152 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



downright satisfaction from an act, it 

 was this spring- when, in looking over 

 my colonies, I found one short of stores, 

 and simply hung in two solid combs of 

 honey and said "There, that ends that." 

 Whatever honey is left after saving out 

 these spare combs will be extracted. 

 Any colonies found short of stores will 

 be fed. With me, the work of doing 

 this is no more than would be that of 

 sorting over the combs and putting in 

 those heavy with honey, while the sugar 

 syrup is cheaper, and, really, superior, 

 as a winter food. 



An Explanation — No Intention of Criti- 

 cising the Detroit Convention. 



It will be remembered that I expressed 

 surprise last month because Bro. York 

 of the American Bee Journal included 

 the Detroit convention among those that 

 were poor from lack of work on the part 

 of the Secretary. I felt sure, at the time, 

 that there was a mistake somewhere, and 

 the following letter is just about what I 

 expected to receive: 



W. Z. Hutchinson, 



Flint, Mich. 



Friend W. Z.:— I notice what you have 

 to say on page 1 17 of the April Review. 

 Your position is all right. Of course, 1 was 

 wrong in including the Detroit convention, 

 as that meeting was a fine one, and you, 

 as Secretary, certainly did your part 

 well. The fact is, however, that the 

 San Antonio meeting, the one at Harris- 

 burg, and the one at Sioux City, were 

 not what they should have been, es- 

 pecially the last two mentioned. 



I am not certain that the reporter at 

 Sioux City got down what I said exactly 

 as I said it, but you may be sure I did 

 not intend any reflection upon yourself, 

 as to the Detroit convention, for that was 

 a well-planned meeting, and you got 

 out perhaps the best and most elaborately 

 printed program the National convention 

 ever had. I am glad to apologize to you 

 for including yourself in the criticism 

 referred to, for, as you say, I would not 

 knowingly and intentionally misrepresent. 

 Of course, you were at the Detroit con- 

 vention as everybody else knows who 

 was there. 



Very truly yours, 



George W. York. 



Selling the Honey Crop to the Best 

 Advantage. 



"Did you ever stop to think that you 

 spend all of your season producing your 

 crop of honey, and then sell it in about 

 fifteen minutes?" I came across the 

 foregoing sentence in a circular just sent 

 out by the energetic, enterprising secre- 

 tary of our Michigan, State Bee Keepers" 

 Association. It is true that we bend 

 every energy to the successful wintering 

 of our bees; we make chaff hives, or pro- 

 tect the bees with some kind of packing, 

 or we put them in the cellar and then 

 watch the temperature as a mother 

 watches her sleeping child; we feed the 

 bees in the spring if they need it; we 

 coax them into the supers by means of 

 "bait" sections; we lift and sweat and 

 suffer stings; and, finally, crate up our 

 beautiful product with loving care; and 

 then, as Bro. Tyrrell says, some of us 

 sell it in about 15 minutes. 



The indifference exhibited by some 

 producers in disposing of their crop is 

 certainly exasperating. We can't all 

 peddle our honey; we can't all sell it 

 to retailers; we can't all build up a mail 

 order trade; some of us must sell to 

 wholesale dealers, or consign to com- 

 mission men; but, in any case, there is 

 no excuse for the lack of interest, the 

 indifference, the "I'll-take-whatever- 

 you'11-give-me" spirit. 



In other lines of business, production is 

 looked upon as only one-half the problem. 

 Selling-plans are studied over, worked 

 out, prosecuted, and regarded as of as 

 much importance as those of production. 

 For each bee keeper there is some par- 

 ticular plan of selling honey that is best 

 for him. It is quite likely that many 

 men are now following the plan that is 

 best for them; but it is equally evident 

 that thousands of men ate not; men who 

 might materially increase the revenue 

 from their crops of honey by some change 

 in their plan of selling; or by giving 

 more care and thought to the plan already 



