1232 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



the local markets were damaged almost be- 

 yond repair because some local Ijee-keepers 

 sold at the groceries as honey a lot of strong 

 ill-tasting honey-dew. After consumers have 

 had a taste of that kind of stuff they will 

 tight shy of every thing thereafter bearing 

 the name of honey; so that, taking it all in 

 all, we ought to be well satisfied with the 

 standard — especially so as its scope seems to 

 be broadened by the supplemental statement 

 issued bv the committee. 



POSSIBLE ANNEXATION OF CUBA TO THE 

 UNITED STATES, AND THE EFFECT OF 

 CUBAN HONEY AND CHEAP SU- 

 GAR ON THE HONEY BUSI- 

 NESS HERE. 



Our readers have doubtless noticed through 

 the general press the disturbances that have 

 been going on in Cuba, and of the possibili- 

 ty and even probability, so it is claimed, that 

 the annexation of the island to the United 

 States will be the ultimate result, for the 

 reason that the troubles on the island will 

 never end until Uncle Sam actually controls 

 it. 



I will not attempt to go into the question 

 as to whether or not annexation would be 

 right or wise from any point of view, as that 

 is too large a subject to discuss here; but I 

 may bring up the point as to what the pos- 

 sible effect of such annexation would be on 

 the honey business. 



Cul)au honey would doubtless come to this 

 country free. Such honey could be deliver- 

 ed and sold here for less, probably, than the 

 same grade of honey could be produced here. 

 As Cuba has resources sullicuent to raise al- 

 most all the sugar of the world, it could sup- 

 ply this country with sugar without duty, 

 making the retiiil price of sugar Ijetween 3 

 and 3A cents as against 5 and 6 now. The 

 beet and cane sugar industry of this country 

 would 1)6 put out of lousiness. 



Now, then, what would be the effect of a 

 3^-cent sugar on the honey business of the 

 United States? Mr. W. K. "Morrison, who is 

 now with us, and who has studied the West- 

 Indian problems for years, having been in 

 the tropics for a good portion of his life, 

 gives it as his opinion that it will have no 

 particular effect one way or the other. Rea- 

 soning from analogy, duty-free sugar in Eng- 

 land, that sold for about 3 cents a year or 

 so ago, did not affect the honey business of 

 Great Britain (there is a duty there now of 

 one cent), Ijecause, as Mr. Morrison points 

 out, honey i.s not a syrup and it is not a su- 

 gar. It iias properties distinctly different 

 from any of the syi'ups and commercial glu- 

 coses on the market; and for manufacturing 

 uses-^that is, bakers' use — nothing can take 

 the place of honey. No matter how cheap 

 cane syrup may be, the National Biscuit Co. 

 will have honey just the same in order to 

 preserve their cakes. 



But it may be urged," Why should not this 

 big concei'n use the Cuban product rather 

 than that produced here".'" That is a conun- 

 drum that I shall not attempt to answer. 



On the other hand, it may be said that a 

 3-cent sugar in the United States would drive 

 glucose out of the market, for the reason 

 that a syrup could be made of cane sugar 

 that would ])e practically as cheap as glucose, 

 and of far better quality. If glucose were 

 put out of commission, pure honey would not 

 be compelled to suffer from the competition of 



flucosed mixtures masquerading under all 

 inds of names. This, then, brings up the 

 question as to whether a cheap cane sugar 

 would ]je an unmixed evil; for it is well 

 known that bee-keepers are compelled, and 

 legitimately, too, to feed their Ijees sugar; in 

 other words, they take away the more ex- 

 pensive product, honey, and give the bees a 

 better and cheaper substitute, saving the sal- 

 vage due to the difference in the market 

 prices l^etween the two articles. 



The only real danger I see to cheap honey 

 is the Cuban honey which could be sold in 

 the American markets, probaljly, for consid- 

 erably less than our amber honeys of the 

 United States. Comb honey, of course, would 

 not be aft'ected in any way hy the cost of su- 

 gar; and it may be said that the best grades 

 of table extracted would also hold their own. 



We may theorize what would happen if 

 annexation should come to pass; that is, cross 

 bridges before we get to them. But Mr. 

 Morrison thinks a union with Cuba is a re- 

 mote possibility. In the first place, when 

 the treaty was made the United States agreed 

 not to annex without a direct vote of the 

 Cubans themselves: and this, he says, they 

 will never give; that, even should they do so, 

 the U. S. Senate would probal)ly block it as 

 it did. and for the same reason, when San 

 Domingo asked for annexation. 



Moreover, there are "other interests" in 

 this country, and mighty ones too, such as 

 the glucose business, tobacco-growers, cigar- 

 makers, the l)eet-sugar farmers, sugar-cane 

 planters, citrus-fruit and vegetal)le grower* 

 — all of them would put up a mighty protest, 

 and the U. S. Senate would listen. It would 

 require a two-thirds vote, and the annexation- 

 ists would never get it. 



So. taking every thing into consideration, 

 even if the annexation of Cuija should come, 

 it is not at all certain that we would have 

 any thing to fear. While it is probable that 

 the producers of amber honey might suff'er 

 somewhat, it is' certainly true that the l)ee- 

 keeping fraternity as a w/iole would be able 

 to get cheaper sugar to feed their bees than 

 they do under present conditions. Then it 

 is ti'ue, also, that the three-cent cane sugar 

 would prove to l)e the greatest competitor of 

 glucose that was ever put up — so great a 

 competitor that it would seem that the glu- 

 cose business would l)e wiped out of existence 

 — especially so in view of the recent national 

 legislation making it a crime against the 

 United States to misbrand any syrupy stuff 

 containing glucose, and calling it honey, 

 maple syrup, or any thing other than what 

 it actually is. 



If we assume that annexation is an impos- 

 sibility, then we certainly do not need to 

 cross the bridge before we get to it. 



