobbing and retail trade ; these are 

 tin pails of 50, 25, 10, 5 and 3 pounds, 

 and square glass-jars holding 2. 1, % 

 pound and 5 ounces, respectively. I 

 have an excellent retail trade for 

 square glass-jars, for which nothing 

 but the best clover honey will answer 

 the purpose. 



In regard to comb honey, I should 

 say that it must be white and well 

 capped to find a ready sale ; if the 



