1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



291 



Crop and Market Report 



Compiled by M. G. Dadant 



Peculiar conditions have confronted beekeepers in 

 many sections of the country this spring, conditions 

 which are hard to meet, even by the experienced bee- 

 keeper who has seen many ups and downs. 



A mild winter brought the bees out in fine condition, 

 but so short of honey that feeding became necessary, in 

 many instances, from the first examination in the spring. 



Then when the bees were building up, even abnormally 

 early, in good shape, a heavy freeze came which de- 

 stroyed all early bloom. Early bloom of fruits, dande- 

 lion, locust, etc., is depended upon in many sections of the 

 middle west as the proper stimulation for getting the bees 

 into best condition for clover to follow. 



This period of honey dearth has been followed by 

 spotted rains; that is, some sections are wet while others 

 have been dry. In the last two weeks, rains have become 

 more general, but too late to insure much surplus from 

 clover in the central west, though possibly hopeful build- 

 ers for fall bloom. 



The honey harvest of the middle west, therefore, will 

 not be large for the clover crop, and this applies as well 

 to the East, although there are spotted regions where the 

 bees are storing a surplus. 



In the Southeast the crop has been neither large nor 

 small. Early Texas bloom was short, but conditions are 

 improving and have been improving for the past month. 



The inter-mountain territory will likely have a good 

 crop, though the web-worm moth is again working on the 

 alfalfa. 



Southern California reports the poorest crop, and pros- 

 pects for years, while northern California seems to be 

 faring better. 



HONEY ON HAND 



There is still a large supply of the 1920 crop on hand 

 and it is moving very slowly. In Arizona and New Mex- 

 ico a bulk of the crop had not moved on June 1, though 

 much of it was being offered at 6 cents per pound for 

 amber alfalfa. Heavy freight rates, competition of the 

 imported honey, lack of exportation, low price of sugar, 

 and general tendency of the public not to buy anything 

 more than necessary, are all contributing causes. 



Certainly the bulk of the new crop will be available 

 long before the old stocks are disposed of. 



The general feeling, however, seems to be optomistic, 

 with the hope that there will be an upward tendency and 

 stabilization at a better figure sometime in the fall or 

 early winter. 



GOVERNMENT HONEYBEE REPORT MAY 1 



The Government honeybee report for May shows that 

 the winter loss for 1920-21 was but 8. .5 per cent, as 

 against 14 per cent in 1919-20. 



The condition of colonies was 97 per cent of normal, as 

 against only 84 per cent in 1919, same date, and the con- 

 dition of honey plants was almost exactly the same as on 

 the same date last year. This honey plant condition has, 

 however, greatly changed since the report was issued, and 

 in our opinion, should now be placed much lower. Freez- 

 ing of early bloom and lack of moisture in many localities 

 being the contributing causes. 



ONTARIO REPORT MAY 1 



Twenty thousand colonies were reported upon for the 

 white honey crop in Ontario. It shows an average winter 

 loss of 2.3 per cent, with very little honey left in the 

 hands of the producers. Prospects seem to be above the 

 average in most sections of the Province. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 



We can show woefully small exports of honey in the 

 months of March and April, which have just been made 

 public. The imports for March were 200,000 pounds, and 

 the exports only 100,000 pounds. In April the exports 

 and imports balanced each other at 100,000 pounds. This 

 gives an idea of why honey is not moving better, for in 



1919 we exported over nine million pounds, and even in 



1920 nearly two million pounds. 



Besides a minimum export, much more honey is coming 

 in. Markets are having to be created for this honey 

 within our own boundaries. 



CALIFORNIA STATISTICS 



Mr. E. H. Tucker, of the First National Bank of Los 

 Angeles and the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank, 

 acting as their statistician, estimates that California 

 produces 15 per cent of the honey of the United States. 

 Between 70 and 90 per cent of this is marketed outside 

 the State. Of all honey sold outside the State of produc- 

 tion, from one-third to one-half comes from California. 



His figures, based upon those of the Chief of the Field 

 Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, are for 

 a production in the United States in 1920 of 250 million 

 pounds of honey and 210 million pounds in 1919. Strange 

 that 1920 census figures are already available for 38 

 States and that they show a total production of only 40 

 million pounds. Do the city apiaries unreported make up 

 this huge discrepancy? 



PRICE PROSPECTS, ETC. 



Contrary to the expectations of some of our best sta- 

 tisticians, sugar continues to decline, being quoted in New 

 York on June 15 at 6 cents per pound for granulated, 

 with further declines probable, oviang to the weakness 

 of the raw stocks. 



Moreover, exchange has again dipped down, the high 

 mark of $4.00 for pound sterling having been reached in 

 May. Naturally there will be a reticence on the part of 

 other countries to buy, as long as the rate is so unfav- 

 orable against them. 



The desire on the part of some producers to bend their 

 energies this year for increase, owing to low prices, was 

 partly thwarted by their not wanting to purchase hives, 

 etc., at the high prices. Whether the price declines came 

 in time to allow them to reconsider is problematical. 



All in all, the outlook would not, on the face of it, ap- 

 pear rosy. Honey, like other farm products, went 

 through its deflation all at once. The general belief is 

 that all farm products will gradually seek a stable and 

 more remunerative level with fall and winter. Should not 

 honey be expected to undergo the same changes? We 

 hope so. 



In the meantime, energetic efforts cannot be in vain. 

 No chance should be lost to sell honey, locally. To push 

 its value as a food, as a sweet, and every agency or or- 

 ganization which has for its aim the popularization and 

 the sale of honey should be gotten behind and pushed. 

 We have passed through a period when honey sold itselfi 

 when the producer and seller set the price. We are now 

 watching the buyer set the price or refuse to buy. All 

 the more reason for us to push our product and help 

 create the demand. 



