ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. 



43 



than to take their chances on what might 

 happen later. 



In the meantime Russia collapsed, and 

 things began to look dark for the allies. 

 _ Predictions were made, and are still being 

 made, that the war will last a year, and 

 might continue for five years. In the 

 meantime the central powers made a dip 

 down into the Italian line. It was known, 

 also, that the submarine menace had not 

 been met. Prices of food stuffs began to 



there is not much extracted or comb honey 

 left, and buyers are out everywhere trying 

 to get honey. 



He should remember, however, that it 

 costs about a cent a pound to get honey 

 from the producer to the market; and there 

 are other expenses such as draj^age, liter- 

 age, leakage, etc., that will absorb another 

 cent. The buyer vnll not work on a closer 

 margin than one cent, and he will get two 

 or three if he can. Producers should re- 



E. R. ROOT, 



take an upward trend, including honey; 

 and now honey has reached a figure in 

 large lots that is higher than wai ever 

 known before in the history of bee-keeping; 

 and the man who sold at 11 and 12 cents 

 for extracted is berating himself and the 

 buyer for having sold at 12 cents; for he 

 discovers in the bee-journals thdt some of 

 the big markets are quoting extracted 

 honey aroimd 15 cents, with still an up- 

 ward trend. He has also discovered that 



member that when the market is quoted 

 at 15 cents it will mean 12 or 1? f. o. b. 

 his station. No matter how high prices 

 for honey got there, they are there and 

 there is no use in denying the fact. No 

 one could tell in advance that Russia 

 would collapse, and that Italy would suffer 

 a reverse. No one could tell that the war 

 would continue, and that prices would 

 stiffen after the first of October; but they 

 have done so. The lesson that comes to 



