THE AMERICAN APICULTUIilST. 



127 



NU.MBEUSIX. 



K. L. Tayi.ok. 



Honey-trusts and honey-markets. 



Much is said in tlu'so latter times about 

 coMibiuatioiis and trusts and corners for 

 tlie control lini;- of the niarkots ; and honey- 

 producers have caujiht tiie contagion and 

 are nervously contrivin<i some way to Ueep 

 U|) if po>sible tile prices of their product. 

 But I fear they are as certain of disap- 

 pointment as were those who songiit El- 

 dorado and the Fountain of Youth. The 

 sugar trust and the oil trust can control, 

 to some extent, the market prices of tlie 

 articles in wliich they trallic because the 

 refining of those articles is in few hands, 

 so tew that they are comparatively easily 

 named, numtieretl and brouglit into com- 

 bination, and wlien combined an easy su- 

 pervision is had of the business doings of 

 each member, but the honey-producers 

 are numbered by the ten thousand great 

 and small, and the "great" are but a small 

 fraction of the whole. 



When tlie farmers, the producers of 

 wheat, succeed in llxing the price of that 

 commodity so as to yield them a fair re- 

 turn, tlien beekeepers may hope to do 

 something in the way of selling honey at 

 an artificial price. No, not even then ; be- 

 cause in the production and use of honey 

 there are certain peculiarities wliicii do 

 not attach to the production and use of 

 wheat. Wheat is a staple and cannot well 

 be dispensed with l)y consumers. Honey is 

 a luxury and is really necessary in but 

 limitetl qualities. Anartilicial price even if 

 it were not a higli price would greatly cur- 

 tail consumption. The name would con- 

 demn it. The less said even aboutahoney- 

 trnst the better. Again, where wheat is 

 produced, it is generally the crop that the 

 larmers depend upon mainly for their rev- 

 enue — they make their money out of it, — 

 they know the cost of it, and are careful 

 to get the very highest price [)ossii)le; l)Ut 

 in the view ot small honey-producers tiieir 

 honey costs nothing, what they set for it 

 is clear gain. It goes easy and they ac- 

 cept thankfully what is first offered. And, 

 moreover, while wheat may be safely 

 hoarded, and the owner with his wheat 

 in the granary is content, honey in the 

 hands .of the unskilled is perishable, and 

 the uninformed proilucer is nervous about 

 it until lie is rid of it. 



And there are other difticulties to be en- 

 countered. Honey differs very greatly in 

 quality and in the manner in which it lias 

 been handled, and it is no easy matter to 

 safely pass upon its comparative value 

 unless one knows that it is honestly 



packed. Who can be found competent to 

 grade and fix tlie price proper IVm- each 

 quality? And tiieii consider that at the 

 prices heretofore ruling as fixed by tlie 

 law of supply and demand the market has 

 been supplied from the beginning to the 

 end of the year with scarcely an exception. 

 What would be the result if prices wei'e 

 enlianced arbitrarily? It seems to me the 

 inevitai)le outcome would l)e that the 

 crops jiroduccd would not be consumed 

 unless tliat action were supplemented by 

 some other line of eflbrt which of itself 

 without the arlntrary action would en- 

 hance the price naturally. But it is not 

 necessary to dwell upon this point. The 

 wliole scheme is visionary in the extreme. 

 But even if that scheme could be made 

 successful thercf is a better way. I see no 

 reason to complain of the prices that have 

 riileil heretofore. I do not object to the 

 giving away of their honey by neighbor- 

 ing beekeepers if they choose that way 

 of doing business, nor even to their sell- 

 ing it at half price if they are willing to 

 do so. When I, getting full prices for my 

 honey, can not compete with him who sells 

 his honey at half price, I shall cheerfully 

 yield him the field and rejoice with those 

 who rejoice over cheap honey. Indeed 

 when I consider that honey is a luxury, 

 and not a very cheap one to consumers, 

 and how few there are comparatively who 

 use it as food, I am surprised that the 

 prices of honey have been so well main- 

 tained. The cost of producing honey is 

 constantly decreasing. We are adopting 

 new methods and learning economy of 

 time. We get less for honey than formerly 

 but it costs less. When we come to be 

 able to winter our bees on natural stores 

 safely and well, and to prevent at will the 

 swarming fever in the bees, the cost of 

 honey will be again considerably de- 

 creased. The problem will surely solve 

 itself. When our present methotl of dis- 

 posing of our honey fails to yield us a fair 

 profit we shall be driven to the cultivation 

 of our lioiiie markets and in other ways to 

 increase the number of the consumers. So 

 it is seen we have two ways of escape 

 from unprofitable prices, viz. : lessening 

 the cost of production and increasing the 

 number of consumers. Perhaps not one 

 in ten of our population ever eat honey 

 as food. Tills swarm of non-consumers of 

 honey everywhere about us presents a 

 rich harvest ripe for the sickle of the 

 honey-producer. This harvest will be 

 gathered when the necessity for it is felt. 

 Many ways to assist in this work will oc- 

 cur to every beekeeper, and in conclusion 

 I will call attention to a single one. We 

 should give more attention to the better 

 distribution of our product. 



