700 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Oct. 



OVERPBODUCTION OF HONEY. 



FBIKND DOOLITTLE GIVES VS THE OTHER SIDE OF 

 THE QUESTION. 



TT is always well to have a clear view of both 

 ^ sides of any matter before coming to a defl- 

 ^l nite conclusion, and especially so where such 

 -^ conclusions may lead us to g-o into a business 

 "in haste, to repent at our leisure." Theabove 

 was brought to my mind on reading on page 625 of 

 present volume of Gleanings, these words from 

 friend J. E. Pond: 



" Notwithstanding the great demand for bees, and 

 the immense quantities of honey that are raised 

 from year to year, the amount largely increasing 

 each year, I do not see any reason to think that 

 overstocking or overproduction is a factor that 

 need trouble us in this generation. At any rate, 

 I don't see that the price of nice honey is any lower 

 than years ago." 



The above words, and what follow, are calculated 

 to lead the novice into the business of honey-pro- 

 duction, by his being told that honey will bring him 

 the prices of years ago; and they also show that 

 friend P. did not have a thorough knowledge of the 

 honey markets; for if he had, he would not have 

 written any thing so far from the truth. Because 

 friend P. finds plenty of pasture in his locality for 

 his small apiary, it does not prove that overstocking 

 is not troublesome in other places, with ten times the 

 number of bees kept he is keeping; and because he 

 can find sale in his "own dooryard, at remunerative 

 prices." for all the honey his small apiary can pro- 

 duce, it does not prove that the price of honey is no 

 " lower than years ago." 



I do not propose to dwell on the overstocking part, 

 except to say that our largest honey-producers 

 show by their actions, in locating their .500 or more 

 colonies in several different places, much to their 

 disadvantage, that overstocking is a factor which 

 is of trouble to them, even "in this generation;" 

 but I do propose to show that the market price for 

 honey is much lower than it was " years ago," and 

 that the low price is caused by the supply being 

 greater than the demand, which means overpro- 

 duction. Understand that I do not doubt that 

 friend P. can sell all his honey at home at remuner- 

 ative prices, for undoubtedly such is the fact. But 

 these prices will not apply to our large honey-pro- 

 ducers who must make a market for their honey in 

 the large cities; hence the market price is what is 

 affected by overproduction. 



I commenced keeping bees 15 years ago last spring, 

 and at that time honey in 6-lb. glass bo.xes brought 

 25 cts. per lb., delivered at the railroad, while in the 

 fall of 1869 I was offered by a party from New York 

 city, 50 cts. per lb. for the little I had, the advance 

 of 100 per cent being caused by a very poor season 

 during 1869, so that the supply was very much less 

 than the demand. 



The season of 1870 being an e.\tra good one, the 

 price fell back to 25 cts. again, at which price I sold 

 my crop of that year, as well as that of 1871 and "72. 

 Owing to the loss of bees during the preceding 

 winter, the supply was insufficient again, so that in 

 the fall of 1873 I sold at 27 cts., while in 1874 I re- 

 ceived 2854 ots. per lb. for the whole of my crop. 

 Those prices brought more into the business, which, 

 with but little loss in wintering, caused honey to 

 drop, so that 26 cts. was the price I obtained in 1875, 



while in 1876 the supply was again adequate to the 

 demand, and 25 cts. was the selling price. 



In 1877 the crop was very large, which, together 

 with the large accession to the ranks of honey-pro- 

 ducers, caused by the high prices of 1873, '74, and '75, 

 caused an overproduction, and a decline in price 

 from 25 to 20c., at which price I was compelled to 

 sell. California now came in with a very large crop, 

 which, added to our large crop of 1878, caused prices 

 to come down beyond what was ever known before, 

 and large lots of honey were held for better prices, 

 till they were forced upon the market in Maj', 1879, 

 at 10 cts. per lb. for as nice honey as friend P. ever 

 saw; said honey netting me but 8 cts. per lb. after 

 paying express, commission, etc. 



In 1879 I sold at 15 c, and in 1880 I received about 

 17, which was also the price for 1881. In 1882 and '83 

 I sold at 16 cts. per lb. each yeai-, while the present 

 quotations will give us hardly these figures. After 

 a careful going-over of the market reports given in 

 the bee papers, I find the following quotations: 



For 1874 28 to 30 cts. For 1880 18 to 20 cts. 



" 1875 27 " 30 " " 1881 18 " 22 " 



" 1876 23 " 25 " " 1882 22 " 25 " 



" 1877 20 " 22 " " 1883 18 " 20 " 



" 1878 11 " 13 " " 1884 17 " 19 " 



" 1879 20 " 22 " 



Previous to 1874 I failed to find any quotations in 

 any of the bee papers I had. From the above, 

 friend Pond and others will see that honey is really 

 about 10 cts. per lb. lower than it was " years ago." 



Another thing, which is, that honey in such shape 

 as was sold from 1868 to 1873 at 25 cts. per lb. would 

 not net to-day over 12'2 cts. per lb. in any market. 

 To bring from 17 to 19 cts. now, honey must be the 

 very nicest, in 1-lb. sections, without glass, which 

 means nearly six times the labor and expense to 

 the bee-keepers that 6 lbs. of honey meant 12 yeai-s 

 ago; so that honey is really not worth more than 

 about half what it was " years ago." 



So far I have spoken only of comb honey. Per- 

 haps friend Pond had reference to extracted honey. 

 If so, he has only to turn to page 645 of the same 

 number of Gleanings in which his article was 

 printed, to see the fallacy of his remarks; for there 

 he will find that friend Root is buying all the nice 

 extracted honey he wants at 7 cts., while ("j^ears 

 ago ") jjrevious to 1875 it sold readily at 15 cts. by the 

 barrel. 



The point I wish to make is, that " years ago" 

 there was money in producing honey, while at the 

 present prices there is little if any more in it, than 

 enough to pay for the cost of production; and he 

 who looks at it in a different light may be one of 

 those who " repent at their leisure." I also believe 

 that the main cause for this state of affairs is over- 

 production. G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1884. 



Thanks, friend I)., for the facts and fig- 

 ures you place before us. I was not aware 

 that comb lioney had ever been sold— that is, 

 since the war times — as low as 10 cts. per 

 lb. ; and I am inclined to think now it was 

 not in one-pound sections. I have never had 

 any nice honey in one-pound sections offered 

 me for less than 15 cts. Very likely friend 

 Pond refers to the price of honey before the 

 war. Then such a thing as extracted honey 

 was unknown; but strained honey, I be- 

 lieve, brought about the price that extracted 

 honey does now. So far as I can recollect, I 

 think we used to get comb honey at about 



