May, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



269 



as a result of a lack of market information 

 on the part of the producer and misrepre- 

 sentation on the part of some buyers in the 

 field. Of course, last spring and summer no 

 one could forecast where prices would go. 

 Quite likely some of those buyers may be in 

 the field agaii.. 



We are not here to try to condemn the 

 foolish policy of producers in contracting 

 to sell their crop before it is produced nor 

 are we trying to effect a reform in the morals 

 of honey-buyers. Buyers are going to con- 

 tinue to buy as low as they can, taking ad- 

 ^'antage of lack of information on the part 

 of sellers; and some of these buyers will con- 

 tinue to "bear" prices for the future as 

 they have done in the past in order that 

 they may cover future crops at low prices 

 for future delivery. This is the human na- 

 ture of all too many buyers in every line, 

 we are sorry to say, and the trait has exist- 

 ed before and since as good a. man as Jacob 

 ' ' skinned ' ' his poor old father-in-law Laban. 

 Let 's not blame altogether the buyer for 

 the producer's getting too low a price for his 

 honey. That will do the producer no good, 

 and will not work a reform in the buyer. 



Let us, rather, lay a part of the fault at 

 the door of the producer himself. He tan 

 accept or reject any offer for his ho.iey; 

 and if he accepts too low a price it is simply 

 his own fault, resulting from lack of cor- 

 rect information as to market condition.^ 

 which he might iiave known. It is just as 

 possible for him today to secure information 

 about the honey market as it is for ihe stock 

 raiser or the wheat grower to Lcnow about 

 the market for beef and wheat. This' has 

 not always been so, it is true. But today 

 Ihe Government issues twice-monthly bulle- 

 tins from the Bureau of Markets giving 

 honey market quotations thruout the coun- 

 try, and a half dozen bee journals in the 

 country give their readers the most correct 

 information that they have concemin r honey 

 market prices. If the honey-producer does 

 not take a bee journal, he can have for the 

 asking by applying to Office of Markets, 

 li. S. Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton. D. C, these honey-market bulletins sent 

 to his address regularly. If the honey-pro- 

 ducer does not take advantage of these vari- 

 ous sources of market information, the fault 

 is solely his own if he gets "skinned" in 

 the sale of his honey. We are tempted to 

 add that he is not entitled to any sympathy 

 whatever if he today sells his honey at less 

 than a just and fair price. 



In this connection, Gleanings wishes to 

 advise honey-producers not to put themselves 

 at a disadvantage by letting anybody inter- 

 ested in the purchase of honey finance them. 

 Do not buy supplies on credit, if in any way 

 possible to do otherwise. Do not, without 

 fullest information, take an advance pay- 

 ment from the honey-buyer. If the honey- 

 producer must have money to carry on his 

 business, let him make the greatest endeavor 

 to finance hin^self without becoming obli- 

 gated to the honey-purchaser either directly 



or indirectly. Any advance help that the 

 honey-buyer may extend to the honey-pro- 

 ducer is advanced in the buyer's interest 

 and not in the interest of the beekeeper. 



All that the honey-producer needs to get 

 the right price for his honey is to make 

 himself as well informed concerning the 

 honey market as successful men in other 

 lines of agriculture are informed regarding 

 the markets in their lines of production. 

 The cure for low honey prices is better-in- 

 formed honey-producers. 



IN SOME localities beekeepers have report- 

 ed to us that they have lost heavily on ac- 

 count of their 



To Prevent 



Killing of Bees 



By Spraying. 



neighbors spraying 

 their fruit trees 

 with arsenate of 

 lead or other pois- 

 onous mixtures while the trees were in full 

 bloom, notwithstanding that experiment sta- 

 tions all over the United States, practically 

 with one accord, have advised against it. 

 In view of the fact that this spraying in 

 most cases is done thru ignorance and not 

 because of any malice toward the bees or 

 the beekeeper, we shall have ready for dis- 

 tribution post cards which local beekeepers 

 can send out telling when and how to spray. 



These directions will show that lime sul- 

 phur mixtures will do no harm. They are 

 not poisonous and moreover must be applied 

 on the trees in the dormant state before 

 cither the blossoms or the leaves come out. 

 Arsenate of lead, on the contrary, under 

 many circumstances as used in spraying, is 

 poisonous to bees and a direct damage to the 

 blossoms themselves. The directions that 

 go out from the experiment stations are to 

 spray before the trees are in bloom and after 

 the petals of the blossoms have fallen. Such 

 practice is entirely effective in preventing 

 the development of the coddling moth in the 

 embryo fruit and at the same time does ab- 

 solutely no harm to the bees which are the 

 fruit growers' best friends. 



We will furnish these cards at le a piece 

 in small amounts and cheaper in large 

 amounts — at cost to us. All that will be 

 necessary will be for the local beekeeper to 

 put on a Ic postage stamp and mail them 

 to local fruit growers. He can sign the 

 postal cards, or not, just as he sees fit. 



The mailing of these cards in a fruit-grow- 

 ing locality before the trees come into 

 bloom, will save a lot of bees and brood. If 

 there ever was a time when we needed to 

 save both, it is this spring. 



Probably most beekeepers whose bees are 

 in danger from spraying, will not require 

 more than a very few cards, and we 

 will accept stamps in payment for these 

 cards, whether few or many. We shall fur- 

 nish them at bare cost, postage paid, seek- 

 ing only to serve the beekeepers needing 

 them and to promote a larger production of 

 honey. 



