254 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



viduals are working independentli" and 

 without plans for mutual aid ; in other 

 words, without CO-OPERATION. 



In order that a convention should 

 take up these greater questions that are 

 calculated to be of great importance to 

 the whole body of bee-keepers, it must 

 be representative. This the Wisconsin 

 Bee-Keepers' Association can not claim 

 to be since only a mere handful ever 

 belonged to it or took any interest in 

 its deliberations. The present plan has 

 been tried long enough to prove its 

 utter failure to do the work that is 

 needed, therefore some forward step 

 should be taken, some new plan should 

 be formulated. 



A representative body that does not 

 represent is of no particular good to 

 the larger body. In order to represent 

 there must be delegated authority. This 

 leads me to suggest a plan for the re- 

 organization of Wisconsin bee-keepers. 

 The plan is this : To create local asso- 

 ciations in all parts of the state where 

 there are resident bee-keepers ; each as- 

 sociation to hold a meeting at least once 

 each year and that at that meeting to 

 appoint a delegate to a state convention, 

 which by reason of these delegates shall 

 represent the whole body. I have not 

 space in a paper like this to go into de- 

 tails regarding the work that such a 

 central organization should attempt but 

 I will say for one thing, that it should 

 establish uniform prices and grades. 

 The indiscriminate butchering of prices 

 should be stopped at once and forever 

 and this could be done, if in no other 

 way, by having the state association of- 

 fer" to "buy all the honey_ for sale in the 

 state under a certain price. 



This plan will undoubtedly work, 

 providing there can be enough bee- 

 keepers brought together in the local 

 associations to make their meetings suc- 

 cessful. Some such plan will have to 

 be adopted by the National before it 

 attains its full strength. But there is 

 one thing the article lacks — just Iwiv 

 would you start to form this plan of 

 organization, Friend Lathrop? 



Honey-Packages and Their Display. 



In the Auici'icau J^cc Journal, G. C. 

 Grenier goes after the tin honey-pack- 

 age in great shape. Read this : 



In the case of extracted honey, the 



package we use plays an important part 

 in pleasing the consumer. Not only 

 should it be tempting in appearance, 

 but it should not be too extravagant as 

 to its cost. From the accompanying 

 picture, which represents my weekly 

 display at our city market, it will be 

 seen that I use the standard glass top 

 Mason fruit-jar, pints and quarts. Al- 

 though I pay a good price for them — 

 much more than any of the many ad- 

 vertised tin containers would cost me — 

 they are the cheapest in the end. When 

 they are filled with water-white, spark- 

 ling clover hone\-, as I produce it in 

 my locality, with a finishing touch of a 

 neat, tasty label, and exhibited as shown 

 in the picture, it is not strange that my 

 wagon brings forth many exclamations 

 of admiration, and, as a consequence, 

 many sales follow. 



I admit that those tin packages have 

 a few good points, but to compare them 

 with the Mason jar and try to make 

 producers and consumers believe that 

 they are cheaper and better, is all talk. 

 Travel all the country over from north 

 to south, from east to west; go where 

 you may, you will find those tin pack- 

 ages on all garbage piles, not only by 

 the hundreds and thousands, but by the 

 millions. They are gathered up as soon 

 as they are stripped of their contents 

 and carted to some out-of-the-way place 

 as useless rubbish, but not one of those 

 distasteful ( ?) Mason jars can be 

 seen ! Every one that was sold with 

 honey and emptied is serving a profit- 

 able purpose in some family household, 

 while somebody's pocketbook has to 

 suffer for that endless waste of useless 

 tinware. 



Yes, Friend Grenier, I used to argue 

 the matter in the same old way. Had 

 honey put up in jelly glasses, pint, 

 quart, and two-quart Mason jars. Hon- 

 ey looked splendid. Also had a fancy 

 glass olive-bottle with a glass cover. 

 Sold lots of them to grocers, but the 

 grocer didn't sell them so well as the 

 jellies. And yet I am now using only 

 a plain tin pail holding ten pounds of 

 honey. Why? Because I believe we 

 have been catering too much to small 

 packages. Glass is heavy, expensive, 

 and easily broken. Anyway. I am pret- 

 ty well satisfied with the tin package for 

 retail trade. 



