230 



July. 1915, 



American ^Qe Journal 



A number of new members in the asso- 

 ciation were secured. 



Mr. Gale Patterson, Mr. J. G. Jewel, 

 and Mr. Geo. M. Eckert, and a number 

 of other beekeepers with their wives 

 assured the success of the meeting to 

 the extent that it was practically de- 

 cided to make this gathering an annual 

 event. 



BeeKeepers' Field Meeting and Picnic 

 at Boulder, Colo., June 12 



The fourth annual field meeting and 

 picnic, held under the auspices of the 

 Colorado Honey Producers' Associa- 

 tion, was held at Boulder June 12. Over 

 100 beekeepers attended, and 17 auto- 

 mobile loads of beekeepers and their 

 families came from various places in 

 northern Colorado. The program was 

 carried out according to schedule, be- 

 ginning in the morning with a demon- 

 stration of the overhauling and clean- 

 ing of a colony for the spring work, by 

 Gilbert Walcher, of Boulder. A. J. 

 McCarty, of Longmont, demonstrated 

 the clipping of queen bees. 



The exhibit of the uses of honey in 

 cooking shown and demonstrated 

 by Mrs. Wesley Foster, aided by Mrs. 

 W. P. Collins, Mrs. E. C. Bird, Mrs. W. 

 B. Walcher, Mrs. Ward Foster, Mrs. 

 Frank Rauchfuss and others was the 

 feature of the meeting. This exhibit 

 was the largest that I have ever seen at 

 any beekeepers' meeting. After nearly 

 all the samples of honey cooking had 

 been eaten, the picnic dinner was 

 spread and a pleasant hour was passed. 



In the afternoon N. L. Henthorne 

 demonstrated the equalizing of colo- 

 nies of bees. Mr, A. A. Lyons demon- 

 strated the best colony conditions for 

 the honey flow. Frank G. Rauchfuss 

 demonstrated the use of the Rauchfuss 

 queen-mating dox, and W. C. Evans, 

 bee inspector of Larimer county, dem- 

 onstrated the treatment for foulbrood. 

 The writer was called upon to explain 

 the European foulbrood situation. 



After the program was completed an 

 "auto " trip tor all out-of-town visitors 

 was conducted through the scenic 

 drives about Boulder. 



Only one thing marred the day, and 

 that was the wind which made the pro- 

 gram rather difficult in carrying out. 

 This was the best attended field meet- 

 ing that has been held by the Colorado 

 Honey Producers' Association. 



capital necessary to pay the members 

 for the goods or produce when shipped ; 

 the producer having to wait from two 

 weeks to several months for his pay. 



The strength of an association is in 

 a saving on the cost of supplies, the 

 low commission charged for selling, 

 and the practical certainty that the 

 producer will get his money, even 

 though he has to wait some time for it. 



There are now in operation several 

 cooperative associations of beekeepers 

 in the United States, The Colorado 

 Honey Producers' Association is the 

 oldest and most firmly established, and 

 sufficient has been written concerning 

 it during the past few months, so I will 

 say nothing of it here. 



The Idaho Honey Producers' Asso- 

 ciation, modeled in the main after the 

 Colorado Honey Producers' Associa- 

 tion, is still young, but has had a much 

 more rapid growth than the Colorado 

 Association did in its early years. The 

 Idaho Honey Producers' Association, 

 however, has some obstacles to over- 

 come. It is hampered by lack of capi- 

 tal, and probably will be until some of 

 the proceeds from the sales of honey 

 are paid to the members in the form of 

 additional shares of stock. This will 

 perhaps necessitate a different voting 

 plan, as at present one member has 

 equal voting power with every other 

 member, regardless of the amount of 

 stock held. Voting according to the 

 amount of honey sold, or according to 

 the number of colonies of bees held by 

 each member, would probably be 

 equitable. 



The new Idaho and Eastern Oregon 

 Association has not been in operation 

 long enough to demonstrate what it 

 can do, but it is not likely to make a 

 failure, as practical beekeepers are in 

 ch.irge and will see the effort through 

 to success. 



The Tri-State Honey Exchange of 

 Minneapolis is another going concern 

 that is doing business on a small capi- 

 tal, and has already bought honey by 

 the carload for the Minneapolis trade. 



