ILLIXOIS STATE BEE-KEEPE«S ASSOCIATION". 



F 



79 



honey, both at retail and whrfesale. Mr. 

 Bull is chairman of that committee, and he 

 will report on the subject. He will also 

 eive the Treasurer's report. 



Mr. Bull — There isn't very much to the 

 treasurer's report. We had cash on hand 

 to start with a vear ago, $30.82, and we 

 received by dues, $72.00. Of this, $24.00 

 was sent to the Illinois State Association 

 for our membership at 50 cents a member, 

 and we received $14.82 expenses allowed 

 by the Association for printing and postage 

 a vear ago. Altogether our receipts were 

 $110.89. Expenses were $82.27. Cash on 

 hand up to this morning was $28.62. That 

 doesn't include what I took in here to-dav. 

 There was $28.62 still in the treasury this 

 morning. (Applause.) 



Mr. R. A. Burnett— Mr. President, I ' 

 move that the Treasurer's report be 

 accepted and made a part of the record. 



j\lr. Kanneberg — JNIr. President, I second 

 that motion. 



The President — It is moved and seconded 

 that the Treasurer's report be accepted and 

 made a part of the record. Those in favor 

 signify it by saying aye; opposed, no. 

 (Motion carried.) We will now hear from 

 i\Ir. Bull in regard to the committee. 



Mr. Bull — In regard to that price com- 

 mittee, we made up a list of bee-keepers 

 of about six hundred name.?, in the four 

 states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and 

 INIicbigan, and we had a few names out- 

 ride of that. We sent out three letters to 

 each one of those names, faaking eighteen 

 hundred letters, all told. The printing u as 

 $22.82, po.staae, $18.00. Paid out for 

 help $13.50; total, $54.32 for eighteen 

 hundred letters, practically three cents 

 apiece is what it cost. That will be taken 

 up a little further, and I will say more on 

 it later. 



Mr. Kanneberg — INIr. President, that is 

 paid, that bill, isn't it? 



The Secretary — This bill is all paid; it 

 is all counted in, in this report. 



The President— We have a paper by Mr. 

 Hassinger. 



THE VALUE AND MORAL EFFECT 

 OF THE "PRICE COMMITTEE." 



(By Edwaid Hassingcr. Jr.) 



No doubt the value and moral effect of 

 the price committee may be under-esti- 

 mated or over-estimated; according to each 

 individual's experience. I would like to 

 call your attention to my personal ex- 

 perience and at the same time emphasize 

 . the necessity and importance of a price 

 committee, as I see it now, after noting 

 the effect same had this season. 



Conditions were such that before the 

 final crop reports were at hand I felt like 

 a lost man in a desert must feel. In my 

 locality a good crop of honey was harvested, 

 but what pnce to ask I was at a loss to 

 know; all I could do was to use my judg- 

 ment from all sources of available informa- 

 tion; with all the journals as monthlies 

 now, the time between issues is much too 

 long to help us much and the reports were 

 so conflicting that they really were of 

 little value. 



When the first letter came from the price 

 committee, it was a distin^'t relief from 

 being lost in the dark — it was something to 

 go after, a goal to reach, something stand- 

 ard: it was authority and could command 

 some respect. It has the power through 

 suggestion to create a standard price. 



I believe the time will come when we 

 must realize that supply and demand are 

 not as important in making a price as most 

 of us are inclined to believe, providing of 

 couise something is done to eQ.uali?;e dis- 

 tribution over the gieate.st area of territory, 

 and extend it from one season to another. 

 T knew about what honey was; worth, but 

 the question was what can I get, and how 

 do I know that I may not get stung^ All 

 conditions were too uncertain and un- 

 reliable. Is it any wonder that the pro- 

 ducers who do not even read a journal are 

 afraid they cannot sell their honey when 

 thej' get a crop and will sell for whatever 

 may be offered them? 



We must help ouise]\es by helpintr 

 others; we must tell them what honey is 

 worth and back it up with and by authority, 

 "a price committee;'' but that is not all; 

 some of us must make a sacrifice to lead, 

 and inspire others to follow. Here is where 

 the moral effect comes in; personally, I 

 sacrificed 50 per cent of my local trade 

 this deason by asking from two to three 

 cents per pound more than most of the 

 smaller producers did. and I neverhesitated 

 to tell customers that they could buy 

 honey cheaper from others if they thought 

 my price was high. .Asa rule, such people 

 already knew that they could get honey 

 for lecis money from others, so it made 

 little difference, and I always told them 

 that those that were selling for less did 

 not know what it was worth, and that 

 they should buy from them because Mie 

 price was sure to go up still higher. 



Some of these producers experienced such 

 a demand that they began to sit up and 

 take notice, thinking that they were really 

 selling too cheap and could raise the price 

 and still sell for less than a few of us did; 

 in the meantime the ikw of us would again 

 raise the price, etc. You will readily per 



