152 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. II, 



6EORGE; W. YORK, - Editor. 



PHBLISHT WT:EKLY BY 



GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 lis Aficliig^an St., - CHICAGO, II.I.. 



fl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 [Bntered at tbe Pos^Offlce at CbicaKO as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



Vol. inVII. CHICAGO, ILL, MAR. II, I89I. No, 10, 



Editorial CQxx)Xjr)ct)i$^ 



SlOTenly Honey Marketing.— While ou South 

 Water street a week or two ago, we saw at a houey commis- 

 sion house a part of a shipment of some TOO pounds of comb 

 honey that had been sent in just as it came from the hives, 

 supers and all. It had not been removed from the supers — 

 simply lifted off the hives and shipt to market. Well, it was 

 a splendid piece of slipshod beekeeping. The honey was of 

 fine quality, but of course it was scarcely salable at any price, 

 while if it had been removed from the supers, the sections 

 nicely cleaned and put into neat shipping cases, it would have 

 brought at least 13 cents per pound. 



Of course, no reader of a bee-paper v/ould be guilty of 

 such a careless, shiftless way of doing things. But no doubt 

 that same bee-keeper — had he been invited to subscribe for a 

 good bee-paper — would have said he couldn't afford it; and 

 yet he could afford to lose a number of dollars on a small 

 shipment of nice honey, just because he didn't know /lotc to 

 prepare it properly for the market ! " Where ignorance is 

 bliss" it may "be folly to be wise," but it is immecsely more 

 profitable to have the wisdom. 



LO'W Prices of Honey, and 'Why.— We take 

 the following paragraphs from Gleanings, on this subject: 



It will be noted in another column that California pro- 

 duced in one year about 42.5 carloads of honey, not including 

 small amounts consumed locally. Arizona and Colorado are 

 coming up rapidly to the front as honey-producing States ; 

 and one of the bee-keepers wrote the other day : " Look out 

 for Colorado when our honey gets on your Eastern markets." 

 With continuous honey-flows from three to six months, is it 

 any wonder that our Western brethren can produce honey 

 cheaply ? Of course, the West has to contend with the 

 freights; but even then, with their 600 or 700 cars of honey 

 that is liable to appear at some seasons of the year, it is not 

 much wonder that prices had to drop some. 



We are in hopes that the new comb [deep-cellj will helu 

 bee-keepers produce honey more cheaply. We shall see. One 

 thing, however, is very gratifying. The fact that such vast 

 amounts are produced and consumed yearly, shows that honey 

 is coming to be more and more a staple article somewhere ; 

 for it Is practically certain that no such amount could have 

 been carried 20 years ago, even in the proportion to the popu- 

 lation at that time. 



One would think from the California report, of over 400 

 carloads of honey in one year, tbe time is near at hand when 

 there will be an enormous over-production of honey. But we 

 don't fear that just yet, for If every State and Territory were 

 to produce 400 carloads of honey in any one year, that would 

 make only about sl.x pounds for each man, woman and child 



in our country I Surely, it would not be a hard matter for 

 each one to consume six pounds of honey, when the average 

 of sugar used in this country is reported to be about 65 

 pounds per capita ! 



But will it pay to increase the production of honey very 

 rapidly, when mvf, in many places, it seems to be a drug on 

 the market ? And the wholesale price is exceedingly low, too 

 — not much above that of the retail price of sugar. Would it 

 not be better to put more effort, for a year or two, in the line 

 of creating a demand for honey among the people, instead of 

 piling up a large supply ahead of the demand ? 



It may be the times have something to do with the de- 

 mand for honey, but just now it doesn't seem to make much 

 difference how low the price is, for in many places few sales 

 can be made even at a losing price. Perhaps when that 

 " promist wave of prosperity " reaches this country, 400 car- 

 loads of honey from each State will be only as a "drop in the 

 bucket I" But let's hope the " wave " will come ahead of the 



honey ! 



•*—* 



Importing Honey, and Adulteration.— We 



have received the following statement from G. B. Lewis Co., 

 of Wisconsin : 



George W. York & Co., Chicago, III. — 



OenUanen : — Referring to your editorial on page 809 of 

 the Dec. 17, 1S96, issue of the American Bee Journal, we 

 beg leave to make a few corrections. Tbe gentleman referred 

 to did not say that the United States does not produce enough 

 honey. He simply said that large quantities were imported 

 from Cuba and Jamaica. 



The firm referred to in your article, further say that they 

 cannot use anything-but pure honey, and that much of what 

 is produced in the United States is adulterated with glucose, 

 hence they cannot use it. They complain especially of honey 

 from the Western States. They do not, however, think that 

 the adulteration is done by the producers, but they are of the 

 opinion that the middle-man is responsible for it. 



Kindly make these corrections on the article, and oblige, 

 Yours truly, G. B. Lewis Co. 



Per C. T. M. 



The editorial in question was in reference to a report that 

 an enterprising Wisconsin firm of bakers had said that the 

 United States could not produce enough honey to supply the 

 demand ; that it was necessary to import it. 



We are glad to receive the correction as given above. But 



we can hardly believe that much of the honey produced in the 



Western States is adulterated by any one. Still, we think 



there is quite a good deal of adulteration going on, and it may 



be it is more extensive than we think. There is no longer any 



question that what bee-keepers need above all things is a good 



National anti-adulteration law. It is Impossible for them to 



compete successfully with glucose at one cent a pound. But 



until a National law is secured, we must all work for stringent 



State laws, which can help much to cripple the adulterators, 



at least in spots. 



*-—^ 



Against Adulteration of Food and Drugs. 



— The following is a copy of the important portions of House 

 Bill No. 192, relating to the adulteration of foods (which in- 

 cludes honey), introduced by Representative Brown, Feb. 9, 

 1897, In the Illinois Legislature : 



A Bill for an Act to Provide Aq.\inst the Adulteration 



OF Food and Drugs and the Manufacture and 



Sale of Either Food or Diu'(is from I.mpek- 



FECTLV DeVELOPT OR DAMGED MATEKI- 



AL.S, AS Standard Articles. 



Section 1.— Be it enacted hy the Penplc a.f the Slate of 

 [lUnois, reiirescntcd In the Qcncral Assembly, That no person 

 shall within this State manufacture for sale, offer for sale or 

 sell any drug or article of food, which is under the ordinary 

 standard, without bearing a label indicating its inferiority, or 

 which Is adulterated within the meaning of this Act. 



Sec. 2.-- (B.) In case of "food:" (I) If any substance or 

 article is offered for sale or sold whose active principles are 

 not developt or only partially so, on which its quality and 



