372 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tumn of 1876, 1 received so many gloomy 

 letters oil this topic, with sucli vivid illus- 

 trations as the tleluge from California and 

 our own repleted markets, that 1 must say, 

 my own usually stable knees began to show 

 nervous symptoms, and so for the past year 

 I have been studyina; and experimenting 

 even with more care, that I miglu be assured 

 whether these forebodings were real or 

 groundless. 



Let us give brief attention then, to the 

 question of "Marketing Honey." I am the 

 more ready to discuss this, as the points 

 here set fortii must needs strike against the 

 facts gained by the wide and varied (,'xppri- 

 eiice of my brother apiarists here present, 

 who so well and fully represent the apiarian 

 intelligence of our country, and will thus be 

 criticised so that we shall be able, very 

 likely, to glean the real facts, if not here set 

 forth, especially as we shall have the fur- 

 ther benefit of the opinions of our best in- 

 formed dealers. 



Of course all here are too well informed 

 to suppose that we can avoid the unchang- 

 ing law of supply and demand. If honey 

 f)roduction continues to increase as it has of 

 ate, and the demand remains stationary, of 

 course there must be a rapid decline in 

 prices. 



That a pursuit so enjoyable, involving so 

 little labor and so profitable as it is, even at 

 the reduced rates of 1876, will not continue 

 to win patrons, we have no reason to believe 

 or afiirin. We must then conclude that the 

 demand must be increased, or else the price 

 will surely continue to decline. Hence, we 

 have only to conclude which horn of this 

 dilemma, candor will impel us to take. 



Is it true then, that our honey market is 

 now at its maximum, or on the other hand 

 is it capable of easy stimulation? 



I believe and think I can show, that not a 

 tithe of the honey is consumed in the United 

 States that should or might be. 



1 need not show here that sugar in some 

 form, either crystalyzed, or in form of syrup 

 or honey, is a necessary food element. The 

 fact of placental sugar in the blood of the 

 mammalian fetus; of liver sugar in the 

 blood of the more mature fetus, and car- 

 nivorous animals; the presence of sugar in 

 milk, the typical food as given by Nature 

 herself; and our positive need of sugar or 

 food which is soon converted into sugar, as 

 ■dsine qua nan of health, or even life, as 

 has been repeatedly demonstrated by physi- 

 ologists ; all prove the great importance of 

 sugar as an aliment 



Buc it has been shown by chemists that 

 syrups are so adulterated as to be very ex- 

 pensive, even when very cheap and that not 

 infrequently are even poisonous, and ex- 

 tremely unsafe as articles of food. For evi- 

 dence on this point, I would refer you to a 

 paper by my able and distinguished col- 

 league. Dr. It. C. Kedzie, to be found in the 

 1874 Report of the Michigan State Board of 

 Health, pages 7.5 to 79. Sugar too is often 

 adulterated, and thus expensive, even if it 

 would be eaten in sufficient quantities to 

 meet the demand of our bodies which is not 

 probable. We see then, that honey, as a 

 form of sugar which we may know to be 

 genuine and reliable, is a real desideratum 

 as an article of food. If, then, the honey 

 producers can take measures to increase the 

 consunipt on of honey, they are assurely act- 

 ing the part of public benefactors, as they 

 are doing that which shall directly conserve 

 the public health. 



But it is with commercial syrups that 

 honey must and will ever be in most active 

 competition; but it is i?asy to show by a tew 

 simple experiments, that most of our com- 

 mercial syrups, if not really poisonous, are 

 so contaminated with filth as to be revolting. 

 To bring then to our neiglibor's lips the pure, 

 wholesome, delicious nectar, right from the 

 hive, is certainly a good work, whether he 

 realizes it or no. 



But is it possible to stimulate this de- 

 mand? 1. Is the public attention directed 

 to the merits of honey as an article of diet? 

 2. When its merits are known, is it always 

 easy to procure it? 3. Is it possible to cre- 

 ate a taste for honey, where none now ex- 

 ists? 4. What is the policy in the premises? 



Let us proceed to consider these points iu 

 order. 



1st. Is the public attention directed to the 

 merits of honey as an article of food. 



President Abbott of our College tells me 

 that in Switzerland it is the rare exception 

 to sit down to a meal at which honey is not 

 served. I have never seen honey on a hotel 

 table in the United States, though I have 

 traveled in more than half the States, and 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



Again, is honey to be found even in a 

 small fraction of the groceries of our coun- 

 try in its various forms of comb and ex- 

 tracted, ever ready to invite attention and 

 solicit purchases; and even when present, 

 is it where people will see it and be at- 

 tracted, or is it quite as often put out of 

 sight, and almost forgotten by the grocer 

 himself? 



Again, granting it a good position, it is so 

 skillfully labelled or placarded, that it will 

 demand attention? My observation— and 

 may I not add yours also— gives an emphatic 

 " no " to all these questions. 



2dly. When people are fond of honey, can 

 they always gratify their desires? Surely 

 not till every grocery and provision store in 

 the land keeps it constantly on hand. But 

 1 believe the majority do not. Thus if there 

 exists a taste and longing for this most 

 luscious of sweets, they can not be satisfied. 



Only last week I visited a city of some 

 6,000 inhabitants, and learned incidentally 

 that only one of nearly a score of grocers, 

 had had any honey for months, and even he 

 only a small lot and that very inferior. I 

 then took pains to inquire of several if they 

 would take some, both iu comb and ex- 

 tracted, when every one said, send it on at 

 once, at your own price. 



Thus in this city, of the many who desire 

 honey, how few can be gratified. This is 

 only an extreme example of what is common 

 in every State in the Union. 



3dly. Is it possible to stimulate a taste for 

 honey and thus create a market where none 

 now exists? 



No enterprising honey producer can doubt 

 this. If we would keep all the grocers in 

 our respective vicinities constantly supplied 

 with honey, whose color or flavor, could but 

 give it general recommendation, would keep 

 tills in such position, style and shape, as to 

 claim the attention and win the admiration 

 of all who see it; keep it in such small jars, 

 or if comb, in such small frames or boxes as 

 to be in easy reach of every jjocket; and 

 last, never give it a possible chance to leak 

 out and besmear the counter and floor and 

 thus disgust the dealer, we would very soon 

 be surprised at the amount consumed iu our 

 own immediate neighborhood. 



