THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



117 



honey. We supposed that was the usual 

 practice; but we received so many com- 

 plaints, that the time spent in correspond- 

 ence in trying to straighten out matters 

 was worth about as much as had been 

 gained. Since then, we have put in 

 60 pounds of honey. 1 was taKing on 

 this point last fall with an extensive pro- 

 ducer of extracted honey, and he defended 

 the practice of weighing in the can. He 

 said the producer had to buy this pack- 

 age, and, unless he weighed it in, he 

 received no pay for it. It was worth 

 something to the purchaser, and he 

 ought to pay for it. He cited lard and 

 other goods put up in packages, as being 

 gross weight. 



I think it really makes little difference 

 which practice is followed. In any event 

 the producer must get his pay for the 

 package. If he weighs it in he gets his 

 pay for it. If he puts in a certain number 

 of pounds, net weight, then he must 

 charge more per pound for the contents. 

 Which practice shall prevail depends 

 somewhat upon circumstances. I doubt 

 if any product is sold in large quantities, 

 at wholesale, and the package weighed 

 in. No dealer in honey would buy a 

 barrel of honey, and weigh in and pay 

 for 50 pounds of barrel. The same way 

 with a barrel of sugar, lard, etc. But 

 when it comes to putting up these com- 

 modities for the retail trade, I think the 

 usual practice is to weigh in the package. 

 Take the breakfast foods, for instance, I 

 believe that the packages are weighed 

 in. The packages must be paid 

 for, and it is likely that this practice 

 secures the object with the least friction. 

 It is not a question of honesty or dis- 

 honesty, unless there is an attempt to 

 lead the purchaser to believe that he is 

 getting net weight, when it is gross. It 

 is largely a matter of what is the usual 

 practice; but it ought to be made as 

 uniform as possible. If it is understood 

 that honey by wholesale is to be net 

 weight, and retail packages are to be 

 weighed in, it might simplify matters 

 somewhat. 



An E-xplanation Needed. 



Recently, in looking over the report of 

 the Sioux City convention of the 

 National, I came across a place where 

 Bro. York, of the American Bee Journal, 

 attributed the slim attendance at some 

 of the meetings to a lack of work on the 

 part of the Secretary. In part, he said: 



The last three meetings, in a measure, 

 have been very poor as to the program. 

 At the San Antonio meeting the Secretary 

 was not present and neither a year ago 

 nor this year. That certainly is not 

 right. We have a membership of 3,500, 

 and still in the past three years we have 

 not had a secretary who has wholly done 

 his duty. That is pretty plain talk, but 

 it is true. It is a shame in a member- 

 ship of that size that we cannot find 

 someone who will do the duty of Secre- 

 tary as it ought to be done. 



It is probable that, in part at least, 

 Bro. York is in the right, and I stand 

 ready to manfully bear any deserved 

 criticism, but I am at a loss to see how 

 these strictures can be applied to the 

 Detroit meeting. 



As early as March, a full page cut 

 showing the place of meeting was sent 

 all of the bee journals, accompanied by 

 an article setting forth its advantages; 

 and, from that time on, until the con- 

 vention was held, very few copies of any 

 bee journal appeared without some item 

 of interest, regarding the coming con- 

 vention. 



In m.aking up the program, all of the 

 officers of the Association were consulted, 

 the great mass of bee keepers were ap- 

 pealed to through the journals for sug- 

 gestions, and many leading bee keepers 

 were consulted, privately, in regard to 

 topics and men to handle them. I gave 

 the matter my best thought and effort. 

 The program appeared in all of the bee 

 journals, besides being printed in pamphlet 

 form and mailed to all of the members. 



The amount of time and thought that I 

 gave in promoting the interests of that 

 convention were worth, to me, at least, 

 many times the salary paid, but it was a 

 matter of pride, and love for the Associa- 

 tion; and, when it was all over, it was 



