THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



155 



ANSWER BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



Wliy not propose to discontinue 

 the honey business altogether? It 

 would be as possible to regulate the 

 one as the other. " Strained" 

 hone}" has been in use more than a 

 thousand years ; and there are men 

 in tlie mountain counties of Ken- 

 tucky now swashing honey out of 

 the combs, brood, pollen and all, by 

 the barrel. The honey machine 

 gives us liquid hone}^ in its purity ; 

 why then should we want to get 

 rid of it? Those persons who 

 can not produce honey at present 

 prices had better retire and tr}'' 

 something else. I am selling my 

 honey at a price above other com- 

 modities. 



ANSWER BY R. R. RDSSELL. 



If the extractor had never been 

 invented, beekeepers in general 

 would have made just as much 

 money without it. It has had the 

 effect to lessen the price of honey 

 to the minimum by increasing the 

 supply perhaps beyond the legiti- 

 mate demand. 



The extractor comes under the 

 general law of all labor-saving ma- 

 chines and tends to benefit the 

 consumer rather than the producer. 

 However, it has come to stay like 

 all important inventions and to 

 kick against it would be like kick- 

 ing against the wind. It will 

 never be laid aside by general con- 

 sent, therefore I would use it if it 

 seemed to be for my individual in- 

 terest so to do. 



ANSWERS BY J. E. POND. 



I have long been of the opinion 

 that the use of the extractor has 

 been detrimental to the best inter- 

 est of. the honey producer. It has 

 caused rivalry between competitors 

 in the matter of obtaining the 

 largest surplus, and as a conse- 

 (juence much unripe honey has been 

 put upon the market, of course 



with bad effect. The extractor, 

 however, I consider the best friend 

 of the beekeeper, and one which 

 he cannot do without, but it must 

 be used with discretion ; and to ob- 

 tain the ver}^ best results in con- 

 nection with the obtaining of sur- 

 plus comb honey, I do not think 

 it would be good policy to discon- 

 tinue the use of the extractor en- 

 tirely, but must insist that unless 

 it is used with judgment it will 

 greatly injure the business. 



I do not think either that the 

 price of honey would be affected 

 at all either hy the use or non-use 

 in a respectable way of the ex- 

 tractor, neither do I think if it 

 should be laid away by general 

 consent, the price of honey would 

 advance. As yet, honey is consid- 

 ered a luxury, and as such its price 

 will fluctuate greatl3^ At the pres- 

 ent time, or in fact at any time, 

 we must expect that the same laws 

 and rules will apply to the sale of 

 honey, that apply to the produc- 

 tion and consumption of any other 

 article of merchandise, and the 

 sooner we realize that fact, and 

 confine ourselves to the task of 

 producing it the most economi- 

 call}^ and putting it upon the mar- 

 ket in the best possible shape, the 

 sooner shall we put it upon a sound 

 basis as a staple article. As yet, 

 the world as a whole knows but 

 little of the value of honey as an 

 article of food, or as a medicament. 

 Our bee journals are doing all they 

 can in this direction, but with the 

 lack of support they find from 

 those chiefly interested, viz., the 

 beekeepers themselves, it is a won- 

 der to me that the}^ do not get dis- 

 gusted and quit publishing their 

 papers. In this matter 1 speak 

 whereof I know, for I iiave had 

 some little experience in this very 

 direction. My advice is, stick to 

 the extractors, but use them with 

 judgment and discretion. 



