receptacle in proportion to the value of the honey it contains. It cannot be too widely 

 known that honey can be kept without deterioration for months, or from year to year 

 if necessary, if stored in a dry place. The producer is, therefore, not compelled to 

 part with his crop immediately, as in the case of perishable produce. 



Prices for honey in Canada are as high as, or higher than, in nearly all countries 

 that take Canadian produce; consequently, practically no Canadian honey is exported. 

 It may here be remarked, however, that the members of the Ontario Bee-keepers' 

 Association have generously presented to our soldiers in France a considerable quantity 

 of Canadian honey which has been highly appreciated. Honey has also been supplied 

 by the Germans to their troops in the field, and, being a valuable fuel-food which is 

 much relished, it makes a very satisfactory ration. 



To keep up and improve the home demand for honey in competition with imported 

 and inferior sweets, such as cheap molasses and corn syrup, it is essential that the 

 supply should be large and increasing so that Canadian honey may be extensively 

 displayed for sale, causing its superior merits to be more widely known. At present 

 the greater part of the season's supply is sold soon after the crop is harvested, but it 

 might well be produced in larger quantities, so that it could be displayed in the stores 

 in quantity and sold steadily until spring. The industry cannot be said to be well 

 developed until not only this has been done, but an export trade has been established. 

 Extensive producers of honey sometimes deprecate attempts to increase the number 

 of bee-keepers in Canada for fear of over-production, but the lack of foundation for 

 this fear is shown by the fact that they usually sell their honey quickly at a satisfactory 

 price. Over-stocking a neighbourhood with bees has occurred in a few instances, but 

 apiaries are unevenly distributed, and for one over-stocked neighbourhood there are 

 thousands of first-rate locations that are without bees. 



The price of honey in 1915 has averaged a little lower than in 1914. This drop in 

 price has been brought about more by sympathy with the lowered American market 

 and the reduced buying power of the people than by an abundant supply, the crop 

 having been about an average one in the chief producing centres. However, the prices 

 are very firm, the good grain harvest in the west having helped to steady them. The 

 slight fall from the high price of 1914 is not discouraging, and will have its influence in 

 making Canadian honey more of a staple. 



Bee-keeping is a very healthful occupation, involving outdoor exercise in fine and 

 warm weather only — most of it in no sense laborious. Soldiers returning home in 

 broken health or partially disabled will find it a restorative and profitable vocation, 

 but those who have no knowledge of the business should not embark on it extensively 

 until experience has been gained. After the war many who formerly spent their lives 

 in offices or stores, having learned the benefits of fresh air, will respond to the cry of 

 "back to the land" and, doubtless, some will take up bee-keeping. 



THE MAPLE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



JOS. H. LEFEBVRE, Waterloo, Que., Secy., Maple Sugar and Syrup Association 



The maple sugar and syrup industry of Canada has shown a marked falling off in 

 production during the last twenty years. This was due to several causes, but chiefly to 

 the variability in the quality of the product, the difficulty in obtaining a pure unadulter- 

 ated article, and the lack of organization for marketing the output. The low prices 

 realized led, in some cases, to the cutting down of groves and the abandonment of the 

 industry. 



The Province of Quebec makes a specialty of this industry. The output of that 

 province in 1910, according to the Census, was 9,427,694 pounds of sugar and 984,282 

 gallons of syrup, valued at $1,680,000; while the Ontario output was valued at $831,480. 



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