6f54 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



lock values time at 40 cts. i)er hour; but 

 there would certainly be a difference of opin- 

 ion among bee-keepers on this point. I 

 hired a tinsmith to do a job, and he charged 

 me 50 cts. i)er hour, and extra for materials, 

 such as solder and rivets. The same is true 

 of my blacksmith. A plumber did a small 

 job for me, and his time account was 60 cts. 

 per hour and extra for materials. AVhere 

 artesans get 40 cts. per hour a bee-keeper's 

 time ought to be worth at least that much, 

 for expert bee-keepers are surely as much 

 trained specialists as are artesans. I for one 

 consider my time and skill as equal or supe- 

 rior to thatof my ])lumber, and superior to 

 my tinsmith and blacksmith. 



According to Mr. Pollock's method of as- 

 certaining the legitimate price of honey, 

 .John Smith (merely one of the numerous 

 individuals of that name) with 400 colonies 

 of bees w^ould be selling his honey at a price 

 considerably lower than Sam .Jones with 

 but 100 colonies; and the Tom, Dick, and 

 Harry bee-keepers more or less numerous in 

 every honey-producing locality would cer- 

 tainly present a valuation on their time 

 that would vary according to their number. 



The Pollock "method of fixing the price of 

 his honey is novel as well as demoralizing 

 if adoption were attempted. Did you ever 

 hear of the price of wheat, hogs, or potatoes 

 being ascertained in any similar manner? 

 Such a method would require a different 

 price for not only every beekeeper but for 

 every producer of commodities. 



There is just one law by which the legiti- 

 mate price is fjxed — i. e., the law of supply 

 and demand. If you have high prices, one 

 of two things has happened: either the sup- 

 ply has in some manner been curtailed or 

 the demand in some manner increased; and, 

 conversely, if low prices i)revail, either the 

 supply is abundant or the demand has in 

 some manner been curtailed. 



The law of supply and demand is subject 

 to various influences which enable those 

 familiar with its application to make an un- 

 just use of it. The unscrupulous honey- 

 merchant will tell the bee-keeper that there 

 is a bumper crop of honey, notwithstanding 

 reliable advices of crop committees and edi- 

 tors who have taken particular pains to as- 

 certain the facts. On the one hand they 

 will, in extremely confidential mien, state 

 the offerings at nominal i)rices as being in 

 great number and volume when commnni- 

 cating with sources of sup])ly, and on the 

 other hand inquire with feverish excitement 

 of those sujiposed to be able to give reliable 

 information where they can get honey to 

 fill orders. Some will split hairs over qual- 

 ity, and resort to tricks to try to show up 

 honey to the poorest advantage M'hen pur- 

 chasing. Bv;t notwithstanding the outside 

 influences on supply and demand, the law 

 still holds good; and if the merchant can 

 fool the bee-keeper he does so at his own 

 profit and sells at the highest price at which 

 he can dispose of his holdings, regardless of 

 what his stock cost. 



Demand may be increased by finding new 



markets, and by stimulating the trade you 

 already have to take more of your goods. 

 Whatever price you are able to obtain for 

 your honey is legitimate. No fear need be 

 entertained of getting moi'e than it is worth. 

 Cost of production has nothing to do with 

 the matter, except that doing business at a 

 loss will put the bee-keeper out of business 

 sooner or later, which would decrease sup- 

 ply and cause a rise in price. If cost of pro- 

 duction were to be considered, a la Pollock, 

 in the seasons of 1906 and 1907 I should 

 have had 40 cts. per pound for a poor quali- 

 ty of extracted honey. But, unfortunately 

 for me, I could not get it, because some oth- 

 er bee-men not far distant produced good 

 crops which could be sold at a fair proht at 

 less than one-third that price. Because 

 other bee-keepers had good crops I was 

 obliged to operate my apiaries at a loss 

 those seasons, and sell at such advance over 

 ruling prices as, by persistent effort, with 

 my light crop as an argument, I was able 

 to obtain. 



If there is a shortage in the honey crop, 

 and high prices are, in consequence, obtain- 

 able, I, in common with most other bee- 

 keepers, freely avail myself of them, even 

 though I am so fortunate as to have a large 

 crop. And why not? Perhaps soon there 

 will be another season when the tables will 

 be turned, and others will have the paying 

 crop, and for my season's work I may be 

 scantily compensated. 



Conditions generally are such that scarce- 

 ly any thing a bee-keeper uses may be men- 

 tioned that has not advanced in price; and 

 the justice of higher prices for honey is so 

 apparent that "those who run may read." 

 When all bee supplies are high, and higher 

 prices threatening, as vrell as bread and 

 meat, and all food products, why not hon- 

 ey? If the dairyman who flows the land 

 with milk can not prosper, except by 8 to 10 

 cts. i)er quart, and o5 to 40 cts. per pound 

 for butter, as compared with about two- 

 thirds those prices not many years ago, it 

 seems evident that the apiarist who flows it 

 with honey can not prosper accordingly 

 without a corresponding rise in the mnrket 

 value of his own product. These fairest 

 fruits of rural husbandry being mentioned 

 together in Holy Writ, to indicate the rich- 

 ness of the Promised Land, were undoubt- 

 edly considered of equal imjjortance, and 

 there is no indication that their food values 

 have changed, but it is a]ii)arent to every 

 observer that their corresj)onding market 

 values have gotten ovit of all equitable i)ro- 

 portion. 



Mr. Pollock's discussion has brought out 

 prominently one fact of great importance; 

 and that is, that honey-producers with 200 

 colonies or thereabout are producing honey 

 at insufficient profit in the average season 

 if they sell their honey at less than 9>^ cts. 

 l>er pound wholesale. As shown above, the 

 profit is less for smaller apiaries. An ex- 

 amination of the figures submitted will 

 show that those who sell their honey at lyi 

 cts. per pound are getting absolutely no 



