HOITEYBEES AND HONEY PRODUCTION. 85 



the year in -whicli the war first diverted shipments to our 



shores. These imports reached 227,092 gallons during the 



first half of 1918, indicating a probable further material 



increase in the total this year. This imported honey is 



largely amber and dark types, used hitherto mostly for 



baking purposes, and usually competes only with similar 



grades of home-grown honeys. Most of the imports are to 



New York. 



Honey is also imported into the United States from the 



island possessions of Hawaii and Porto Rico. The Hawaiian 



imports are partly of a first-class honey, derived from the 



Algaroba, a leguminous shrub tree similar to the mesquite of 



the Southwest, and partly from honeydew, and have ranged 



in value from about $35,000 to $60,000. For the first six 



months of 1918 (to Dec. 31, 1917) the value increased by 



two-thirds over the total for 1917, representing the receipt of 



1,445,000 potmds of honey. Those of Porto Rico, principally 



from the guava and guama, both leguminous trees, and of 



fair quality, have mounted rapidly from a value of $17,904 



in 1911, the first year of substantial shipments, to $103,388 



in 1917. The value has already reached $219,843 for the 



first half of 1918, representing almost 2,000,000 pounds of 



honey. 



SUPPLY AND PRICES. 



The conditions obtaining years ago m connection with 

 honey production tended to the handling of honey rather 

 on the basis of a seasonal product than as a staple food for 

 use throughout the year. 



The bulk of the honey was produced by farmers as a side 

 line, the bees being given little attention and the honey 

 being produced at relatively httle expense. The crop was 

 marketed at low prices in the autumn, and stocks were usually 

 exhausted by the late winter. There was Httle demand and 

 practically no supply during the spring and early summer. 



Honey is now handled in a large way as a staple food 

 product, and this has been in part brought about and the 

 industry is being now largely shaped, through the influence 

 of commercial beekeeping, the production of honey as a 

 principal occupation, which calHng, while exceedingly 

 ancient, has had a rapid and interesting development during 

 recent years. The fact that bee diseases drive out of 



