44 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



we do not have the insect here at 

 all. Knowing this, I must infer that 

 there has been a mistake, and that the 

 honey that was so objectionable did not 

 come from Colorado. I hope that Mr. 

 Mandelbaum did not intentionally do the 

 bee-keepers here an injustice; but to let 

 that statement stand as it appeared, cer- 

 tainly does reflect, andinjustly, upon our 

 apiarists, and they feel the injustice, too. 

 I am sure Mr. A. P. Lee, the man who 

 bought the honey hereabotits, will say 

 that he saw no evidence of the wax moth 

 while he was among us. 



I must urge upon bee-keepers the ne- 

 cessity of organization. "Why should every 

 thing else be organized and we not ? Or- 

 ganize into some kind of a mutual concern 

 and take care of your own products. Do 

 not make a great big company that shall 

 come together as a body; and 25, 50, or 

 75 producers in convention try to do the 

 business of the whole concern; but band 

 together and select your best business men , 

 a few of them, to do the business for the 

 rest, and pay them for doing it. These 

 directors or managers can keep posted 

 about supply and demand, and can hold 

 up prices to somewhere near vvliere they 

 ought to be. 



Take as an illustration what Mr. Man- 

 delbaum tells us in his article. He tells 

 us that had his firm " been agents for the 

 honey producers, we would have held 

 every pound of their extracted at 10 cents, 

 at producing points, because we knew 

 of the shortage and requirements of 

 the trade, but much of the honey was 

 sold at producing points at 6 cents per 

 lb. ' ' etc. His firm knew the honey ought 

 to bring 10 cents, yet paid 6 cents and 

 wanted it for less. 



Now, proper organization and business 

 methods would bring to the notice of pro- 

 ducers many things they cannot other- 

 wise know, and can veiy easily advance 

 the price 10 to 20 per cent. Why should 

 buj'ers go about among producers and 

 offer five cents for honey that is worth 

 much more, and because they can buy 

 from my neighbor at that, use it for a 



lever to pull me to the same price ? Just 

 such things are done, and will continue to 

 be done, until we organize and post our- 

 selves. I know of a good many bee- 

 keepers that, because of organization and 

 co-operating, stiffened up the price so 

 that they received more than enough to 

 pay for the expense of their organization, 

 over and above what they would have re- 

 ceived had they sold independently. 



Organization means that we shall better 

 understand each other, grade Vjetter, pack 

 and market, and improve in all the details 

 of the business. It is better for the pro- 

 ducer because it will nut our pursuit on a 

 better business basis; and better fof the 

 buyer or middle man because there is 

 more system and regularity in what* he 

 gets from us. Through organization and 

 system in preparing for and placing upon 

 the market our product, is imperative; 

 and we owe it to ourselves and patrons to 

 accomplish it. We are charged with very 

 unbusiness like ways, and we are guilty. 

 By business I do not mean the sharp ques- 

 tionable methods practiced by many, as 

 taking advantage of the weak or ignorant, 

 but straightfoward, fair and honorable 

 methods of attaining a high and efficient 

 system in our operations. 



LovEivAND, Colo. , Jan. 30, 1900. 



OMMENTS ON MR. MAN- 

 DELBAUM 'S ARTICLE IN 

 DECEMBER REVIEW. BY 

 \\\ A. H. GILSTRAP. 



It appears to me, as a honey producer, 

 that Mr. Mandelbaum's article in the 

 December Review has some splendid 

 points; also some that should not pass 

 without challenge. 



Various phases of the honey business 

 look one way to Mr. Mandelbaum, and, 

 of necessity, another way to me. He 

 buys large amounts to sell again. I pro- 

 duce small amounts to sell — but little over 

 18 tons in my best year. The most de- 



