19.'(> 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



lin 



honey. '■ and he seems to have had something 

 like a twopound see-tiou. l)eoause we are in- 

 formed he supplied the king with combs of 

 this pure honey measuring 8 int-hes by 5. 

 Further, he advertised that he kept samples 

 of this comb honey all August and Septem- 

 Iser at his house. Bowling Alley, Westmin- 

 ster. I think I may, therefore, claim for Rus- 

 den that he was the tirst royal bee-master, 

 the first public demonstrator, and the tirst to 

 atlvertise pure comb honey. 



His ideas on some points, however, were 

 peculiar. He believed every colony was 

 headed by a king, and he pictures him in one 

 illustration with a crown on his head. Un- 

 der him. and carrying out his royal com- 

 mands, were duces, or leaders. Avho control- 

 led the plebs. or common workers. Without 

 their kin^ they die out, l)ecause they can not 

 breed. Reviving an exploded theory of Vir- 

 gil's he believed bees gathered '-animable 

 matter"' from the flowers, into which, when 

 placed in the cells, the king ejects sperm, 

 whence come the young bees. The drone he 

 viewed as a " redundancy of nature, " ' which 

 was of no use unless he might care for the 

 young brood when bees were out collecting 

 nectar. All the same, Rusden had a high 

 opinion of the bee. "As honey excels all 

 other things in sweetness, so doth the liees 

 other insects in art, wisdom, forethought, in- 

 dustry, valor, and loyalty. They are excel- 

 lent chemists, incompai-al)le architects, and 

 indefatigable workers. Their laws are steady 

 and inviola])le, and they govern with pru- 

 dence, foresight, courage, and fidelity.'' 



Banff. Scotland. 



AVHERE IS THE HONEY 3L\RKET 

 WITH THE BEE-KEEPER'? 



The United States Census shows that, where 

 there are the Largest Number of Bee- 

 keepei"*!. there is where the 3Iost Honey 

 is Consumed; a Refutation of the Oft-re- 

 peated Statement, the 3Iultiplying of Bee- 

 keepers Decreases the Demand for Honey. 



BY B. S. K. BENNETT. 



Of much interest is the article by George 

 Shiter. page 729, "What is to Blame for the 

 Present State of the Honey Market'/" and 

 his sound remedy of bee shows and adver- 

 tising. 



The Root Company is doing more good in 

 this line than most l)ee-keepei's will admit; 

 in fact, many condemn the making of bee- 

 keepers. Why? Have we too much honey".' 

 The census gives the annual pi'oduction at 

 61, 196. 160 pounds; the population at 76,803,387 

 — or aliout I of a pound per capita. Are 

 not new bee-keepers most enthusiastic and 

 great advertisers of honey? We all know 

 that an old bee-keeper rarely speaks of hon- 

 ey, rarer eats it, and is first to suggest its 

 l>eing mixed by dealers. 



The United States census figures prove to 

 me that the bee-keeper makes the h'oney 

 market; that where there are many bee-keep- 

 ers there the most honev is consumed. 



Dividing the United States with a line 

 North and South through Kansas City we 

 find the Eastern half, with a population of 

 63,803,000, produces 2100 cars of honey, or f 

 lb. per capita, while the Western half, with 

 a much vaster honey floral territory, and 

 12,500,000 population, produces 790 cars, or 

 1 11). per capita. Still the Eastern half is the 

 market for Western honey. Why? Is it not 

 the advertising given the industry by a large 

 number of bee-keepers? Some may say the 

 market is made by demand of greater popu- 

 lation. 



The States of low production are Massa- 

 chusetts, with 2J million people: she pi-o- 

 duces oV 1'^- P^i" capita; Rhode Island. ^ mil- 

 lion people, iV 1^5- Oklahoma, ^^ lb.; North 

 Dakota, 5*^ lb., and District of Columbia -i^ 

 lb. These States are few in bees and bee- 

 keepers, and are not receivers of honey, ex- 

 cepting possibly Boston, Mass. Does popu- 

 lation make the honey market? 



The five eastern States of large production 

 are Tennessee, producing 170 cars of honey; 

 Missouri, 151; Illinois, 135; Kentucky, 130; 

 Iowa, 120. These have an average of 40,000 

 bee-keepei"s to the State; and while the pro- 

 duction is 1 lb. per capita they are consumers 

 of much Western honey. 



Comparing three States of equal produc- 

 tion, 100 cars each, for Ohio, Michigan, and 

 Alabama, whose population is 4 million. 2^ 

 million, and 2 million, we find that Ohio has 

 the largest number of bee-keepers, and her 

 cities furnish the l)est market for Western 

 honey. In fact, Ohio is the center of devel- 

 opment of bees, bee-keepers, and market, of 

 commercial honey-producing, started less 

 than 35 years ago by Gleanings, that edu- 

 cator of amateurs. 



Summing the States up in anothey way we 

 find six western States with a population of 

 3 million, producing 4 pounds per capita: 13 

 eastern States with 23 million people. 1 pound 

 per capita; 28 States of 45 million people, ^^ 

 lb., and 5 States of 6 million people, i^ lb. 

 per capita. The six western States mention- 

 ed above are California, producing 3^ lbs. ; 

 Nevada, 4 lbs.: Utah, 5: Colorado, 3; Arizo- 

 na, 8; Texas, 1^ per capita, or to each per- 

 son a year. 



Texas is one of the new States in honey- 

 making, yet has 60.043 bee-keepers, ranking 

 tirst: is first also in production, and. from all 

 reports, is a large consumer, buying honey 

 from California, Arizona. Colorado, and oth- 

 er States. Five eastern States of large hon- 

 ey-production leave one bee-keeper to each 

 70 people, while 5 far eastern States have one 

 l)ee-keeper to each 1500 people. Which eat 

 the most honey? 



In conclusion I would say, don't fear over- 

 production yet awhile. Let each bee-keeper 

 enthuse his neighbor, and get him into the 

 business. What we need most is enough 

 honey so that we don't run short when we 

 do create a market: young bee-keepers to 

 improve the quality of the product: and the 

 surplus? When there is a large s/n-pli/s it 

 will take care of itself by finding its way in- 

 to the hand of speculators and foreign ship- 



