1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



249 



March number of the Progressive is a readable 

 number, keeping in line with its heading, " Pro- 

 gressive." 



The first week in March witnessed copious 

 rains throughout the State of California. The 

 value of such a wetting can be estimated only 

 by hundreds of thousands of dollars, aside from 

 the honey interests. All kinds of grain crops 

 are saved from failure. With the rain came 

 snow. So rare is this in our valley that people 

 went wild over it. The hour or so that it cov- 

 ered the ground was spent mostly in hurling 

 snowballs. 



At a recent meeting of bee-keepers in Ferris, 

 Cal., commission men were given their share of 

 criticism, and a lady bee-keeper was particular- 

 ly severe upon a well-known firm in Chicago. 

 This lady had consigned honey to the above 

 firm, and the returns were not up to expecta- 

 tions, and she was angry. Said she, '"I'd like 

 to give them a dose of bees. If that wouldn't 

 make them disgorge, it would at least make 

 them mighty uncomfortable." As to the right 

 or wrong of the transaction, I know nothing. 



[That 'Chicago firms' quotations do not ap- 

 pear, if I am correct, in any of the bee journals. 

 A commission firm must not only be honest, but 

 must be reasonably fair to get and hold space 

 in our honey columns. — Ed.] 



THE HONEY EXCHANGE. 



Is there any law, Mr. Ed- 

 ditor, against one man's 

 stealing the ideas of an- 

 other, before the other 

 man gets them formulated 

 and spread before the pub- 

 lic? If there is not, there 

 certainly should be, and a 

 very severe one at that. 

 "The man that steals my purse steals trash," 

 generally; "but he that filches from me " my 

 intellectual triumphs " makes me poor indeed." 

 Now, there is that Somnambulist, in Progres- 

 sive, who pretends to be always asleep; but I 

 don't believe he is asleep at all. He just puts 

 that on, so that he will be considered irrespon- 

 sible for his actions. But I hold him responsible 

 all the same, for the mad energy with which he 

 supplanted me as follows: 



California certainly possesses a climate charming- 

 ly favorable to the cultivation of conceit, and it 

 takes lots of that to face fraud. It seems almost 

 too bad that future history will have to credit her 

 bee-keepers with the honor of having- taken the 

 initiatory steps in this movement. And shall it be 

 chronicled that other sections of the country stood 

 idly by during this contest, and, when victory had 

 been won, were not only willing but anxious to share 

 the accruing tjeneflts ? For, truly, whatever is ben- 



eficial to them is proportionately so to us. If co- 

 operation be good for them, why not for us ? Let 

 us at least co-operate with them to the extent of 

 keeping out of the large cities with our small crops, 

 thereby building up our home markets, and at 

 the same time giving them full sweep of the 

 commission houses, and tlie grand opportunity of 

 educating the masses as regards the real value of 

 pure honey. 'Tis said, "It's a poor rule that will 

 not work both ways." We, in protecting our home 

 markets, will in so far protect oui- California friends. 

 They, in protecting themselves, will protect us. 



Yes, Somnambulist, of course these ideas are 

 all mine. You took them in your sleep, and 

 were not responsible. Yes, California sets the 

 ball rolling. But this movement will not and 

 can not be confined to this coast. Of course, we 

 are the prime movers in projecting and perfect- 

 ing the scheme, and deserve all the honors that 

 future historians will pile around our illustrious 

 names. But why should the rest of the country 

 stand "idly by" till victory is won? Why not 

 join us and help to win the victory? It is as 

 sure as fate or the tax-gatherer, that this will 

 become a national movement. It may go on 

 for a time as the " California Honey Exchange," 

 but changes will creep in. The bee-keepers of 

 the East will see the folly of shipping to a com- 

 mission merchant who may sell comb honey at 

 16 cents, and make returns at \2 or even less, 

 when, by paying a dollar, he can have his 

 honey honestly handled at the actual cost of 

 selling it. [/The bee-keepers of the East will 

 come in and join us on the way to victory. It 

 is our interest that you should do so, as well as 

 yours. While you keep shipping your honey to 

 commission men, our exchange can't get or 

 hold control of the market; but once let the 

 Exchange include in its membership a vast 

 majority of the bee-keepers in the Union, and 

 it would control the price of honey. The little 

 that would be produced by outsiders and non- 

 professionals would count for nothing. The 

 Exchange would practically have control of all 

 the honey in the United States. A very small 

 per cent would pay all its expenses, because it 

 would do a very heavy business. For instance, 

 the Chicago house would do all the honey busi- 

 ness that 10 or 15 great houses do now. Where 

 one of these houses would sell from one to two 

 thousand dollars' worth of honey per month, 

 the Exchange, having practically all the honey 

 in the market, would sell from ten to twenty 

 and even thirty thousand dollars' worth per 

 month. I am talking of such cities as Chicago 

 and New York. The general manager must be 

 an "honest, pushing, wide-awake, capable 

 man." He must be like the train-dispatcher of 

 a great railroad, who knows the exact position 

 of every train on the road, both day and night. 

 So our manager would have to know the exact 

 supply of honey on hand in every city in the 

 United States. He would be able to supply the 

 different markets— not from a central office 

 but by the honey that lies nearest that market 

 ready to ship, and only awaiting his word of 



