1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



339 



The economic use of honey and its 

 demand as an article of daily use in 

 the household have greatly lessened 

 since sugar has been produced cheap- 

 ly and has become a part of the regu- 

 lar diet of every family. Houey, 

 centuries ago, used to be the only 

 sweet that was produced in abundance, 

 and it filled many a purpose which is 

 now fulfilled much more plentifully 

 by sugar. Today honey should take 

 the second place in price as well as in 

 equality of demand and consumption 

 were it not for its superiority in flavor. 

 But although it takes but a compara- 

 tively small place in the enormous 

 consumption of sweets, it is still the 

 leader in price for it is far above the 

 other sweets as an unprepared or raw 

 article of diet, manipulated only by 

 the skill of Nature's chemistry. Evi- 

 dently the choice article, the high 

 grade honey, will always keep its 

 price far above that of all manufactur- 

 ed sweets. 



But Nature's labratory does not con- 

 fine itself to one grade and we have 

 much honey which must needs com- 

 pete on a level with the sweets of 

 commerce, and it is for the sale of 

 these grades that the bee keeper is 

 most in need of creating an increase 

 of demand. In other words, it is most 

 important for us to increase the econ- 

 omic value of the lowest grades of 

 honey by finding new channels for 

 them, creating new ones. 



In tobacco manufacturing, in candy 

 making, in the medicinal and veteri- 

 nary uses, in baking, in brewing, in 

 wine and vinegar making, new mar- 

 kets have been opened, but we need 

 still more uses for the product for if 

 we can find a ready sale for the cheap- 

 er grades of honey harvested in the 



apiary the higher grades will no long- 

 er drag on our markets. It is on this 

 part of the economy of the apiary that 

 more suggestions are needed. 



In the Bulletin of the Society of 

 "La Somme," which I received from 

 France yesterday, I saw an article 

 which has a bearing upon the ques- 

 tion, A new use for houey has been 

 discovered by Mr. Poulet who has 

 succeeded in employing it in the man- 

 ufacture of chocolate, obtaining a most 

 savory article of this substance by the 

 use of honey with the cocoa. The ad- 

 vantage of this discovery it is claimed 

 lies in being able to produce a better 

 article at lower prices than the choco- 

 late now manufactured. This disco v- 

 ei'y seems to have created quile a sen- 

 sation in the above mentioned associa- 

 tion and a committee was appointed to 

 investigate the matter in view of tak- 

 ing steps to establish a chocolate fac- 

 tory. 



Is it necessary for us to mention 

 the economic uses of beeswax ? This 

 article has so long been needed for so 

 many different purposes in the arts as 

 well as in medicine, in housekeeping 

 and in manufacturing, its peculiar 

 properties are so unique and its needs 

 so well established, that all the cheap 

 products that have been brought for- 

 ward have been unable, in spite of 

 adulteration and deception, to affect 

 its price or the demand for it in its 

 pure state. Beeswax never goes a beg- 

 ging and even if the prices fluctuate 

 according to the greater or less pro- 

 duction, it always commands as ready 

 a sale at or about market quotations 

 as the most staple products of the 

 world. 



Our attention is therefore most em- 

 phatically needed in the direction of 

 the economic value of honey, and no 

 pains should be spared by the bee 

 keepers to find new channels for the 

 use of it. C. P. Dadant. 



