Feb. 28, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



133 



" sweet by-and-by," or order honey puslit onto the market, 

 which means to give it away. Looks gloomy, doesn't it ? 



Honey-producers are so scattered, the product so limited 

 in a given locality, that there is no inducement to put in 

 proper facilities for the handling of the goods. Comb 

 honey is somewhat regular and has a reasonable standing, 

 but extracted, as handled by most producers, must not get 

 out of sight of the producer until it is eaten, for you know 

 he »iust '■ take it bac/c ami lique/y it." While almost every 

 other product can be sold at any and all times, and for spot 

 cash, honey must beg to be taken in dribs ! 



Tell me, if sugar would go liquid in the grocery, must 

 the manufacturers take it back and regranulate ? Is there 

 any other product aside from extracted honey that must re- 

 main under the oversight of the producer or manufacturer 

 until consumed ? Answer me that, and you may have a 

 little consideration for the custom of " taking back "' honey 

 to liquefy. If we must liquefj', then good-by to the indus- 

 try as a settled business, or extracted honey as a staple. 

 But I am slightly digressing. 



Since it is so that the honej' product is scattered, pro 

 duced by littles here and there, it comes that there is no 

 ready market for it locally. True, each producer sells more 

 or less about home ; but the trouble is, we who are poor and 

 must realize on our product, and do it quickly, can not wait 

 months to deal out in little dribs a small crop of honey. 

 Those who produce by the littles — a few hundred pounds of 

 honey, a few acres of corn, of apples, wheat, and of such 

 a few bushels : a half dozen hogs, one or two beeves, etc. — 

 such are the masses, and are the people that must and will 

 sell, and just as soon as possible after the product is avail- 

 able. These small producers are said to ruin prices, and 

 the charge is true to a limited extent. But can we blame 

 these people ? and after all what can we do ? They are at 

 the mercy of the more opulent buyer, or they perhaps must 

 realize, and that quickly, and since there maj' not be a de- 

 mand for their product and it is too small to ship to distant 

 points, they are practically compelled to force the market, 

 and the stock sells for less than its real and true value, and 

 so prices are not what they should be. 



It is necessary, then, that provision be made whereby, 

 especiallj' the small producer, may have a market for his 

 product. The large producer is told to buy up the little lots 

 and so get them out of the way, but large producers have 

 difficulties to face, too. It does not take many little lots to 

 require several hundreds of dollars — even thousands — to 

 buy them. The large producer has to face the fact that if 

 he competes in the general markets, and with other large 

 producers and shippers, he must produce and ship in car- 

 lots, and to do this causes him to reach out to the limit of 

 his own capital and ability. Yes, even the large producers, 

 too, are struggling to keep from being eaten up by the still 

 larger fish. 



In these days when our products are transported hun- 

 dreds and thousands of miles to be distributed — in reality 

 exchanged for other products which we have not in our own 

 localities, but which we think we must have, and social con- 

 ditions almost compel us to have — there »iust be facilities 

 for carrying out the exchange economically. 



Look again at the immensity of the systems of trans- 

 portation of products. The packing companies have their 

 special cars. Then there are the fruit-cars specially de- 

 signed to transport fruits and deliver them successfully at 

 distant points ; and grain, sheep and cattle cars. Not only 

 this, but everywhere distributed thruout the country are 

 both the gathering and distributing facilities. The large 

 cities have their commission-houses with a side honey de- 

 partment, but what of it ? Small producers, 500 or 1,000 

 miles from these places, do not want to consign. They can 

 not aflfora the local freights and other expenses. The 10 or 

 20 cases of comb honey of the small producer, mean more 

 to him than do the hundreds of cases of the large producers 

 and commission and otherdealers to them. These small pro- 

 ducers have honey to sell, and must sell. 



What we want, then, most of all, is the facilities for 

 gathering the product and relieving the poor small pro- 

 ducer by paying him for his honey and wax. These facili- 

 ties must reach out from some central place and come close 

 enough to the little apiaries so that their product can be de- 

 livered to the buyer with the very minimum of railroad 

 freights. That such system is Z'cry much needed is surely 

 evident, but as yet the solution of the ditliculty is not clear. 

