468 



G LEANINGS IN B K K C^ U L T II R K 



.h-i.v, 19'21. 



(Coiitimunl fi'din pii^c 405.) 

 form in which it is taken from the hive, w.ax and 

 honey heing intermingled. 



Practically all of the honey now produced in 

 California is extracted honey. In 1916, 81 per 

 cent of the California commercial production was 

 sold in such form. In 1917, 82 per cent; in 1918, 

 90 per cent; in 1919, 97 per cent, and in 1920, 96 

 per cent. In the United States approximately 55 

 to 60 per cent, of all honey produced is sold as ex- 

 tracted honey. Comb honey is relatively unimpor- 

 tant in California, production of such honey in 

 1920 amounting to only 2 per cent of the total 

 amount of honey produced in the State. This is 

 the result of the gradual change to extracted honey, 

 as in 1916 approximately 18 per cent of Cahfornia 

 honey was .sold as comb honey. 



The production of comb honey is exceptionally 

 difficult and its lasting qualities are such that it is 

 hard to market comb honey outside of the state in 

 which it is produced. As a consequence, the bulk 

 of the comb honey sold in the United States is that 

 produced and sold locally in various eastern States. 

 In 1916 and 1917, 38 per cent of all the honey 

 produced in the United States was produced in the 

 form of comb honev. In 1918 the percentage was 

 31 per cent, and in 1919 and 1920, 30.5 per cent. 



Approximately 10 per cent of the honey pro- 

 duced in the United States is sold as chunk honey. 

 In California only one to two per cent of all honey 

 produced is sold in this form. 



The principal markets for honey moving thru the 

 regular channels of trade are reported as Medina, 

 Ohio; Cincinnati, New York City, Chicago, Kansas 

 City, Philadelphia, and Boston. It is estimated, 

 however, that approximately 90 per cent of the 

 honey produced in the country, with the exception 

 of the California production, does not get twenty 

 miles from the home of the honey producer. 



In the past the markets for commercially pro- 

 duced honey have been, to a great extent, foreign 

 markets. In 1919 there were 9.105,362 pounds of 

 honey exported from the United States. The princi- 

 pal importing countries were the United Kingdom, 

 which imported 2,882,951 pounds; France, which 

 imported 1,129,704 pounds; Sweden, which im- 

 ported 1,128.152 pounds; Belgium, which imported 

 922,008 pounds; the Netherlands, which imported 

 690,595 pounds; Denmark, which imported 417,492 

 pounds, and Canada, which imported 297,414 

 pounds. Wliile these exportations to foreign coun- 

 tries during 1919 were slightly larger than normal 

 exportations, because of the sugar shortage, they 

 may nevertheless be taken as indicative of the pro- 

 portion of American produced honey formerly ab- 

 sorbed by foreign markets. 



At present, these markets are being definitely 

 closed to United States honey producers. In 1920 

 there were only 1,539,725 pounds of honey ex- 

 ported from the United States of America, almost 

 50 per cent less than total exportations to Great 

 Britain durine 1919 and approximatelv 83 per cent 

 less than totnl exportations during 1919. 



Several factors are closing these foreign markets 

 to American honey producers. The first of these 

 is the depreciation in foreign exchanges, which is 

 making it exceptionally difficult for foreign coun- 

 tries to purchase American produced goods. This 

 situation may be only temporary and the organiza- 

 tion of the new i6100,000,000 Foreign Trade Finan- 

 cing Corporation may materially assist in stabilizing 

 exchange^' 



The other factor which is closing foreign mar- 

 kets to American productions is probably perma- 

 nent. Thruout the world, companies are being 

 formed to further honey production. Cheap labor 

 costs and inferior methods in handling honey will 

 prohablv assure these corporations a comparative 

 monopoly on foreign honey markets. 



Th° situation is made doubly serious bv the 

 fact that many of these companies are formed with 

 the express purpose of exploiting United States 

 markets. They are shipping quantities of ex- 

 tracted honey into the New York market. This 

 honev. it is alleged, is sometimes shipped into the 

 United States in containers, consisting of previous- 

 Iv used casks, barrels, and even five-gallon oil cans. 

