508 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Topics of Iiiterest. 



Keep 1 ttie Price of Honey. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Mr. Thurber and others have told us 

 about the price of sugar, after the tariff 

 was removed, and I think they told us 

 the truth, for, now that we have enjoyed 

 two days of " free trade" in sugar, we 

 can buy 18 pounds of A No. 1 granu- 

 lated sugar for $1. But how is it about 

 syrups ; these twin sisters of sugar. By 

 the market reports we notice either a 

 very slight reduction, or none at all, in 

 the price of the last named commodity. 



I desire, Mr. Editor, to make the ar- 

 gument, that as honey is by no means a 

 staple — nor anywhere near it — as is 

 canned fruit and other sauces, extracted- 

 honey will not be appreciably affected by 

 the slight lowering in the price of sauces 

 in general, which may take place be- 

 cause of the reduction in the price of 

 sugar. 



Are we sure of this reduction in the 

 price of canned fruits? Are canned 

 fruits as closely related to sugar as our 

 syrups?. Certainly not. The consumers 

 of extracted-honey are, as a rule, of a 

 class who will not associate honey and 

 fruit sauces. They will, we think, buy 

 just as much honey at 10 cents per 

 pound, when sugar is worth 4 cents, as 

 when it is worth 8 cents. 



It has been said that this reduction in 

 the price of sugar will not effect comb- 

 honey ; and yet comb and extracted- 

 honey are more nearly related than is 

 extracted-honey with sugar and sngared 

 fruit-sauces. 



Now, I am firmly of the opinion that 

 the greatest cause of the depreciation of 

 prices in any commodity, or all commo- 

 dities, is the prevalence of opinion that 

 a reduction must necessarily take effect. 

 Let bee-keepers once become possessed 

 of the idea — as mistaken as I believe it 

 would be — that the late reduction in 

 sugar will correspondingly lower the 

 price of extracted-honey 2 cents per 

 pound, and down it will go ; and the 

 cause will be the dominant belief, and 

 not the reduction in the price of sugar. 



Now, Mr. Editor, if you do not believe, 

 or any of your readers do not, that the 

 above is very modestly stated, I wish 

 you would solicit M. M. Baldridge to 

 write an article for the Bee Joukj^al 

 upon this subject, in which, t believe, he 

 will more than bear me out in all the 



above statements, making this short 

 article appear very conservative, and at 

 the same time will substantiate every 

 statement he may make, by giving the 

 results of years ^f experience. 



Such an article will surely be worth 

 thousands of dollars to bee-keepers who 

 will read it, if they will act upon it. 

 There is no need of, nor are bee-keepers 

 able to bear, any further reduction in 

 the price of honey. Will Mr. Baldridge 

 tell us what he knows about these mat- 

 ters which are of vast importance. 



Dowagiac, Mich., April 3, 1891. 



Wisconsin Bee-KeeBcrs' Convention. 



benj, e. eice. 



The Southwestern Wisconsin Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met, pursuant to 

 call, in the Court House, in Lancaster, 

 Grant county. Wis., March 25, 1891, 

 and was called to order by the President, 

 at 1 o'clock p.m. 



The Secretary read the proceedings of 

 the two previous meetings, and, after 

 striking out one clause, the minutes 

 were adopted^as read. 



The Treasurer's report w^as adopted as 

 read. 



A motion was adopted that a commit- 

 tee of three be appointed to draft reso- 

 lutions: N. E. France. R.P.Greene, 

 and Bernard Bartholomew were ap- 

 pointed as such committee. 



"Other occupations that pay to com- 

 bine with bee-keeping," was the title of 

 an essay by Mr. Prideaux. 



Mr. Prideaux asked how best to feed 

 bees in Spring, and it was decided that it 

 was best to feed inside of the hive, and 

 the pepper-box feeder seemed to be the 

 favorite. 



Spring dwindling was dwelt on at some 

 length, and much information elicited. 



"How can a queen be kept, after 

 being hatched, until she is wanted."' 



Mr. France's method, to cage in the 

 usual way, and suspend in any strong 

 colony, met with the most favor. 



" What birds are the most destructive 

 to bees," was the next subject, and was 

 introduced by Edwin Pike, whose experi- 

 ence was that the King Bird was the 

 most destructive, and they should be 

 killed whenever found among bees. The 

 Pewee and Flycatcher w^ere described, 

 a.nd while the King Bird is the most 

 ferocious, yet the Pewee and Flycatcher 

 do great harm among bees, and should 

 be killed. It is not wanton destruction 



