THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



375 



yet contributes in tliis manner indirectly to 

 increase the amount of lioney produced. It 

 increases tiie productive powers of produc- 

 tive labor by leaving It at liberty to confine 

 itself to its proper employment — attention 

 to the bees; and the combs are thus built 

 straighter and bees winter better, by means 

 of the labor of the man whose business is 

 most remote' from tlie hive. 



Kegarding the exportation of honey, I 

 have found it not only feasible, but profit- 

 able. Germany, Austria and Russia, take 

 from tliis country large quantities of si rain- 

 ed and extracted honey; in fact this class 

 of customers take about all tiie honey re- 

 ceived at our ports from Cuba, San Domingo, 

 Mexico and South America. This honey is 

 generally bought and sold in bond at about 

 85c. per gallon, gold, our government duly 

 is 20c. gold per gallon, and as the freight to 

 Hamburg is only about 23^c. per gallon by 

 sail, we are able to deliver West India or 

 South American honey to our German pat- 

 rons, (who have no duty to pay) fully 20c. 

 per gallon, currency, less than we can de- 

 liver the same honey to our next door neigh- 

 bor. This class of honey is used princi- 

 pally by foreign brewers, who recognize the 

 important fact that honey contains more 

 saccharine and dextrine than any other sub- 

 stance, and is therefore considered at 85 to 

 90c. per gallon as the best and cheapest sub- 

 stitute for malt known. Cane sugars con- 

 tain albuminous principles, and are there- 

 fore considered impure from a brewer's 

 point of view. Extracted honey and comb 

 honey, in our neat little American surplus 

 boxes and crates, have been introduced into 

 England and France to a limited extent, 

 and there is no doubt that by cultivation, 

 these countries will become our best cus- 

 tomers, because the superiority of our honey 

 is universally acknowledged. 



Adulteration, which has invaded every 

 branch of commerce, is in many instances 

 practiced in obedience to the wishes and 

 tastes of the public, as in the practice of 

 coloring cheese and butter with annatto, 

 potted meats, and fish with bole armenian, 

 peas and pickles with copper, sugar confec- 

 tionery with various pigments, and cooked 

 corned-beef with salt peter. Ever since the 

 earliest days of the American Bee Jouk- 

 NAL, bee-keepers themselves have asked 

 the question through its columns how to 

 prevent honey from candying. Dealers and 

 consumers also have shown such a prefer- 

 ence for translucent honey that often, not- 

 withstanding the assurances that crystaliza- 

 tioH was an indication of its purity, candied 

 honey has proved a dead investment on the 

 hands of retailers. Thus it is to meet what 

 seems to be an imperative demand that in 

 some cases honey is procured and other 

 substances necessarily incorporated in order 

 to prevent granulation. 



One word about surplus honey stored^in 

 combs made upon artificial comb founda- 

 tions, and that is, ever since their first intro- 

 duction, I have bonght and sold all of this 

 kind of honey that has come in my way, 

 and in behalf of the house I now represent, 

 1 will state that for all surplus honey stored 

 in such thin foundation combs as Mr. Nellis 

 or Mr. Isham manufactures, and secured 

 after the plan adopted by the latter gentle- 

 man, and stored in his improvedcaps, (i. e. 

 wood, top, bottom, and ends) we will always 

 pay the highest market price. 



My experience in selling surplus honey 



in this style of combs is perhaps as exten- 

 sive as that of any one else, and I have 

 never yet had a customer object to it. I 

 think now as 1 did four years ago, that 

 these foundations will solve the problem of 

 safely transporting honey in the combs, and 

 thus do away with the necessity of repack- 

 ing it into glass jars. 



J. H. Nellis. — The disposal of products is 

 the right theme for a National society, and 

 he hoped it would be thoroughly discussed. 



N. N. Betsinger said he had sold for years 

 to dealers in Syracuse; but this year he 

 had sold to Messrs. Thurber, and thought it 

 so much better to sell in bulk. Finding a 

 ready sale for all one could raise made it so 

 much better than to sell to several grocers 

 in a smaller town, in a kind of retail way. 



J. H. Nellis.— Large bee-keepers will al- 

 ways seek a wholesale market; but smaller 

 producers, in far-off districts, must sell to 

 the home trade, and that can be infinitely 

 increased. To tliis end local societies 

 should be organized, and the best interests 

 of producers consulted. 



L. C. ttoot.— There is but little danger of 

 over-stocking. Sale can be easily found for 

 all that can be produced. As the supply in- 

 creases, large producers must have a wliole- 

 sale market. We want to encourage whole- 

 sale men to take hold of the matter and 

 consult their wants. 



N. N. Betsinger.— Some were so foolish as 

 to distribute their honey to several grocer- 

 ies in a town and thus run against them- 

 selves, often losing 5c. per pound on their 

 crop. 



Rev. J. W. Shearer said we must follow 

 the laws of trade. Get the people to use it, 

 and call for it. Then retailers will demand 

 it of producers. The price is now about 

 the same as tine syrups and large quantities 

 can be sold at such prices. We need to 

 educate the people by the popular press. 

 Overstocking the market then will be im- 

 possible. Assure the people that they are 

 getting a pure article and there will be no 

 end to the popular demand. 



Dr. Worrall.— It is a delicious and health- 

 ful article of food; what is better than rice 

 and honey for children, and grown-up per- 

 sons, too? We must call attention to it. 

 Educate the people concerning it, and thus 

 create a demand. 



The convention then adjourned to 2 p. ra.. 

 when the following report was receivea 

 and the time asked for allowed: 



Your committees on the best means of 

 promoting and advancing the interests of 

 our Society would recommend the organi- 

 zation of local societies, and as a further 

 incentive to the organization of tiiese local 

 societies, we would recommend an insur- 

 ance feature therewith. That in addition 

 to the annual fee of one dollar now provid- 

 ed by our constitution, that every member 

 of the Society upon being notified of the 

 death of a member shall forward to the 

 Secretary the sum of one dollar, and that 

 such fund when so collected shall be paid 

 over to the beneficiary dnsignated by the 

 deceased member while living. 



The time alloted your conuuittee will not 

 permit a full written report at this time, we 

 would therefore recommend that your com- 

 mittee be continued until the next regular 

 annual meeting to prepare plans, etc. 



We would further recommend that the 

 Secretary and Treasurer be required to exe- 



