1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



423 



Crop and Market Report 



Compiled by M. G. Dadant 



THE CROP COMPARED TO LAST YEAR 



In very few localities do the beekeepers report as large 

 a crop of honey as last year, and this in view of the fact 

 that 1920 was not a bumper crop year. 



New England reports are far from flattering, ranging 

 from 50 per cent of a crop to no crop at all. In New 

 York the crop has been very spotted. We believe, how- 

 ever, that the amount of honey will rank well up to what 

 it was a year ago. The Pennsylvania crop seems to be 

 better than a year ago. New Jersey has a small crop, ns 

 have the Virginias. 



The Carolinas are very short. One of the largest pro- 

 ducers in that section reports only 10 per cent as much 

 honey as last season. Georgia reports are conflicting, but 

 the average would indicate that the crop was some bettor 

 than a year ago, while in Florida the opposite is true, 

 there being not more than 50 to 75 per cent of 1920. 



Kentucky has a fair crop. Tennessee has little honey 

 in the western half, with more in the eastern. Missis- 

 sippi is better than in 1920, since there was a very short 

 crop in 1920. Alabama the same. Louisiana has had a 

 good crop, probably much in excess of 1920. In fact some 

 beekeepers report that they have never seen honey come 

 in so freely. 



Texas started off poorly, but has recuperated her losses, 

 only to be struck by drought in many sections as cotton 

 was blooming. All in all, the crop will range neai-ly up 

 to last season, with the best reports from the sections 

 within 100 to 150 miles of San Antonio. 



Ohio is one of the States showing the largest crop, with 

 25 per cent more than a year ago. Eastern and northern 

 Indiana are almost as good. Illinois is short everywhere, 

 as she was a year ago. 



Michigan has had a good white honey crop in the south- 

 ern half. Fortunately, the fall flow has materialized a? 

 never before, especially in northern Michigan, with the 

 result that the total crop will likely reach normal. 



Wisconsin will have very little honey comparatively, 

 and most Minnesota locations do not expect more than 50 

 per cent of 1920. 



Western and Northern Iowa are good, about 80 per 

 cent of normal, while southern and eastern Iowa are very 

 short. Missouri will have nearly half of 1920. South 

 Dakota is nearly normal, but Nebraska is very short ex- 

 cept in the Platte Valley. Kansas will be about half of 

 1920. 



Montana is coming up to last year, thanks to the late 

 prolonged flow. Colorado had a failure last year. The 

 crop will not be large, but it will outrank 1920 consid- 

 erably. 



New Mexico and Arizona have both had near to a fail- 

 ure, possibly half as much honey as last year will be har- 

 vested. Idaho is also short, with less than 50 per cent 

 of last year's crop, which was very large. Washington is 

 about the same as Idaho. 



The crop is spotted in both Nevada and Utah, but the 

 large yield of some districts will make up for the short- 

 comings in others, making the total normal. 



If Oregon had not been hampered by excessive losses 

 this year through poison sprays, the crop would have been 

 excellent. As it is, it will be 50 to 75 per cent of a year 

 ago. 



Northern California is nearly normal, but many com- 

 plaints are coming from Southern California of a very 

 short crop, some estimating it at 10 per cent of last sea- 

 son. 



PER COLONY AVERAGES 



Ohio, I ndiana, Georgia, South Dakota, Montana, 

 California, Louisiana and Mississippi have reporters who 

 have secured an average of 100 pounds per colony, but 



these are very much scattered, and are scarce. There are 

 less reports "big crop" than for many years. 



New Jersey, North Carolina, and many in California 

 and other short States, will have to be contented with an 

 average of 10 to 20 pounds per colony. 



PERCENTAGE OF CROP SOLD 



Only a small percentage of the present honey crop has 

 been disposed of, but in most localities it is moving at a 

 good rate for this time of year. Texas, as usual, is sell- 

 ing earlier than the other States. States of small pro- 

 duction report no difficulty in selling out early in the 

 season. 



PRICES WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 



Prices are at wide variance in different States, and 

 even in the same localities. They seem to depend ,nore 

 upon the attitude of the producer than on the value of 

 the product or the demand on the part of the public. For 

 this reason there are some offering honey in 5-pound 

 pails as low as 65 cents, and in 10-pound pails at $1.25. 

 The bulk of the beekeepers, however, seem to have taken 

 it for granted that honey would sell in a jobbing way for 

 about 10 cents per pound, and are offering 5-pound pails 

 at from 90 cents to $1.25 and 10-pound at from $1.90 to 

 $2.40. 



In a jobbing way, the amber honies seem to be suffering 

 the most as to price, evidently due to the competition of 

 foreign shipments. Some report sales of amber alfalfa 

 and of Southern honies as low as 5 Vs to 6 ^2 cents, with 

 one or two sales even lower. A few cars of white honey 

 moved at as low a price as 7 cents f. o. b. shipping point, 

 but most is selling now at from 8 cents to 9 cents f. o. b. 

 shipping point in the western territory, with a correspond- 

 ingly higher price east. 



PRICES ASKED 



More and more there is a tendency to hold honey rather 

 than sell at a figure which the beekeeper feels is too low, 

 and to make an extra effort at local sales if necessary. 



It is doubtful, after the first flurry of the stampeded 

 producer is over, whether any white honey will find its 

 way into the markets at a less figure than 10 cents f. o. b. 

 intermountain, which would mean nearly 2 cents more in 

 eastern territory. 



Amber honey will continue to suffer more than white. 

 Yet a recent reported shipment of 20 carloads of West 

 Indian honey to Germany goes to show that our markets 

 have reached their lowest ebb and that honey will go 

 abroad rather than be sacrificed as it has been the past 

 spring and summer. 



Air indications are that the honey market is improv- 

 ing, and this is being borne out by the activity of buyers, 

 who have up till recently been inclined to hold off, looking 

 for better bargains. 



Sugar still remains at fairly low levels, being in the 

 neighborhood of 6 cents jobbing. 



There are two things which would tend to make for a 

 stiffening of the honey market. The first is a woefully 

 short crop of fruits, and the second is that many people 

 during their two or three years of affluence have acquired 

 a taste for the better sweets, such as maple syrup and 

 honey, and will be slow to return to the corn syrups even 

 though offered them at attractive prices. 



All in all the honey outlook looks anything but pessi- 

 mistic to me. Like most other farm products, it went to 

 unprecedently low levels compared to its production cost; 

 like them, it will gradually come back into its own. We 

 cannot again look for the prices of two years ago. We 

 should not. But the market should improve to the point 

 where there is remuneration for the producer. 



