THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



23 



who ask for credit as distributors of 

 bee hives are men without comtnercial 

 ratin<;-. How much more difficult must 

 be the task of the dispenser of bee iiive 

 cretiits. As the risk increases, so 

 must the mari,'"in of profit, to cover the 

 risk incurred, so that the fellows who 

 do pay must also pay for the fellows 

 who never pa}'. 



We have here a rang'e of prices be- 

 ^"•inding- with the cash carload buyer at 

 85 cents per hive for 8-frame 1^2 story, 

 and increasinj^ under the varj'ing- con- 

 tions of credit and quantity until the 

 purchaser of one hive set up and 

 painted pays S2.46 without sections and 

 foundation, or S2 85 complete and ready 

 for tlie bees. Does it require a Sher- 

 lock Homes to discern the remedy' ? 

 Org-anize ! Co-operate ! Employ the 

 man from New York to do all the buy- 

 ing- for all the bee-keepers ! Form one 

 vast co-operative association, and every 

 member will g-et supplies at the lowest 

 rate ! It is being done in spots, all 

 over the country. Wh^' not let the 

 movement become general ? In my 

 localit}' an association bearing the 

 name of the St. Croi.x Vallej' Honey 

 Producers' Association has 110 mem- 

 bers. A two-leaf circular is the extent 

 of its earthly posses'iions. The asso- 

 ciation actually distributed from April 

 1904 to May 1905 about $1400 worth of 

 bee hives and supplies. The purchaser 

 of one bee hive g:ot it for $1.02 and 

 freig-ht; the user of 1000 No. 1 sections 

 got them for $3.00 at any time through 

 the season, local freight added. The 

 officers and managers of that associa- 

 tion received the sum of $52 for their 

 year's services. The association pro- 

 duced and sold for cash at the car door 

 three carloads of honey. The manager 

 of the association received $19 for his 

 services in the marketing of honey. 

 The bee-keeper paid the short price for 

 his supplies and received the long- price 

 for his product. The same thing has 

 been going on for y-ears in Colorado. 

 The continued success and harmony of 

 the Colorado Hone}' Producers' Asso- 

 ciation is a case in point. 



The co-operative committee of the 

 Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Association is 

 battling against the odds of an org-an- 

 ization under the control of a leading 

 supply house, with the result that 

 largely added membership pledged to 

 co-C'peration will shortly overturn exist- 

 ing affairs and elect new officers 

 pledged to co-operation. 



We must not be too narrow in our 

 vision or comprehension. I have <'r r . n 



you the state of affairs as it exists to- 

 day for the purpose of mutual benefit. 

 There is reason on both side^. The 

 bee-keeper who keeps bees for profit 

 cannot afford to p 12.85 for h-s hives. 

 Neither can the manufacturer afford to 

 sell a well-made bee-hive from good 

 material at 85 cents. He does so at a 

 loss, and if all his sales are made on 

 that basis it is only a question of time 

 when that manufacturer will suspend. 



Bj' the way, had you heard of the 

 recent advance in the price of shop 

 lumber ? It is getting scarce and row 

 commands a price of $3 or $4 per thous- 

 add more than one year i\go. Then 

 there are the requirements of standard 

 g-Qods. Tlie lumber must be clear, sur- 

 face smooth two sides, % thick. There 

 are only a few mills that saw lumber 

 that will season out and surface two 

 sides %. All St Croix and Missis- 

 sippi river mills cut green %, and 

 when seasoned out viill barely skin ^4. 

 A large box manufacturer and lumber 

 dealer recently remarked to me "It 

 will only be a year or t^vo more that 

 you fellows can cultivate that J-i fad." 

 It is only the extreme northern mills 

 that cut for the eastern market that can 

 supply the full inch shop lumber, and 

 as each mill completes its cut the circle 

 of available material rapidly dimin- 

 ishes, and in consequence the price 

 goes up. 



There is no doubt about it — the soft 

 white pine full "4 thick is the best bee- 

 hive on the market. A beehive may be 

 made from clippings and scraps from 

 some wood pile, scant thickness and 

 mixed quality of material — some white 

 pine, some Norwaj', some cross- 

 grained, cross-breeil material — and sold 

 for less money than the standard g'-oods, 

 but the qualit}' is not there, and in the 

 long run it will be found that the 

 standard goods will outlast the cheaper 

 artic e. 



Nowhere will the well-tried maxim 

 prove more true than the purchasing- of 

 bee-hives — "The best is the cheapest." 



Springing up in a few places in the 

 country are co-operative associations 

 that have done rnuch in the way of as- 

 sisting their members in the purchase 

 of their supplies and ijt the sale of their 

 honey. Co-opsration in a National 

 way has not yet proved a success — may 

 never be a success — but these smaller, 

 local, co-operative associations have 

 been successful. California has one or 



