Arizona republican., 1899-02-04
THE TRADE IN HONEY.
Another Profitable Field for American
 Agricultural Industry.

The export of American honey to foreign countries, which were Ot the value of S22, 900 for the fiscal year end ing July 1, 1897, amounted to $100,000, or four times as much, for the fiscal year ending July l, 1898, and there is a steady increase in the business done in this article of commerce, which heretofore has been generally in the form of imports into the United States of honey from foreign countries. In the fiscal year of 1897 the amount of honey imported into this country was twice as great as the amount eXpOrt- ed, but from present indications the disparity will hereafter be on the other side
 From report recently published in the Westminster Gazette in England, it appears that the present home sup ply of English honey is inadequate. Every year the English have to import 2,250, 600 pounds, of which the declared value is $150 900. Among the cOun- tries engaged in supplying their mar kets with this product the principal ones are the United States, Chilli ard Peru. No statistics of the quantity of honey produced in the United King dom are obtainable, though every other country of Europe has figures T year 1000 tons of honey, which is equivalent to 14,000,00O pounds, and considerable amount of the honey used in England is imported from Ireland, but how much is not known, as it does not enter into the item of foreign com merce. The American facilities for furnishing not only England but other countries as well with honey are great and increasing. Thirty years ago the product of American honey was 15, ,000,- 900 pounds for all the states. Twenty years ago the product was 25,000,000 pounds, and ten years ago it had risen to 65,O00,00O pounds.
 There has been a wonderful advance ment in the honey produced during the past years. In 1879 only twelve states produced more than a million pounds Of honey each and only two more than 100000 pounds, and Illinois, Califor- mia, Missouri and New York, in the order named, produce above 100000 pounds. The agricultural reports sholw the increase jn honey product to be steadily continuing, and the pro- duct to be sufficient for home con sumption and to leave balance for eX- port. One state in which the honey supply is rapidly increasing, which is geogra phically we'll placed for the eX-
 
 estimated that hive of 5000 bees pro- duces about fifty pounds of honey yearly and multiplies tenfold in five years. All the western states have been seeking in recent years to develop their honey product, but they appear to have no monopoly of it, for strong competitor, well situated for purposes of foreign exportation, is Texas, and still another is Oregon. The honey product of New York is considerable in amount and increasing and the facilities for its shipment are, Of course, excellent.
 One difficulty with which American dealers in honey have had in the past to meet has been the infefior knowl- edge which many of them nave had of apiary culture as a separate science in farm matters. They have taken to bee raising as an incident of agriculture, with the result that until a few years ago the average production of honey to the hive was about one-half as much in the United States as in those cCun- tries in which bee culture is carried on scientifically. With greater familiar ity with the matter, larger fund of general knowledge and the use of new appliances and progressive methods, | the American bee cultuIists have been going ahead rapidly of late years, un- til they now rank with those Of other | countries in which the care of bees has | been almost a matter of tradition, and | their excellence in this particular is shown by the very marked increase which there las been in the American | product of honey.-New York Sun.