58 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST. 



What shall the remedy be? 



J. A. Buchanan. 



On the subject, " How to increase 

 the product of the hives to secure tlie 

 most iioney and regulate and control 

 the price, our friend A. C. Tyrrel at- 

 tempts to give us a bird's-eye view 

 of the cahimities about to befall tlie 

 agricultural and apicultural pursuits 

 of this country. My nature is such 

 that I never look into the dim vista of 

 the future with evil forebodings. Met- 

 aphorically si)eaking, we need not 

 cross the stream before we get in 

 sight of it. 



There has been and always will be 

 a way out of the wilderness. 



Speaking of the arid lands of the 

 West which may soon be converted in- 

 to vast alfalfa fields and made to 

 blossom as the rose — and yield honey 

 by the huncb-eds of tons — is already 

 causing, in INIr. Tyrrel's mind, vis- 

 ions of " bitter disappointment and 

 abject poverty" to those who have 

 unluckily drifted into beekeeping as 

 specialists. 



In view of this greatly increased 

 quantity of honey coming from the 

 alfalfa fields, we are persuaded that 

 tliere will be no possibility of holding 

 prices of honey where tliey will jus- 

 tify its production. 



First, I will not take alarm before 

 T see this great output of honey on 

 the market; and if it does come, the 

 price will be low, and I shall be glad 

 of that as it will be so cheap we east- 

 ern people can better afford to buy 

 honey than to pi'oduce it. If bees 

 will gather two to four hunch'ed 

 pounds of honey per colony in those 

 alfalfa fields, the specialists there can 

 do well at raising honey at Irom 

 three to five cents per pound, and at 

 such prices it will not pay us small 

 fry of the eastern states to attem|)t 

 competition b}^ keeping bees ; it would 

 not [iay. 



AVe can spend our summers in the 

 hammock in the shade awaiting our 

 shipments of choice alfalfa honey at 



three cents per pound or two pounds 

 for a nickel. 



No, sir, we will not mind being 

 driven to the wall when the drive 

 brings to us such a " soft snap." 

 Why, if any one will guarantee to 

 furnish me iioney, even choice ex- 

 tracted, at five cents per i)ound, I 

 will keep no more bees, and if any 

 country will produce such alarming 

 quantities as has been represented, 

 tliere is plenty of money in produc- 

 ing it at this price. 



Our fraternity has taken alarm at 

 the rapidly disappearing basswood 

 forests, claiming that soon we shall 

 have none of these great honey-pro- 

 ducing trees. 



I do not care how soon this source 

 of honey may be cut off. 



My reasons are because of the ten- 

 dency of basswood honey to injure 

 my trade. I never sold a dollar's 

 worth of this kind of honey to a cus- 

 tomer who did not claim that the 

 honey had a peculiar taste that they 

 did not like, and this injures any deal- 

 er's trade. Not so with white clover, 

 orange blossom. Mangrove or the fin- 

 est grades of California honey ; these 

 give perfect satisfaction to all and 

 more is wanted. 



Now, if alfalfa honey is as good as 

 white clover, and the sup[)ly of bass- 

 wood is cut oflf by the destruction of 

 that timber, we shall welcome the 

 change and promise no glut in the 

 market for the larger yields of alfalfa. 



Mr. T. says, '' What has been will 

 be, and that no more honey will be 

 consumed next year than during the 

 past year." If so, this is the fault of 

 the honey-producers, in that tiiey do 

 not make an effort to create a better 

 market. 



Now, do not tell me it cannot be 

 done. I know more than this. 



Honey, it is true, is something of a 

 luxury ; people are not persistent in 

 hunting it up to make purchases ; the 

 producer must push the sales by going 

 direct to the people and taking or- 

 ders. 



