865 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 29, 1904. 



a great brotherhood of people working for the common 

 interest of all the bee-keepers of the United States — farm- 

 ers, specialists and all. 



Mr. Brown — This convention in Denver, two years 

 ago, appointed a committee, and I was one member of 

 it, to draw up plans by which an association of this kind 

 m'ight be formed. It is a fact that that committee did 

 go out and did report at our last convention in Los Angeles, 

 and the committee was appointed again, of which I was 

 made chairman, and I say it is proper at this time and in 

 this place for this thing to be brought up. It is not 

 necessary for this Association to be converted into this; 

 it is not the intention that it should be so; but this is the 

 place for us to take up this matter and protect ourselves 

 against this gigantic honey concern, this combination that 

 is combining and is crushing the life out of the honey 

 market Now I know whereof I speak when I speak 

 about this formation, and I can put my finger on them, 

 I can tell you exactly who those people are. It is not 

 well for me to give it out to the public, and have it go 

 into the press as to who these people are, but they do 

 exist- they do control affairs; they do control our honey 

 market today, and the thing for us to do is to organize 

 and meet these things with organization, and I say it is 

 properly in place before this convention. This matter 

 comes up today right in perfect line with our work. 

 Let us lend a helping hand to this new organization, and 

 let it not interfere in any way with this Association. 



Dr Bohrer — I hope the motion to appoint such a 

 committee will prevail, but like Mr. Abbott I do not want 

 to create a monster that will gobble us all up. That 

 some kind of organization is necessary is a fact, but be 

 careful how you organize. . , ,, ,,, ■ ,. 



Mr. Dadant— I cannot agree with Mr. Abbott in the 

 matter of the propriety of bringing this before the con- 

 vention. There is no greater interest among bee-keepers 

 than the selling of their crop, and where are we to dis- 

 cuss our intrests if not in our convention? Since I have 

 been here I have met a half dozen of our bee-keepers 

 who have asked me, "What are we going to get for our 

 honey?" "What shall I ask?" What answer can I give 

 them? The market prices are set by an organization. 

 These people are organized, and they are going to last; 

 you can't kill the trusts; you can regulate and tax them 

 but you cannot kill them. The only thing for us to do 

 is to organize, and you may call it a trust if you please. 

 I hardly think we can start with a capital of $50,000, 

 but I think we can and should start with a committee 

 that would tell our members, when they want to know 

 it, at what price they should hold their honey. They 

 can do it. If we simply stay together, and we will some 

 day, we will get our prices just the same as the Tin Can 

 Trust, and can probably produce honey cheaper then than 

 we can today by being organized. 



Mr. Coggshall — I want to take issue with Mr. Abbott. 

 There is a combination against honey producers. I went 

 into Syracuse and wanted to sell honey to the bakery 

 there, and they said, "You submit samples and send them 

 to Chicago, and then you will get your price." A com- 

 bination, as sure as you are born. 



Mr. Stanley — If there is any general combine in the 

 honey business I have failed to become a member, and 

 I believe Mr. Weber would testify in the same way, and 

 perhaps there are other large buyers. Perhaps in some 

 local way the merchants may be able to combine to fix 

 the price. I believe I would have found it out if it was 

 extensive. 



Mr. Hershiser — Evidently the gentleman who last 

 spoke is too small in the business to have been a mem- 

 ber of these combinations. I know these combinations 

 do exist, and exist in the shape of the National Bis- 

 cuit Company. I had occasion a year or two ago to sell a 

 carload of honey for a party in Arizona, and I submitted 

 samples of the honey to the branches of the National 

 Biscuit Company, and the samples were sent to Chicago 

 to be passed upon by the purchasing agent there, for all 

 the branches of the Buscuit Company, and the price was 

 fixed, and there was no deviation from it. There are a 

 lot of small individual buyers that I suppose do not be- 

 long to this organization. 



Mr. Stanley— I should have said I handle almost 

 exclusively comb honey, and we handled something like 

 300,000 pounds of it last year. 



Mr. York — I think perhaps some of us misunderstand 

 the paper. I think I did. Mr. Brown said there was a 



sort of combination that controlled the prices of honey. 

 I gathered from that that there was a combination of 

 honey dealers that was buying and selling honey. The 

 National Biscuit Company does not buy and sell honey. 

 They buy for their own purposes. As to Mr. Coggshall, 

 if he does not care to sell his honey at their prices he 

 need not do so. I know the National Biscuit Company 

 bought nine car-loads at one time, but I wouldn't consider 

 them a combination to fix the price of honey at all. They 

 are simply buyers for their own use. 



Mr. Hardy — There is one thing about this thing that 

 I don't understand, this matter of assigfiing stock. It 

 looks to me as though the small or ordinary purchaser of 

 honey is going to be left in the background. We in 

 New York State have joint organizations which take in 

 anybody, and make a State organization. He states a 

 capital of $50,000; the minimum amount of each share 

 is $100. Suppose, as we have in the United States, in a 

 great many sections ,peopIe that have no kind of organ- 

 ization, they belong to this National Association and 

 nothing else, now where is this $100 share coming from? 

 There is no man in an ordinary way keeping bees 

 but does his little local trade. In my case I get a little 

 more for my honey. Suppose they find out I am getting 

 more for my honey in my section, and suppose this 

 organization you propose to form finds that out, I have 

 either got to put in the $100 or else stay outside. They 

 are liable to rush in on my market, and flood me, so that I 

 will be obliged to take the lower price along with the 

 "common cattle." I would like to have a little enlighten- 

 ment on this matter. Is this $100 coming from our county 

 or State organization, or where? I am not willing to 

 trot after the band-wagon. If you can't be a bell-cow 

 don't be any. 



Mr. Dadant — The suggestion I made was especially 

 in regard to giving prices as guides. I realize the fact 

 that California and the East are entirely different. In 

 California there are large purchasers. Sometimes one 

 man will furnish several car-loads, or two men get to- 

 gether and furnish the car-load, and this matter of organ- 

 ization is much more important to them. But if there is 

 a central organization branching out, you would be very 

 glad to write to them to find out what honey is selling 

 for, and that they are setting the price of honey. If 

 you who deal in a small way in honey can find out honey 

 is selling for more than you are getting you certainly 

 will raise the price. If you have a central organization 

 which says, We will set the price at so much — it should 

 not be too much — and they tell you ahead what the price 

 will be, it will be a good thing; but if you are blind- 

 folded you will be at a disadvantage. 



Mr. Abbott — I understand the paper to mean just 

 what Mr. York thought. I thought Mr. Brown meant 

 that there was a combination of honey buyers and I 

 wanted to know about that. Another thing Mr. Brown 

 misunderstood, I do not object to discussing this ques- 

 tion here, or to giving out prices or anything, but the 

 thing I objected to was the formation of that commit- 

 tee here. I have no objection to Mr. Brown saying we 

 all want to organize, and then organize the whole Asso- 

 ciation if you want to into a company of that kind. I was 

 not opposing that. I simply wanted it understood I 

 didn't want this National Association to appoint the 

 committee to make another organization. The discussion 

 is on whether this committee shall be appointed or not ap- 

 pointed. 



Mr. Pressler — Is this committee to be the permanent 

 committee? 



Pres. Harris — No, simply to report back ways and 

 means. 



Mr. Pressler — There is no reason why this committee 

 should not be appointed. 



The President put the motion to appoint the com- 

 mittee, which on a vote having been taken was declared 

 carried. 



(Continued next week.) 



Please send us Names of Bee-Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get them 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



