tt Journal 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 23, 1884. 



No. 17. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 



Honey Crop of California. 



In tlie Bee .Journal for April 2, 

 we remarked as follows concerning 

 the honey crop of California for the 

 past year, and the prospects for the 

 present season : 



We have received the Annual Re- 

 view of California Crops for 188.3, by 

 Geo. W. Meade & Co., San Francisco, 

 Cal. They have put the crop of honey 

 for the past year at 960,000 pounds, 

 and divided thus : Comb honey, 12.5,- 

 000 pounds ; extracted honey, 835,000 

 pounds. They make the following re- 

 marks about the honey crop : " Tlie 

 Itroduct of California comb honey, 

 last year, was very light, scarcely 

 more than enough to supply the home 

 demand, and prices generally ruled 

 high. Extracted turned out far better 

 than was anticipated, but owing to 

 the large crop of domestic honey East, 

 tlie sale here has been dull and slow, 

 and a considerable surplus will have 

 to be carried over into the new year. 

 The European demand for California 

 honey has also been limited, though 

 our honey is preferred there when 

 prices here will permit of business." 



Now we have received the Annual 

 Review of the crop by Stearns & 

 Smith, who supply us with the weekly 

 honey market report. They write us 

 as follows : 



'• We believe our report to be as 

 near correct as can be got at, and we 

 produce our figures from the only 

 sources they can be obtained, and are 

 facts. As orders are coming in lively 

 for empty packages for the new crop, 

 the present outlook is for a large one." 



From their Review we glean the 

 following : 



Number of cases received in this 

 market during past six years : 



Vears. Cases. 



1878 38,337 



1879 8,4t3 



1880 26,782 



1881 10,6.58 



1882 U,489 



1883 13,804 



Tlie average weight of cases being 



about ()0 pounds. 



Receipts in barrels and kegs for past 

 four years : 



Years. 

 1880. , 

 ISSl., 

 1882. , 

 1883., 



Barrels. 



1,156 



456 



291 



3 



Kegs. 



126 



84 



23 



Receipts from Jan. 1, 1884, to date, 

 370 cases. 



Exports for the past six years by 

 sea and land from San Francisco, and 

 by rail from interior points have been 



By sea from By rail from 



San Francisco. S.F.& Interior. 



Years. Cases, Lbs. Lbs. 



1878 4,978 518,714 1.2-54,889 



1879 13,67.5 214,216 



1880 7,890 1.50,806 861,050 



1881 8,849 62,700 378,370 



1882 3,612 .527,680 



1883 6,663 266,400 



Of last year's shipments overland, 

 90,720 lbs. were sent from San Fran- 

 cisco, 174,630 lbs. from Los Angeles, 

 and 1,0.50 lbs. from Sacramento. 



Exports for 1884 to date, by sea, 

 1 ,9.53 cases from San Francisco ; by 

 rail, exclusive of March shipments, 

 5,070 lbs. 



Since the first of June last, receipts 

 have been 12,684 cases, 2 barrels and 2 

 kegs. Allowing one-third of the 

 cases to liave been comb honey, we 

 have the following showing in pounds: 



Extracted— 8,4.50 cases 1,014,720 



Extracted — barrels and kegs . 1 ,000 



Comb— 4,228 cases 2.53,480 



Shipped by rail from interior 118,340 



Total 1,387,.540 



The above total does not include 

 stocks cansumed, or still held in the 

 interior, or shipments by sea from 

 Southern Coast points. These are un- 

 knovi'n quantities, but if they could 

 he definitely arrived at, would, be- 

 yond doubt, materially increase the 

 figures showing last year's product. 



Assuming the unknown quantity 

 the past season to be about the same 

 as it was in 1882, last year's yield ap- 

 pears 220,000 lbs. less than in the pre- 

 ceding season. 



Throughout the season choice comb 

 and extra white extracted have found 

 custom at good figures. Tlie market 

 is now practically bare of what may 

 be termed fancy qualities. There is 

 considerable off grade honey still of- 

 fering, and prospects are not encour- 

 aging for a clean-up of this stock, ex- 

 cept at very low figures. 



Now, as to the indications for the 

 present year, Messrs. Stearns & Smith 

 give the following as their opinion : 



Present indications are tliat the 

 coming yield will be large, and in ex- 

 cess of any crop since 1878. As the 

 local consumption will only absorb a 

 small proportion of a large yield, and 

 as the figures current here for some 

 time past have been too high to en- 

 courage lai-ge shipments to distant 

 points, it is probable, if the crop 

 proves as large as now anticipated, 

 that prices in 1884-85 will show a 

 lower range than they have in the 

 season nearly closed. 



They are of the opinion that the 

 local consumption of honey is not on 

 the increase, and remark as follows on 

 that point : 



Although the population of the 

 coast is steadily and rapidly increas- 

 ing, the local consumption of honey 

 is not so large as it was some years 

 ago. Honey is now regarded more of 

 a luxury than a necessity, and as a 

 consequence, only strictly "choice is in 

 favor with local buyers. The decreased 

 local consumption is to a great extent 

 due to the abundance and cheapness 

 of fruits during late years, encourag- 

 ing the more extensive use of the 

 latter by persons of ordinary means. 



Instead of the crop of the past year 

 being 960,000 pounds as stated by 

 Messrs. Geo. W. Mead & Co., it seems 

 that it was .50 per cent, more than 

 those figures, or 1,387,-540 pounds. 



These figures will be very interest- 

 ing to the many who are now anxious 

 to get statistics of the honey produc- 

 tion of America. 



^- The Price List of Thomas L. 

 Thornton, Dividing Ridge, Ky., is on 

 our desk. Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



Cure for Gravel.— Sweeten your tea 

 with equaly parts of honey and sugar. 

 It never has been known to fail. If 

 possible secure honey from clover in- 

 stead of wild flowers and buck- 

 wheat. 



1^" We have received the Price List 

 of S. A. Dyke, Pomery, O.— 4 pages- 

 Bees and Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



