C. T: 1'; A N I N (! R IN 15 10 lO C U L T U R 10 



581 



FUTURE MARKET PROBLEM 



Comsumption ot. Honey Could be Increased Ten- 

 fold by Organized Effort 



AN ARGUMENT FOR HONEY 



There are iu my county approximately 

 125 beekeepers of whom 6 may be classed 

 as houey producers, that is, those who have 

 for sale any surplus worth mentioning. Prob- 

 ably this ratio will hold good throughout 

 states east of the Mississippi River. If, by 

 any means, the other 95 per cent can be 

 transformed into actual producers, what 

 will be the effect upon marketing condi- 

 tions? Perhaps, owing to the inefficiency of 

 the average individual or to lack of inter- 

 est, it can't be done. But, in view of the 

 fact tliat the present wholesale price of 

 lioney is below the cost of production and 

 the trend of prices is downward, why con- 

 tinue propaganda for more beekeepers? The 

 "criminal waste of nectar" which we read 

 about has been due almost entirely to the 

 fact that production in many localities has 

 not been profitable. Thousands have tried 

 it and failed. But with the enormous in- 

 crease in acreage of alsike and sweet clover 

 throughout the middle states, many locali- 

 ties, hitherto unproductive, will become pro- 

 ductive of large quantities of lioney. It is 

 apparent that the supply in eastern states 

 will soon exceed the demand, and our west- 

 ern brethren will not find it profitable to 

 pay freight to eastern markets. 



I believe that the only rational solution 

 of the problem is for beemen to back an or- 

 ganization that will effectually increase the 

 demand in every state for our product. Let 

 us work, not for more beekeepers but for 

 better beekeeping and more intelligent mar- 

 keting. The American Honey Producers' 

 League should receive the support of bee- 

 men everywhere in creating a local demand 

 for honey through proper national adver- 

 tising. There is no good reason why Cali 

 fornia honey should be shipped to New 

 York, and Ohio and Indiana honey sent to 

 Arizona and other far western states. Then 

 there sliould be producers' organizations in 

 every state, working in conjunction with 

 the national league, to see that honey is 

 advertised locally in every city and town 

 and that every grocer is constantly sup- 

 ]ilied. Let's put extracted honey in 5-pound 

 and 10-pound pails, and emphasize the fact 

 that it is a food rather than a medicine. Tlie 

 consumption of honey in homeopathic doses 

 sliould not be encouraged. 



Judging from the results of several years 

 of local advertising and the pushing of sales 

 in larger packages, I am confident that ten 

 times as much honey would be consumed if 

 producers could hold together, properly or 

 ganize ami do business in a business wav. 



Valparaiso, Ind. E. S. Miller. 



Deadly Germs Which Cause Intestinal Diseases in 

 Man Cannot Live in Honey 



W. G. Sackctt, Ph.D., Bacteriologist of 

 the Colorado Agricultural College, Fort 

 Collins, Colo., has made some important ex- 

 periments, the results of which were pub- 

 lished by the station in bulletin No. 252. 



Professor Sackett scientifically intro- 

 duced the organisms known as the "typhoid- 

 colon group" into pure honey, with the fol- 

 lowing results: 



"B. Tijpho.w.s was no longer present in 

 the pure honey after 24 hours." This is the 

 germ which causes typhoid fever. 



"B. ParatupJiosus (A and B) were dead in 

 pure honey after 24 hours." These germs 

 cause diseases very similar to typhoid fever. 



"B. Fecalis Alkaligeues was killed in 

 pure honey inside of five hours." 



"B. J'roteiis Yulfjaris died out in pure 

 honey after four days. ' ' 



"B. SuiiH'stifer — the culture was dead in 

 the pure honey on the fourth day." The 

 presence of this germ is often "character- 

 ized by chronic broncho-pneumonia fol- 

 lowed by Septicemia. ' ' 



"B. Lactis Acroffenes . died out in pure 

 honey on the fourth day. 



"B. CoU Communis died out in pure hon- 

 ey on the fifth day." The presence of this 

 germ is said to become "pathogenic in the 

 case of ulceration in typhoid fever. It may 

 enter the blood causing peritonitis." 



"/?. Dysenteriac — ten hours' exposure in 

 pure honey was sufficient to destroy this or- 

 ganism." As the name well indicates, this 

 is the germ which causes dysentery. 



"B. Enteritidia was dead in pure honey 

 in 48 hours. ' ' 



The remarkable thing about tlTis investi- 

 gation is that, while honey is consumed in 

 a raw condition, it is not only not a ' ' car- 

 rier ' ' of these deadly germs except for a 

 few days at most, but that it absolutely 

 destroys them within a short time if they 

 are introduced into the honey in any way. 

 When we eat honey we may be assured that 

 we are not exposing ourselves to infection. 

 When we consider that many of the death- 

 dealing bacteria mentioned above are read- 

 ily carried into the human system by water, 

 meat, vegetables and milk, we are inclined 

 to look upon honey as being in a class by 

 itself, so far as "safety" is concerned. 



Professor Sackett well says in his sum- 

 mary, "The longevity of the typhoid-colon 

 group in honey is very limited. The prob- 

 ability of \\onej acting as a carrier of ty- 

 phoid fever, dysentery and various diar- 

 rhoeal affections is very slight." 



Many of onr most scientific physicians 

 and best-resrulated sanitariums have long 



