OCTOBER 15, 1916 



965 



It is well to bear in mind that the market 

 on comb honey will ease up as soon as 

 freezing- weather comes on. The trade is 

 afraid to get it in cold weather, and more 

 afraid of its gTanulating afterward. The 

 experience of last year has been an ex- 

 jDensive object lesson to many. Comb hon- 

 ey should if possible be shipped before 

 the holidays; for after that time the demand 

 will be sluggish, if experience means any- 

 thing, until the next year's crop is in sight. 



Honey-producers as usual are making 

 the mistake of extracting their honey too 

 green. The result will be that some of it 

 will sour in the open market. Such prac- 

 tices will have a strong tendency to disgust 

 the trade and depress prices. 



Exportation of American Honey into 

 Germany. 



In the "Daily Commerce Reports" issued 

 by the Dei:)artment of Commerce, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, is a report from Vice-consul 

 Ernest L. Ives, Breslau, Germany, under 

 date of August 28, on the subject of the 

 German bee industry. Among other things, 

 he says that the present yearly production 

 of honey and wax in Germany is between 

 five and seven million dollars' worth. 



He refers to the migratory beekeeping- 

 practiced by the Germans, or how bees are 

 moved around on "wandering carts." These 

 carry from 25 to 30 hives, such carts being- 

 moved from one place to another. They 

 are in reality portable house-apiaries. Be- 

 sides these special moving apiaries on 

 wheels, something over 375,000 hives are 

 transported on special trains to the heaths 

 near Luneberg and Oldenburg. 



Under the heading of "Imports of Honey 

 and Artificial Honey" he furnishes a table 

 of the amounts of honey from the United 

 States and other countries sent into Ger- 

 many. With the exception of Cuba the 

 United States stands at the top of the list. 



The price of German honey is 65 cts. 

 per lb. ; and this extraordinary increase in 

 price, the vice-consul says, is mainly due to 

 the very poor harvest in the spring- and 

 summer of 1915 and of this year, and also 

 to a falling off of imports. Why he makes 

 no mention of the great war in Europe in 

 thLs connection is not easily understood. 

 In ordinary peace times 65 cents is an 

 extraordinai'y price. 



Under the head of " Criticisms of Meth- 

 ods of Collecting Honey" he has this to say : 



As previously mentioned, large quantities 

 of honey have been imported from America. 



Beekeepers complain of the competition of 

 this hone}^ which is sold at very low prices 

 on account, as is claimed, of its ' ' inferior 

 quality. " It is stated that honey in wooden 

 tubs is imported by wholesale dealers at a 

 price of $3.80^to $4.75 per 110 pounds. 

 Adding the costs of packing and transpor- 

 tation, it can be retailed at $0.10 to $0.13 

 per pound. This low price is said to be due 

 to the methods of collecting the honey in 

 the countries of origin, the swarm being 

 killed by sulphuric acid; this affects the 

 aroma of the honey, which is also contamin- 

 ated by the corpses of bees, chrysalises, and 

 other impurities, whereas German honey is 

 won by the centrifugal process. Further, 

 the German product is usually packed in 

 glass jars and cans. Eecently tubes con- 

 taining one-eighth to one-half a pound have 

 been much in use. Wooden tubs are not 

 considered practical for the transportation 

 of honey, since wood is said to spoil the 

 flavor. 



The best honey imported from the United 

 States is packed in tin canisters containing 

 about 55 pounds, two canisters being usually 

 packed together in a wooden box. Honey 

 from South America is imported in tubs of 

 165 to 220 pounds. 



Evidently the vice-consul, Mr. Ives, has 

 got some things a little mixed. In the first 

 place, honey is not shipped from America, 

 or at least from the United States, in tubs;* 

 and in the second place', the c|uality is not 

 affected by the methods of killing bees. 

 Honey from log gums and box hives is not 

 exported ; and even when such honey is 

 taken in the old-fashioned way, " sulphuric 

 acid " is not the agent for killing the bees. 

 He evidently means the fumes of sulphur. 



It would be quite interesting to learn 

 Avhere the vice-consul gets his information 

 about American honey coming in tubs of 

 110 lbs., and the poor quality of it being 

 due to the carcasses of dead bees and to 

 the use of " sulphuric acid " when killing 

 the bees. He possibly meant sulphurous 

 acid or vapor of burning sulphur. As a 

 matter of fact, sulphur dioxide is the agent 

 used ; i. e., the gas of burning brimstone. 



When he speaks about artificial honey he 

 is px'obably taking hearsay. While it is 

 presumably true that adulterated honey 

 might be shipped to foreign countries and 

 sold as honey, it is evident that the writer 

 has got things a little mixed. 



Probably some of our German correspon- 

 dents can enlighten us; for the German 

 beekeepers theniselves, who know anything 

 about American methods, know that our 

 box hives or old log gums do not produce 

 any honey that goes beyond the locality 

 itself. 



Possibly he means " kegs." 



