300 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



When the farmer has a crop of grain harvested, and ^'^ants 

 some money, he dumps this crop into the elevator, and takes the 

 price that the supply and demand of the world has set. But when 

 the beekeeper gets his crop of honey, he takes it to the store and 

 tries to make an elevator out of the last end, instead of the first 

 end of the general course of merchandising. As a consequence his 

 market is woefully flooded, the price has taken an awful fall, and 

 he don't think much of the bee business. 



Because of this overstocking the grocer gets a lot of granu- 

 lated honey on his hands, and he thinks less of the honey business. 



Then again the beekeeper thinks the grocer can sell his honey 

 for a good price, whether the flavor and quality suit the people of 

 that community or not. 



Under the above conditions, there have been towns in Iowa, 

 where good comb honey was selling for three sections for 25 cents. 

 It was slow sale at that, with no demand for extracted honey at all. 

 This same honey would have found a good market in other places 

 at 25 cents per section, and 10 pound pails would readily bring $2.00 

 each. 



This is not entirely the beekeepers' fault, but the fault of the 

 honey marketing system, or rather the lack of any system at all for 

 marketing it. 



The greatest drawback of all is the ignorance of the consumer 

 as to what honey really is. One is accustomed to clover honey, an- 

 other to basswood, another to buckwheat, another to California, 

 orange or sage, and when they get a honey of a different variety, 

 they at once cry ''adulteration." 



Then again there comes to the wholesaler a demand for honey, 

 and he in turn sends in an order to some packer of syrups or pre- 

 serves. Now this man don't know honey, or anything about the 

 different grades, so he buys the cheapest pure honey he can get 

 from some large produce dealer or importing concern, regardless of 

 color or flavor. 



He in turn packs it for the wholesaler with the result, that 

 everybody along the line is disgusted with honey. 



There are some firms packing honey that understand the grad- 

 ing and handling of it, but there are many others of the kind of 

 Vv^hich we have just spoken. 



What the beekeeping industry needs, is more honey educated 

 packers. 



Now for unripe honey. Honey that has not been thoroughly 

 capped and ripened in the hive, is very apt to sour; and never has 