 Many difliculties lie in the way, yet none but can be over- 

 come. 



I shall not attempt to lay down set rules to govern in 

 working out this question, it can come only by co-operalion. 

 I say by co-operation, but not by it pure and simple, accord- 



ing to the general acceptance of the term. I think I know 

 enough of human nature to know that this Association can 

 not in open convention work out such problems and carr3' 

 them to completion. We have ideas as to what we need, 

 but how to obtain the results we do not know, each guessing 

 at what is needed and advising, yet there will be such diver- 

 sity of opinions that no tangible thing can be arrived at. 

 Your humble servant has been thru the mill and knovps a 

 few of the difficulties to contend with, how a convention 

 will wrangle, and suggest, and advise, and demand, etc., 

 then in the end tell a committee to go ahead and bring or- 

 der out of chaos, j-et not a dollar for the expense of doing 

 it. 



Discussion in convention is all right, and appointing 

 committees is all right, but committees need financial help. 

 Select for the committees straight, honest men — men who 

 are the most familiar with the business world and methods, 

 who have the facilities to obtain information and results. 

 Remember that we must do much as we can, not as we like. 

 We want to put our product as near where it ought to be as 

 possible, but in doing this we have great difficulties to sur- 

 mount. 



Having selected proper organizing committees and 

 given them necessary funds to carry on the work, empower 

 them to act — I would say almost absolute power. When 

 your committee runs against unforeseen stumps they can 

 not wait for another annual meeting to get instructions how 

 to pull up or get around that stump. They must act, so 

 give them full power. Here is the weak place — the people 

 can not or will not see the great difficulties in the way, get 

 discouraged, or jealous, or fault-finding. 



In organizing, remember that there are State and other 

 laws to comply with, there are business customs that 3'ou 

 can not ignore, that others have rights as well as you, and 

 that your purpose is not to set arbitrary prices and make 

 extravagant demands. You want to get in touch with the 

 whole world so far as possible, for in these day s even oceans 

 do not separate neighbors and co-operators. Strive to un- 

 derstand each other. Help others and thereby help self. 

 Two, three, or more, producers should sell together. Do not 

 think for one minute that there is or can be over-produc- 

 tion — no, never, while our neighbors just across the waters 

 are starving by the millions. 



When the bee-keepers are fully organized in a co-oper- 

 ative way, the head national office will know what j-ou and 

 I are doing, north, east, south, and west. The sub-State 

 offices will know what is known at the general head, and in 

 turn transmit to the various local branches or to the indi- 

 vidual members. Tho there is never over-production, there 

 is lack of distribution. Let us then co-operate that we may 

 ever)' one of us know what the crop is in every part of our 

 land. Let the distribution be equal, and the prices propor- 

 tionate according to supply and demand. 



Is it a mighty undertaking 7 Yes, but results would be 

 mighty. Will it harm anybody? Yes, just about as you 

 are harmed by the complete postal system that takes in al- 

 most the world and carries your mail almost for nothing. 



Do you catch the spirit ? Then proceed to co-operate. 

 Some are now at it. but hampered by the utter indifference, 

 jealousies, or greed, of the many. To help a brother helps 

 you ; to tear him down destroys both. R. C. Aikin. 



Pres. Root — The matter is now open for discussion. 

 Mr. Aikin comes from a State where the)' have an organi- 

 zation that carried out some of the ideas he has advanced 

 here. They are not merely theoretical, but the)' are put in 

 practice and do produce results. Many of you probably 

 have not had any experience in this line and possibly do 

 not care to discuss it. 



Pres. Root — Dr. Mason has a matter that he wishes to 

 bring up before the Convention before we close. Are you 

 ready to present it at this time ? 



'Continued next week.) 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at SI. 00. 



The Premiums ofifered this week are well worth work 

 ing for. Look at them. 



