220 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



and expenditui-es is a list of beekeepers in 

 five counties. It is interesting to note that 

 there are twenty beekeepers who have over 

 500 colonies, and a good many others who 

 have almost 500. 



The Comb-honey Situation ; a Reply to 

 Editors Bixby and Townsend 



In the "West, comb honey is apparently 

 pretty well cleaned up. In the East there 

 are larg-e stocks of it left, and some medium 

 and fair grades are being offered at retail at 

 12 and 15 cents. Indeed, we knoAv of one 

 place in the East where a beekeeper was 

 peddling comb honey out at 7 cents a sec- 

 tion. Think of it! 



Some lots of comb honey were displayed 

 in the streets of Chicago on the sidewalks 

 at 10, 12, and 15 cents a pound. The tem- 

 perature outside was below freezing, and 

 of course this honey was taken in at night. 

 This change of extremes in temjoerature, 

 and the constant handling back and forth, 

 will, of course, make it granulate within a 

 short time. Then it will have to be sold at 

 any give-away price if at all. 



There is going to be a large quantity of 

 granulated comb honey this year, simply 

 because there is so much of it, and because 

 the dealers do not know any better than to 

 put it in a refngerator or in a cold-storage 

 room where the temperature goes up and 

 down between great extremes. As soon as 

 these lots of granulated comb honey are 

 sold, the market on good comb honey will 

 improve, and a better demand may be ex- 

 pected later on. 



The question may be asked Avhy there is 

 so much comb honey in the market for sale 

 at such low prices at this time of the year, 

 when formerly the market has been fairly 

 well cleaned up. There are two reasons: 

 First and foremost was the large produc- 

 tion of clover comb honey after the 15th 

 of August — at least a whole month after 

 the usual crop is off the hive and ready for 

 the market. Up to the first of August on 

 account of the continuous rains up till then 

 it looked as if the crop of cotnb honey 

 would not be heavy and prices good, and we 

 so stated on page 696, Sept. 1st issue, and 

 also on page 783 of our issue for Oct. 1, 

 1915. We said, " There is probably more 

 comb honey than was expected early in the 

 season. It is now being unloaded, and it 

 will bring a good price." And yet Editor 

 Bixby, referring to this same editorial in 

 his February issue of the Western Honey- 

 bee, says, " In Gleanings for Oct. 1 the 

 leading editorial said that on account of the 



big crops (f) prices would be 15 to 20 per 

 cent below 1914, while at the same time the 

 government's market letter showed prices 

 only 2 to 3 per cent off. This cost the bee- 

 keepers of New York state alone thousands 

 of dollars, but enabled the largest buyers of 

 table honey in the countiy to get the cream 

 of the New York comb-honey crop for 

 about 11 cents per pound, which is now re- 

 tailing for 20 cents per section or more. 

 Well, ' misery loves company.' " 



Editor Bixby did not read our editorial 

 carefully, and Mr. Townsend evidently took 

 what Mr. Bixby said for gi'anted, and cop- 

 ied it in his issue for March 1, page 88. 

 While we did say that prices on extracted 

 honey would run from 15 to 20 per cent 

 lower, we also said that comb honey would 

 bring " good prices." But we did not know 

 then, and no one else did, that the late flow 

 of clover after the long rainy spell had 

 yielded so large a crop. Of course when 

 this honey was dumped on the market that 

 was already well supplied prices dropped. 

 It was the late crop after the summer rains 

 that caused the market to sag, and not any 

 editorial in Gleanings or any other publi- 

 cation. If editors Bixby and Townsend will 

 read our editorial again they will see that 

 they misquoted us, but not intentionally, 

 as we believe. There was another cause that 

 tended to bring about this condition of low 

 prices — namely, the enormous fruit crop 

 which could not be exported on account of 

 the war. This tended greatly to affect the 

 price of comb as well as extracted honey, 

 for fruit is a strong competitor; and when 

 there is an over-supply of it, the careful 

 housekeeper who has to count her pennies 

 very closely will, if honey is high and fruit 

 low, buy fruit instead. 



The lesson that comes to us now is that 

 we should not lose our heads, and sell our 

 comb honey at retail for 7 cents, but look 

 forward to the future, and keep our prod- 

 uct in a dry warm room where an even 

 temperature can be maintained at 75 to 80 

 degi-ees and sell it after all the stock now 

 on the market has granulated, and when 

 there will be a demand for good comb hon- 

 ey- 

 As we stated in our last issue, page 176, 

 the pendulum has swung the other way. 

 For several years back there has been a 

 scarcity of good comb honey, and we have 

 urged a more general production of it. So 

 many have now gone into it that, if they 

 produce as much next year as last, there is 

 liable to be a demoralization in prices. Ex- 

 tracted can be canned over till another 

 year; but tliis is not true of comb honey, 

 except at a loss. 



