GfiO 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



sa\'.s these wilted stems will liaiipj down and shed 

 water like slough grass, and vain will do if but little 

 (laniMi;'('. 



lie Price of Hwmiey Advance 

 in F'FoporttioMi to line Price of 

 Suagar? Hoeey for Can- 

 niiig Ferpoges 



Sugar has now goue up to nearly 10 cents 

 a pound — just double the figures of two 

 months ago. While the price of honey might 

 be adversely affected, on account of the wat 

 ill Europe, since it is a luxury and not a 

 necessity (on the principle that the price of 

 luxuries declines as the price of necessities 

 climbs during war times) yet it is very clear 

 that if sugar goes up to 10 cents a pound 

 uur housewives during the canning season 

 will look for a substitute, and there is no 

 substitute for sugar equal to honey. Our 

 own experience has shown that honey makes 

 the best kind of preservative for fruits. 

 Honey for manufacturing purposes such as 

 dark and fall honeys as well as many south- 

 ern honeys will be cheap. (See editorial 

 on the effect of the war on cheap honeys.) 

 If sugar is held at 10 cents, it will mean 

 that honey will be used for every purpose 

 in the household, such as sweetening coffee, 

 making cakes and cookies, etc. 



During these troublous times the house- 

 wife is going to figure close; and if she can 

 get honey cheaper than sugar she will use it 

 in preference. The probabilities are that 

 the war will have the effect of advancing 

 the price of honey in sympathy with that of 

 sugar. 



We would suggest that producers, espe- 

 cially those who have extracted honey for 

 sale,^ announce through their local papers 

 that honey is an excellent substitute for 

 sugar for canning purposes, and that it will 

 take the place of sugar in general cooking. 

 Now is the time for beekeepers to get busy 

 and push the sale of honey in avenues for- 

 merly supplied by granulated sugar. The 

 lioinl to make is that honey, a natural pre- 

 servative, is, in most cases, not only a more 

 healthful sweet than cane sugar or New Or- 

 leans molasses, but one that makes the cake 

 or canned fruit, as the case may be, more 

 appetizing. Strawberries and peaches, espe- 

 cially when put up with honey, retain their 

 natural color longer and acquire a richer 

 thivor approaching more nearly the flavor 

 of the fruit when fresh. One must eat 

 strawberries canned with honey to appreci- 

 ate the richer and more natural taste and the 

 bi'illiant red color instead of the usual pale 

 brown. Beekeepers themselves should prac- 

 tice what they preach in this respect in or- 

 der to be able to preach more convincingly. 



Anotlier effect of the advance of cane 

 sugar will be an advance possibly on table 

 honeys. Whenever these are ciieaper than 

 sugar they will be taken on account of their 

 flavor. 



Oi 



In a recent editorial we gave- it as our 

 opinion that the penalty for misbranding 

 comb honey so far as the net-weight law is 

 concerned would rest on the producer. It is 

 more accurate to say that such penalties will 

 be put on the shipper or owner who ships 

 the goods out of the State. In some eases 

 he may be the producer. In other cases he 

 may be only the middleman. Under a strict 

 construction of the law the producer does 

 not necessarily have to label or mark the 

 weight on each individual section of comb 

 noney if he sells to some middleman or deal- 

 er within his own State. Mr. Middleman in 

 most cases is going to require* the producer 

 to mark all his comb honey; but neither he 

 nor any one else can ship out of the State 

 unless every section is marked in accord- 

 ance with the law ; so if he is going to ship 

 into another State he will have to do tlie 

 marking, and make the producer pay for 

 it, by deducting the cost in the final account 

 of sales. We know, as well as we know any 

 thing, that Mr. Middleman and Mr. Pro- 

 ducer will in some cases have a wrangle 

 over the propostion. Here will be also a 

 chance for overcharge for doing the work. 

 The middleman can make out a bill for so 

 much time in marking the weiglit on each 

 .section; and if he claims in addition that 

 the honey was so poorly graded that he had 

 to pay for an extra amount of labor on the 

 job, whether the account is true or not, the 

 producer will have to pay for it. So we 

 advise every producer to mark his own 

 honey, even if he sells in his own State. 

 Then in the matter of adjustment he can 

 pay according to his work. 



This net-weight law is going to cause 

 some wrangles and confusion ; but if the 

 comb honey is all marked according to its 

 appropriate weight (and that means every 

 section), both middleman and producer have 

 an exact basis for their deal; and if legal 

 proceedings have to be resorted to for col- 

 lection, the producer can certify to his exact 

 weights on the basis of his markings on his 

 sections. As the court would have reason- 

 able assurance that he would not dare to 

 ujisbrand, it would give him an award ac- 

 cordingly. 



* He can not do this unless he so stipulates before 

 purchasing the honey. 



