THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



329 



respect whatever, superior to honey as a 

 food. Moreover, butter is easier to pro- 

 duce; the skill required is no greater, and 

 the capital required is not any larger. 

 Perhaps you will say people must have 

 butter. That may be true in some 

 States, but it is not very true in the South 

 where hog and hominy are the staff of 

 life. In many countries butter is prac- 

 tically unknown; whereas, honey is used 

 all over the world. In my opinion, it is a 

 mere matter of prejudice whether a cer- 

 tain food is a necessity or not. For ex- 

 ample, most Americans think they must 

 eat meat to have their strength main- 

 tained, but just as capable people. 

 physically, exist in other parts of the 

 world, and they eat no meat whatever, 

 and quite a number of others eat very 

 little. 



Now, to get around to my point: It 

 seems to me this idea that honey to sell 

 at all must be cheap is quite firmly fixed 

 in the minds of many bee-keepers. In 

 my judgment, the sooner they get rid of 

 that notion the better for the bee-keeper's 

 trade. They should respect themselves. 

 Low prices cause city follcs to suspect 

 the purity of the honey. It also induces 

 the bee-keeper to lower the quality. It 

 seems to me most people expect to pay 

 a fair price for honey and they usually 

 do. 



It is the wholesalers and retailers who 

 profit by this present state of affairs; 

 particularly the latter. Last summer I 

 noted the retailers in New York were 

 asking 'and getting) 30 cents for a sec- 

 tion weighing less than a pound, while the 

 bee-keeper wasn't getting the /5a//of that. 



Moreover, I believe many well-to-do 

 city folks would pay 50 cents, or even 

 SI. 00, for real fancy honey if they could 

 get it. But it must be something extra 

 good. 



For years the bee-keepers of this coun- 

 try have had it dinned into their ears that 

 they must reduce expenses and produce 

 honey at low prices or go out of business. 

 Now let us change all that, and stand up 

 for a living price, such as other skilled 



laborers get. We not only have to ex- 

 hibit very considerable skill, but require 

 quite a considerable capital as well, if we 

 are to succeed in bee-keeping. Let us 

 drop all talk about low prices, and adopt 

 a very aggressive campaign of education 

 with the avowed object of educating the 

 American people into the belief that there 

 is nothing like honey for lubricating the 

 stomach. We may have to jump in and 

 advertise the honey business by holding 

 honey shows every fall in all our large 

 cities, but what of that? Others do it. 

 We do not have the terror of GLUCOSE 

 over our heads any longer, and honey is 

 a food which will stand any amount of 

 praise, so there is nothing to fear, there- 

 fore, the time has come, it seems to me, 

 to adopt a forward and aggressive policy. 

 If you want to see a small army of 

 specialist bee-keepers spring up all over 

 this country, just raise the price of honey 

 a little. There would be a general toning 

 up of the whole industry. 1 know this 

 hits you, and I intend it so. 1 want you 

 to sit up and take notice that a new era has 

 dawned on the bee-keeping business as a 

 business and not as a side-issue. 



Medina, Ohio, Sept. 14, 1907. 



I Friend Morrison, I know that luxuries 

 are usually expeiisive, and when honey 

 goes up in price, goes up too high, the 

 common people look upon it as a luxury, 

 and quit using it. In fact, they usually 

 look upon it as something of a luxury; 

 but, if it is cheap enough, and properly 

 brought to their notice, they will buy it. 



Friend Morrison says that the choice of 

 a food is largely a matter of "prejudice." 

 Perhaps some prejudice, but largely edu- 

 cation and habit. We have used potatoes, 

 butter, meat, etc., until v/e feel that we 

 must have them. Not so with honey. I 

 would have butter if I had to pay 50 

 cents a pound for it, but I wouldn't give 

 half that for a pound of comb honey, and 

 I presume the average person has very 

 similar views. 



But I am heart and soul with Bro. 

 Morrison when it comes to doing all we 



