250 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1. 



command. Of course, all the large cities would 

 have subordinate managers, or salesmen, under 

 and responsible to the general manager and to 

 the board of control. Many of these subordi- 

 nate salesmen might be, to save the establish- 

 ment of a warehouse, etc., some well-known, 

 responsible, and undoubtedly honest commis- 

 sion house They can be bound by an iron-clad 

 contract to sell no honey below the price set by 

 the general manager, for the different grades; 

 or, otherwise, pay the difference. Also, in case 

 honey is broken down and leaking badly, so 

 that the shipper is likely to lose in weight, etc., 

 the commission man should be allowed to hold 

 a coroner's inquest over that lot, and, by the 

 testimony of three disinterested men, the ship- 

 per should abide, and be satisfied. Other neces- 

 sary restrictions might be added as occasion 

 required. These houses— one in each city — 

 would be glad to get this business at 5 per cent 

 commission. Why? Because they would do 

 five times the business in honey that they did 

 before, when they could sell only what came to 

 them. Now they would have control of the 

 market, and, practically, sell all that came to 

 that city. Any one knows that, if one house 

 should have the handling of all the honey that 

 goes to any city in the country, they would 

 have a larger business in that line. Such a 

 house, under the watchful eye of a general 

 manager and a board of control, would be very 

 careful not to wantonly offend or defraud a 

 bee-keeper. Under this system the commission 

 house should collect 7J^ per cent commission — 

 5 per cent for themselves, and 23^ for the head 

 office, to pay expenses, etc. Who would not be 

 willing to pay 1}4 per cent to have his honey 

 honestly handled? Why, more than half the 

 honey shippers would make money if they had 

 to pay 20 per cent and get the full returns for 

 their honey. This system would likewise kill 

 out all the fraudulent commission men, and, to 

 a great extent, the adulterators too. It will 

 stop adulteration, because honest retailers will 

 know where to get pure honey. Honey will 

 advance, because one great organization will 

 control the bulk of all the honey in the United 

 States. When people can't get comb honey for 

 less than 25 cents per pound they will pay that 

 price— in fact, are paying it now to sharpers. 

 What we want, and must have, is to get 2.5 per 

 pound for comb— first quality — less freight, 

 commission, drayage, etc. Unless the honey is 

 shipped a long distance these charges should 

 not aggregate more than 1 cent per pound; but 

 under the present slipshod system the et ct.rtera 

 is the largest item in the bill of charges against 

 the bee-keeper. " Brokf^n down," "leaking," 

 "very dark," and "dark," are the bugbears 

 they set up to confront him. What can the 

 poor wretch do? They are away off, hundreds 

 of miles, and have sold his property. He may 

 have men near home who saw his honey, and 



know its quality; but the commission merchant 

 has his men to swear it was black, broken down, 

 or leaking, as the case may be. The bee-keeper 

 has not the ghost of a chance to win in the 

 contest. 



Bee-keepers of the East, will you join us, and 

 make it a national exchange? Join our Ex- 

 change, irrespective of State. Read the rules 

 and by-laws in the bee- papers. Of course, as 

 occasion requires you will have a voice in 

 amending or altering these rules, and in the 

 selection of the officers. Come in from every 

 town and county in the Union. Force it into a 

 national exchange; join in, all ye gathering 

 hosts, from the far Atlantic to the Pacific shore. 

 Roll in by the hundreds; rush in by the thou- 

 sands, and teach the blood-suckers that have 

 drained the life-blood from your business that 

 you intend hereafter to set the price of your 

 own products. " United, we stand; divided, we 

 fall." The laws of trade are inexorable. Where 

 there is great opposition, and anxiety to sell, 

 prices must and will come down; whereas, if 

 the business were all in the hands of one great 

 corporation, as Prof. Cook suggests, like the 

 Standard Oil Company, there would be no such 

 result. The object of the Exchange, however, 

 would be, not to wring out millions from the 

 pockets of the people, to create an aristocracy 

 of wealth, but to demand and obtain a fair and 

 living price for our products. Come, one and 

 all, and we will travel together. Come from 

 the east, west, north, and south. Skylark, and 

 the other great men who have organized this 

 magnificent triumph over fraud and dishonesty, 

 welcome you with open arms. We will march 

 on to victory together. We of California can 

 only cut off the middlemen here, and have an 

 honest sale through our own agents in the East. 

 But we can get no control of the market while 

 you Eastern men are working against us by 

 shipping honey to commission men. " In union 

 there is strength;" and if the East comes in 

 and makes this exchange a national affair, we 

 could not only command and set the price of 

 honey in the United States, but, to a great ex- 

 tent, in Europe also. 



CANADIAN PURE-HONEY LAW. 



Mr. McEvoy sends to the American Bee 

 Journal the following pure-honey bill, now 

 before the Canadian Parliament, and which has 

 passed its second reading. Mr. McEvoy says 

 it will surely pass. 



BILL NO. 10. 



An Act further to amend the Act respecting the 

 Adulteration of Food, Drugs, and Agricul- 

 tural Fertilizers. 



Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent 

 of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, 

 enacts as follows: 



1. No imitation of honey, or "sugar-honey," so- 

 called, or other substitute for honey manufactured 

 or produced from cane sugar, or from any other 

 substances other than those which bees gather from 

 natural sources, shall be manufactured or produced 

 or offered for sale in Canada, or sold therein; and 

 every person who contravenes the provisions of this- 