At the National convention in Den- 

 ver, the National Honey Producers' 

 Association was organized. It is made 

 up of Western producers and of some 



Cooperative Effort 



There are so many cooperative asso- 

 ciations in operation in the United 

 States that the cooperative idea cap- 

 tures the imagination of many who 

 do not well understand the difficulties. 

 This is as true among beekeepers as 

 elsewhere. Probably tour out of five 

 will endorse a cooperative effort, but 

 not over one out of five will go the 

 limit of putting up money to start a 

 cooperative enterprise. It must be un- 

 derstood that all the benefit that can 

 come from cooperation is secured by 

 your efforts linked with those of your 

 associates. If your association can do 

 business on as low margin as the ex- 

 isting agencies, you may succeed, 

 otherwise it will not last. 



Probably the principal drawback to 

 an association is that it has not the 



in the Middle West. A branch store 

 has been opened in Kansas City, and 

 business has begun. Honey from dif- 

 ferent sections of the country is being 

 blended and put up for the trade. An 

 established honey business was taken 

 over, and a good start has been made. 

 Mr, D. C. Polhemus, of Lamar, Colo., is 

 president, and Wesley Foster, of Boul- 

 der, Colo , is secretary. Mr. G. P. 

 Stark, of Kansas City, is branch mana- 

 ger. The directors are J. H. Stone- 

 man, D. C. Polhemus, E. C, Bird, J. C. 

 Bull and Wesley Foster. 



Every cooperative association that 

 has made a success has had the ser- 

 vices of a number of unselfish work- 

 ers who were determined to see the 

 enterprise succeed. I do not think any 

 organization in the future will be an 

 e.xception to this rule of demanding a 

 great deal of willing sacrifice from the 

 officers and directors. 



Selling Honey 



Almost all of the extracted honey 

 that has b»en selling in pound and 

 glass jars and tin cans or pails retails 

 for about '20 cents a pound. The re- 

 tailer makes about 30 percent profit on 

 this. However, the agitation going on 

 in this country for more direct dealing 

 between producer and consumer has 

 changed conditions somewhat. The 

 Farmers' Union has distributed several 

 cars of honey to its members in the 

 West at a low price, something like 7 

 cents a pound to the farmer, in 5 and 

 10 pound pails. 



Near Kansas City some retailers are 

 selling fine white extracted honey at 

 45 cents for a 5-pound pail. As long 

 as extracted honey of good color and 

 body can be bought wholesale at 4 to 5 

 cents a pound, we can hardly expect 

 anything else. If the beekeepers will 

 not get together and advertise, they 

 will pay for the game in lower prices 

 for honey. 



As an example of the variation in the 

 price of honey, a lot of fine honey was 

 offered upon a central western market 

 at 5>2 cents, and a young man at the 

 same time was selling 2 '4 pound cans 

 at retail for 50 cents each. 



Conducted by J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy, Ontario, 



No Rain 



Since sending the last " Notes " for 

 the June American Bee Journal, the 

 weather in our part of Ontario has been 

 unseasonably cool most of the time 

 and very dry. Bees have done little 

 more than hold their own, and at this 

 date (June 14) clover is opening fast, 

 with prospects of a short bloom unless 

 we get rain soon. 



No doubt other sections have had 

 more moisture than we have had here, 

 as it is a rare thing that weather con- 

 ditions are at all general, in so far as 

 precipitation is concerned. On Mon- 

 day, June 7, accompanied by Mrs. Byer 



and one of my brothers, I took a trip 

 to the north yard, making the 00 miles 

 in a half day's run. We found the coun- 

 try even drier than in York county, but 

 on the evening of our arrival we had a 

 soaking three-hours' rain. Then a,L;ain 

 on Wednesday following we had an- 

 other hour's rain. 



Leaving for home on Thursday 

 morning we expressed the hope that 

 the rain had also visited our own Sec- 

 tion ;of country, ^but we were disap- 

 pointed when, within 20 miles of the 

 end of the journey, we found dry roads, 

 and on arriving home were told that 

 there had only been a light shower in J 

 our absence. A shower may be the I 



