tHE BEE-KEEPERS, REVIEW. 



are dishonest men in every calling, 

 and bee-keeping is no exception to the 

 rule. There will be those that will 

 not tote fair with the organization; 

 they will not only grade dishonestly, 

 but will be on the "beat" in every 

 way they can. Third, there are al- 

 ways some professional grumblers 

 who take delight in picking a flaw, 

 and in causing trouble in general, and 

 it is from this latter class that I ex- 

 pect the combine will suflfer most. 

 Fourth, we must consider the great 

 cost of operation; for the saving to 

 the bee-keepers must be great to bal- 

 ance the cost in salaried officers, tine 

 offices, office fixtures and expenses, 

 and the cost of traveling salesmen. 

 These things must not be overlooked 

 or bee-keepers may get themselves in 

 a hole that it will be hard to get out 

 off. Fifth, if the combine is to suc- 

 ceed, it must do away entirely with 

 wholesale dealers in honey, and must 

 sell to the retail merchants entirely. 

 They must do this if they expect to 

 make a solid showing; for, at present, 

 the bee-keepers sell largely to whole- 

 salers, and, if the combine should con- 

 tinue to so sell, there would simply 

 be another added cost— that of the ex- 

 pense of the combine. 



SHIPMENTS OF HONEY MUST BE DIRECT 

 FROM PRODUCER TO PURCHASER. 



From personal experience as a large 

 buyer and shipper, I know that if the 

 combine is to succeed it must make 

 all shipments direct from the produc- 

 ing point to the buyer; for success can- 

 not be attained by paying freight from 

 the local producing point to the cen- 

 tral office, and then paying freight 

 again to the selling point. Another 

 thing, by shipping direct, no large 

 warehouses will be needed, and the 

 combine will not be out insurance 

 money. 



TEXAS WIIvI, PRODUCE "BUI^K COMB 



HONEY" REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE 



"COMBINE" MAY THINK OR WISH. 



Then I fancy that the first thing the 

 combine would undertake to do would 

 be to make a demand that the South- 

 western producers quit putting up 

 bulk comb, and go back to section and 

 extracted honey, and, at the same 

 time, would endeavor to quash the 

 demand for bulk comb; which is stead- 

 ily growing, and which Texas alone, 

 although producing from 200 to 300 

 hundred cars each year, is no longer 

 able to supply. If the present demand 

 keeps up, it can only be supplied by 

 shipping honey from other states. 

 Bulk comb is now the honey almost 

 invariably called for in Texas, Okla- 

 homa and Indian Territory, and I un- 

 derstand that the demand has gone 

 into Kansas and Utah. Now, if the 

 combine should ever expect to control 

 the output of the Texaus, it must look 

 with favor on bulk comb honey, and 

 must do all in its power to give it an 

 equal showing in Texas and the Terri- 

 tories named. This honey is now 

 shipped in retail pacakages direct 

 from producer to retailer; and in this 

 method of disposing of honey Texas 

 may fairly claim to be ahead of all 

 others. Our honey is now packed in 

 retail packages, labeled, and shipped 

 direct from producing point to the re- 

 tailer and there is only one profit from 

 producer to retailer, and that is the 

 profit of the wholesale dealer in South- 

 west Texas; and it is my honest opin- 

 ion that he is in a position to pay 

 the bee-keepers a better price than 

 the combine could net them on their 

 honey, if sold by the combine. 



Then, again, Texas is ahead, In that 

 the bulk of the honey is sold as fast 

 as it comes off the hives; many times 

 the orders are in, weeks in advance, 

 so that by the end of the honey sea- 

 son, in July, every pound of honey has 

 been taken, shipped, and the prodccer 



