

ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



119 



those bees — I will make what money 

 I can out of extracted honey and wax. 

 The agent of the Chicago, Milwaukee 

 & St. Paul said to me: "If you ship 

 those bees alive it will cost you $36.75 

 the car, but if you kill the bees and 

 just ship honey and wax it will cost 

 you $87.50." I shipped those bees alive, 

 and it was a bigger risk for the rail- 

 road. 



We have some work to do with the 

 railroads. The matter is up before the 

 Railroad Warehouse , Commission now 

 — but it takes a National organization 

 to do this. 



Then comes Substitutes for Honey. 

 Only a National organization can in- 

 vestigate there. 



Do you know what is being used for 

 substitutes now? 



There is a big firm now manufac- 

 turing honey syrup — 50 per cent Porto 

 Rican honey and 50 per cent corn 

 syrup, and they are putting it on the 

 market by carloads. 



How can we compete against that 

 stuff, where it costs only one-third 

 what the honey costs? And this fac- 

 tory that is manufacturing that stuff 

 is going to push you to the wall. 



Those matters should be taken up 

 by a National organization and see 

 what is to be done to protect the bee- 

 keeper. 



Then there is the matter of contain- 

 ers. 



Who is going to furnish the neces- 

 sary containers? Glass and tin is 

 going up tremendously. There ought 

 to be someone to make investigation 

 of the factories where those things 

 are made and let us know if next year 

 we can ship our honey at all. 



I asked a factory that makes jars 

 if they would not cut the price. They 

 told me: "If you want goods delivered 

 you have to order them now." They 

 are pushed for work and the prices 

 are climbing. Next year when you 

 want containers for honey, the chances 

 are you will not get them. Mason 

 jars are selling for $1.00 a dozen. 



What use is your honey to you in 

 big tanks if j^ou cannot put it on the 

 market; if you have to pay such a big 

 price for containers that you cannot 

 sell your honey at advantage? 



Then there is: Quotations on Honey 

 — Imports and Exports. There is no 

 end to those problems, ladies and 



gentlemen, that the National ought to 

 take up. 



I am sorry to say that more or less 

 misunderstanding about the National 

 has been in the past. Many people 

 are somehow prejudiced against the 

 National, but I believe the office of 

 the National is useful to its members 

 in constructive research finding out 

 facts for your use and information, and 

 it ought to help the bee-keepers of the 

 United States to get together and 

 agree on the fundamental success of 

 our bee-keeping fraternity, but, as long 

 as we are fighting as we are now, our 

 prices will get lower and lower every 

 year. 



Minnesota is not a comb honey pro- 

 ducer so we have no grudge against 

 those that sell it, but the little comb 

 honey that is produced in the state of 

 Minnesota has been selling in Minne- 

 sota for sixteen cents No. 1 fancy; and 

 our big stores have been buying it at 

 that price for years and years and 

 charging the retail trade $.25. 



About three weeks ago I came to 

 one of our big stores and saw some 

 beautiful A. No. 1 fancy honey on the 

 counter. I looked at it — C H. B. A. 

 Colorado honey. I said to the floor 

 walker whom I knew well: "That is 

 some beautiful honey." He said to me: 

 "You know how much I paid for it?" 

 "You probably got it cheap — about 

 thirteen cents?" "Less than that," he 

 says, and he winked at me, which 

 means that he got it below all expec- 

 tations. He paid for it 10% cents; 

 10% cents in Minneapolis delivered. 

 After the freight was paid from Colo- 

 rado, the packing and hauling — how 

 much do you think the bee-keeper in 

 Colorado got for it? If he got 8% 

 cents or nine cents for fancy, he was 

 doing well. 



I wish Colorado would send lots 

 more; we have to have it in Minne- 

 apolis — but I do say one thing — it was 

 unnecessary for that honey to be sold 

 at nine cents, because those firms in 

 Minneapolis used to pay $.16 for our 

 honey; he could have gotten $.15, and 

 it is simply because we are not or- 

 ganized that he did not receive more 

 for his honey. 



I discovered a man in Michigan who 

 sold a carload of honey for six and 

 one-half cents. When he sells it at 

 that price, why does he do it? He 

 thinks, if I don't, some other bee- 