 This imported honev is not produced under sanitary 

 conditions and may even contain bacilli larvae, 

 which are germs of a very contagious disease, simi- 

 lar to the boll weevil in the cotton industry. Con- 



se(|ucntly, ('(Toi-ts aic bc'ir,' miflc to secure an 

 emergcncN iirotcctive tiirifil' of not less than 5 cents 

 per ])()und uixiii every pound of honey imjiorted 

 into the United States from foreign markets, The 

 purpose of this tariff is not only to protect United 

 States honey from competition with foreign honey, 

 but is also to protect the honey industry from i)Os- 

 sible inroads which these larvae might make \ipon 

 the bee of the United States, if importation is per- 

 mitted to continue. A movement to require rigid 

 inspection of imported honey and re.iection of any 

 honey containing injurious larvae could do much io 

 correct this evil, but present attempts by producers 

 seem to be directed toward efforts to secure tariff 

 protection. 



The United States honey industry is today defi- 

 nitely faced with the fact that it must rely abnost 

 entirely upon domestic markets in the future. In 

 the past it has been the custom to market domestic- 

 ally produced honey in five-gallon cans, containing 

 sixty pounds of extracted honey. As a general rule, 

 two of these cans form a case. A considerable 

 proportion of this honey was retailed direct from 

 the can into containers belonging to the consumer. 



The baking trade in the United States has used 

 large proportions of the United States produced 

 honey in preference to sugar, because it permits the 

 holding of a certain proportion of moisture in baked 

 goods. As commercial baked goods tend to dry 

 and chip if sugar is used, honey is considered 

 superior for sweetening purposes. 



In order to better exploit local markets a new 

 means of marketing honey is fast gaining in favor 

 in the United States and is being pushed by co- 

 operative honey associations in California. Honev 

 is being put up for the retail trade in one pound, 

 two and a half pound, five-pound, and ten-pound 

 friction-top cans, and in eight-ounce and sixteen- 

 ounce glasses. These containers carry a label show- 

 ing the name of the canning company and the 

 source of the honey, so that its cleanliness can be 

 vouched for. Active steps are being taken to de- 

 velop larger home markets for this new form of 

 honey. The food value of honey is unquestioned 

 as it contains 1485 heat calories per pound 



High railroad freight rates are interfering M'ith 

 the marketing of California produced honey, and 

 active steps are being taken to secure a reduction 

 in these rates, so that California honey can enter 

 the eastern markets of the United States. With 

 the development of water transijortation, thru the 

 Panama Canal, it is anticipated that increis'Ug 

 amounts of California honey can enter eastern mar- 

 kets at cheaper transportation costs. It is being 

 found that co-operative marketing of honey, as at 

 present carried on in California, is reducing the 

 cost of marketing honey by several cents per 

 pound, thereby assisting in profitable marketing. 

 The California Honey Producers' Co-operative Ex- 

 change, with head offices in Los Angeles, markets 

 the honey of approximately 85 per cent of the Cali- 

 fornia commercial producers. 



The problems which the honey industry of the 

 United States, and particularly of California, are 

 facing today are, therefore, three-fold. The first 

 is the securing of an effective means of excluding 

 any infected foreign honey, the second is a reduc- 

 tion in freight rates to eastern markets, the third 

 is the preparation of honey in more marketable 

 forms and the development of larger consumption 

 in the United States. The first of these problems 

 will require Congressional action. The solution of 

 the second will be made easier thru the development 

 of water transportation thru the Panama Canal, and 

 the ready response which is being made in retail 

 markets to the new forms of marketing honey will 

 go a long way in solving the third problem. 



Honey prices have dropped materially in the 

 past year, because of general readjustment and 

 because of the closing of foreign markets. While 

 in 1918 and 1919 and the earlier part of 1920 the 

 prices for the better grades of California honey in 

 Los Angeles markets ranged between 18 and 

 23 cents, these prices have now dropped to as low 

 as 12 and 13 cents. Predictions as to future honey 

 prices cannot be made with any accuracy today, 

 but indications are that with the developments of 

 new domestic markets the excess honey formerly 

 shipped to foreign markets will tend to be absorbed 

 in the United States. 



Michigan Tradesman. E. H. Tucker. 



