1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



189 



production of Fruits and sugars, and 

 these combined, at their present \o\\' 

 prices, to a great extent, have sup- 

 planted honey, and form the princi- 

 pal table-luxuries of the people. 



It is a rule, founded in economy, 

 that the human family will use and 

 subsist upon the cheaf)est commoditi- 

 es, if the cheaper commodities will 

 meet the ends in view. And this rule 

 applies with unusual force at a time 

 like this, when there is a stringency 

 in money matters. 



If Mr. Doolittle will reflect for a 

 moment, he will remember that theie 

 has been a gradual decline in prices, 

 of nearly all kinds of products since 

 1874. Wheat, corn, pork, beef, pota- 

 toes and other farm products have de- 

 clined to an extent that is almost 

 alarming, and we should not be sur- 

 prised to see honey in the wake. 



And there is still another rule, 

 founded in economy, that has its in- 

 fluence on the price of honey. Hon- 

 ey is a luxury, and when men are in 

 the straits, financially, they curtail 

 expense, and the luxuries are the first 

 to be dispensed with. 



It is not ray purpose in this article 

 to say anything with references to my 

 views as to the cause of the present 

 financial depression, but we can say- 

 that it is very desirable to beekeepers 

 that we have an era of prosperity — 

 an era that will place within the reach 

 of all the real luxuries of life. When 

 this time comes, honey will again he 

 sought after as an article of consump- 

 tion, and the good old day of long ago 

 will in a measure be restored. I say 

 in a measure, for I do not believe 

 with the increased production of sug- 

 ar and fruits, which are so easily 

 turned into marmalade.-;, jellies, and 



other luxuries, that honey will ever 

 again be in as good demand for table 

 use as in day gone by. 



I usually sell my honey at home 

 and in neighboring towns, and the 

 demand is always graded by the sup- 

 ply of fruit, and the ability of my 

 friends to buy- A few years ago 

 (1885) my crop was the largest I ever 

 had, but the fruit crop in my section 

 was a failure, and the entire crop 

 went off at fine prices before cold 

 weather. 



Last year my crop was meilium, 

 but the fruit crop was large, and the 

 result is, i have several hundred 

 pounds of nice white honey still on 

 hand. 



Notwithstanding the low prices and 

 comparatively small demand for hon- 

 ey, I do not mean to give up bee- 

 keeping ! Neither do I believe that 

 Mr. Doolittle will give it up. The 

 value of a product is not measured 

 alone by the dollars and cents it will 

 bring, but by the buying capacity of 

 what it does bring. Twenty years 

 ago, when we were getting fancy 

 prices for our honey, we were paying 

 the same kind of prices for what we 

 bought. At that time we paid at 

 least one dollar per bushel for wheat, 

 and other things in proportion, and 

 now it will not take a greater number 

 of pounds of honey to buy a bushel of 

 wheat than then. Of course, I mean 

 generally speaking. 



From what has been seen ^from the 

 above), we as bee-keepers should not 

 bemoan our fate alone, as to low prices, 

 but should exercise that broad sym- 

 pathy that will extend to all classes 

 suffering from the same cause. 



Sueedville, Tenu. 



